Higher Education Landscape 2030: A Trend Analysis Based on the AHEAD International Horizon Scanning (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This open access Springer Brief provides a systematic analysis of current trends and requirements in the areas of knowledge and competence in the context of the project “(A) Higher Education Digital (AHEAD)―International Horizon Scanning / Trend Analysis on Digital Higher Education.” It examines the latest developments in learning theory, didactics, and digital-education technology in connection with an increasingly digitized higher education landscape. In turn, this analysis forms the basis for envisioning higher education in 2030.

Here, four learning pathways are developed to provide a glimpse of higher education in 2030: Tamagotchi, a closed ecosystem that is built around individual students who enter the university soon after secondary education; Jenga, in which universities offer a solid foundation of knowledge to build on in later phases; Lego, where the course of study is not a monolithic unit, but consists of individually combined modules of different sizes; and Transformer, where students have already acquired their own professional identities and life experiences, which they integrate into their studies. In addition, innovative practice cases are presented to illustrate each learning path.

Dominic Orr is senior researcher at FiBS Research Institute, Berlin, Germany and adjunct professor for education management at University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia. He has a doctorate in comparative education and has worked on the relationship between research, policy and practice in many international contexts.

Maren Luebcke is a research associate in the department of university management at HIS-HE, Hannover, Germany. Her consulting and research focus at HIS-HE is the digitization of research and teaching at universities. She holds a PhD in Communication and Internet Sociology and a Master of Higher Education. 

J. Philipp Schmidt is Director of Learning Innovation at MIT Media Lab, USA, where he leads, teaches and develops ML Learning initative. He is also co-founder and board member of Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU), a non-profit organization that provides access to higher education through public libraries.

Markus Ebner is a researcher in the organizational unit Educational Technology at Graz University of Technology, Austria. His doctoral thesis deals with the fields of e-learning, mobile learning, technology enhanced learning and open educational resources. He focuses on learning analytics in the primary and secondary school environment and on informatics.

Klaus Wannemacher is a senior consultant and project manager in the university management division of the HIS-Institute for Higher Education Development (HIS-HE), Hannover, Germany. He supports universities, non-university research institutions and ministries with consulting services and research projects with a focus on the digital transformation at universities. 

Martin Ebner is head of the Department of Educational Technology at Graz University of Technology, Austria. Furthermore, he researches and teaches as a habilitated media information scientist. His main focuses are Seamless Learning, Learning Analytics, Open Educational Resources, Maker Education and Informatics Basic Education.

Dieter Dohmen is founder, owner and director of the FiBS Research Institute for the Economics of Education and Social Affairs, Berlin, Germany, and works as a senior researcher and consultant, currently in Germany as well as in various other European and non-European countries. After his studies in sports and social sciences, he obtained a diploma in economics and social sciences and wrote his doctoral thesis on family welfare benefits and student support at the intersection of economics and law.