Mid Sweden University

In the current discussion on the reformation of higher education for continuous lifelong learning, there are several reports on the importance of opening up higher education. As highlighted by lifelong and work-integrated learning this is one of the main challenges in the rapidly growing knowledge society, where the Corona pandemic has acted as a catalyst for technology enhancement. One often-mentioned idea is that of work-integrated learning and to practice what is preached inside the university. Other emphasised ideas are flexibility, continuity, and the possibility to study anywhere and anytime (Rientes et al., 2023). However, there is no consensus on how professional development in higher education should be redesigned to best support continuous professional development. This study is part of the third phase in a modified four-phase Delphi study (Mozelius et al., 2023), building on suggestions by a global panel of experienced researchers in the field of lifelong learning. After a survey in the first phase, and a reading assignment in the second phase, data has been collected by structured interviews. Interview questions were partly created around the themes in the survey answers and the themes in the reading assignment literature.

The aim of the study is to analyse and discuss the Delphi expert panels' views on the need for reformation for quality lifelong learning in higher education. The research question that guided the study was: "What are the experts’ suggestions for a redesign of higher education to create conditions for continuous lifelong learning?”

Interview answers have been analysed according to the Grounded theory methods of Open coding and Axial Coding. In the initial Open coding phase, the focus was more on a general reformation of higher education for lifelong learning. Preliminary categories in the Open coding phase were later aggregated into 1) ' Digital literacy' 2) 'Multi-modal learning delivery' 3) 'Infrastructure' with the subcategories, 4) 'Quality considerations', 5) 'Pedagogical change', 6) 'Continuous lifelong learning', 7) 'Accessibility', 8) 'Equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI)' and finally, 9) Miscellaneous with the subcategories of 'Economy', 'Financial aspects' and 'The Corona pandemic'.

In the Axial coding phase, the same data were reanalysed with 6) 'Continuous lifelong learning' ' as the central or axial category. Other important supporting categories in this study were found to be: 'Infrastructure', 'Pedagogical change and multimodality', 'Accessibility', and 'Financial aspects'. All of these categories, based on the experts’ views, warrant deeper study for insight into possible formation of higher education. More research is needed to understand these crucial aspects of continuous professional development inside and outside of the university.

In the knowledge society today, there is a strong need for providing continuous lifelong learning opportunities. Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst for technology enhanced learning, involving new challenges for higher education. The main focus for this study has been the ongoing reform of higher education for providing lifelong learning opportunities. This study is the second phase of a Delphi study on higher education reform. Data were gathered by email interviews with an expert panel, where all respondents have genuine knowledge in the field of technology enhanced lifelong learning. The interview answers were analysed according to the Grounded Theory concepts of open coding and axial coding.   The central main category for the axial coding was ‘Higher education reform for the provision of lifelong learning opportunities. This category was later found to be dependent on ‘Infrastructure’, ‘Multimodal delivery’, ‘Pedagogical change’, ‘Financial aspects’, and ‘Quality and organisation’, ‘Digital literacy’, ‘Accessibility’, and ‘Equity, diversity and inclusion’.

In the current spring of Artificial Intelligence, the rapid development of Generative AI (GenAI) has initiated vivid discussions in higher education. Opportunities as well as challenges have been identified and to cope with this new situation there is a need for a large-scale teacher professional development. With basic skills about GenAI teachers could use the new technology as an extension of the existing technology enhanced teaching and learning. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the project FAITH (Frontline Application of AI and Technology-enhanced Learning for Transforming Higher Education). FAITH is a higher education pedagogical development initiative for institutional development for teachers with good fundamental skills in traditional pedagogy. A project with the overall objective of increasing the staff understanding of AI and to develop new competencies in the field of GenAI and technology enhanced learning. The research question that guided this study was: "What are the perceived opportunities, challenges and expectations of involving GenAI in higher education?" The overall research strategy for the FAITH project is design-based research, which involves iterative and cumulative development processes. In the early iteration that this study was a part of has been carried out inspired by Collective Autoethnography where members of the steering group behind the FAITH project, and members of the project team have constituted the main focus group. Data were collected by structured interviews where two GenAI tools also have been interviewed. Findings show that the expectations are high, but that the FAITH ambition of institutional development is depending on teachers’ motivation for taking an active part in the project. Another challenge could be that many teachers see GenAI as something that threatens the current course design, and that a general ban of GenAI is the appropriate solution. One of, several identified opportunities, is that a general revision of syllabi and assessment in an adaptation for GenAI enhanced learning would improve the current course design.

Det finns ett behov av kontinuerlig kompetensförstärkning och här spelar högre utbildning en viktig roll. Medan de traditionella universitetsutbildningarna ofta är utformade för studenter i tjugoårsåldern, kräver dagens kunskapssamhälle ett livslångt lärande för ett vidare åldersspann. Utifrån denna utgångspunkt genomförde Peter Mozelius, Marcia Håkansson Lindqvist och Jimmy Jaldemark vid CER, tillsammans med Martha Cleveland-Innes vid Athabasca University i Kanada, en studie där resultat från enkäter och intervjuer med en internationell expertgrupp indikerar en rad olika förändringsbehov. I denna kortrapport presenteras de aspekter som framkom i form av en konceptuell modell. Forskningsresultaten har tidigare presenterats vid två internationella konferenser: “Digging deeper with Delphi: The four step Alberta approach” (Mozelius, Cleveland-Innes, Håkansson Lindqvist och Jaldemark 2023a) och “The transition of higher education for continuous lifelong learning: Expert views on the need for a new infrastructure” (Mozelius, Cleveland-Innes, Håkansson Lindqvist och Jaldemark 2023b) samt i tidskriftsartikeln ”Critical aspects of a higher education reform for continuous lifelong learning opportunities in a digital era” (Mozelius, Cleveland-Innes, Håkansson Lindqvist och Jaldemark 2024).

In the current spring of Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative AI is purported to affect many areas, including higher education. To cope with this new situation there is a large-scale need for teacher professional development. The project FAITH (Frontline Application of AI and Technology-enhanced Learning for Transforming Higher Education) is a higher education pedagogical development project that aims to develop institutional teaching development and education programs further. Using AI and technology-enhanced learning, teachers in higher education will work and develop programmes which are adapted to work and study in a highly communicative, cloud-based, mobile and smart AI-based society.

The project has the following objectives: To take advantage of ongoing higher education pedagogical development initiatives within the university; To harness the power and benefits of already established models and teams, and to develop professional knowledge through new higher education pedagogy; and To increase staff understanding and competence in AI and technology-enhanced learning.

FAITH is based on design-based research, which involves iterative and cumulative development processes. The project will be implemented during 2024-2026. FAITH consists of three phases: preparation, implementation and evaluation. In the preparation phase, the project is planned in detail. A steering group is formed and a project team is created. In this phase, these groups are responsible for the staffing and scheduling of FAITH, including the development of a plan for the competence development action. Program managers have a primary responsibility for the pedagogical development of their respective programs. Therefore, they have a prominent role in the FAITH project group. The implementation phase includes training of teams, pedagogical development work and seminar activities. The focus is on the impact of technological development on higher education studies and its content and form. In the final evaluation phase, the experiences are compiled and, based on the conclusions drawn, proposals for further development are drawn up.

This paper presents an update of the FAITH project, including ongoing and planned processes within the project. This includes insights in the FAITH project as a model for pedagogical applications of AI and technology-enhanced learning in the context of higher education.

In the ongoing shift to a knowledge society, the idea of a technology-enabled lifelong learning has frequently been discussed. The shift also requires a transformation of higher education with new forms for teaching and learning deployment. This ongoing transformation was formulated in a research question that has guided this study: 1) Which key themes of lifelong learning emerge from higher education literature? This study was carried out as a scoping literature review to map literature in the field. Findings from a thematic analysis pointed out seven main themes or perspectives: The Policy perspective, The Value perspective, The Employability perspective, The Reform perspective, The Collaborative perspective, The Student perspective and The Workplace learning and Professional development perspectives. Five publications of the 26 selected publications from the literature search will be further used and analysed as part of a Delphi study. This Delphi study will involve a group of leading researchers in the field of lifelong learning as an expert panel to further explore and expand the key themes of lifelong learning in higher education and digital trends in higher education reforms.

This work was built on two strands of earlier research on the community of inquiry framework (CoI). The first strand was Biglan’s seminal work on disciplinary epistemological structures and how these structures impact digital technology-enabled higher education teaching. In the other strand, some rare studies suggested that emotional issues are important to understanding higher education teaching. Nevertheless, research that links these two strands is even rarer. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship between digital technology- enabled teaching in higher educational settings, the presences of the community of inquiry framework (CoI), and disciplinary epistemological structures. Survey responses from 143 teachers were analyzed through confirmatory factor analysis (SEM) and reflexive thematic analysis. Emotional presence was found to be a possible fourth element in the CoI. Disciplinary differences (coded as pure vs. applied sciences) were found to have an effect on the CoI, and that effect was particularly evident through the mediation of emotional presence. The differentiating factor was teachers’ views on the role of teaching. When guiding digital design, the recommendation is to consider such disciplinary differences specifically.

The call for a higher education that embraces lifelong learning began in the 1970s, continued to escalate, and has never been louder. From extensive review, this new approach requires a delivery system that is accessible and meaningful to adults of all ages and from diverse backgrounds. Now embedded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a new social contract for education could be the keystone in our quest to create and sustain “a world of peace, dignity and prosperity on a healthy planet” (Guterres, 2020).

This new social contract encourages us to analyse and embrace the results of the Covid-19 pandemic. This event left over 24 million diverse learners at significant risk of developmental loss. These learners from all age groups, including millions of children, may carry a deficit that will increase the demand for education across the lifespan. The same pandemic also left a legacy for digital learning that will shape education forms into the distant future. We add to these two key influences on higher education UNESCO’s recent suggestion that we need “a sector-wide, lifelong learning approach towards the future development of higher education” (International Commission on the Futures of Education, 2021, p. 102). 

Our research rests in the current higher education but draws on expert opinion about the necessary transformation needed for lifelong learning. An expanded Delphi method gathered data from prominent scholars and practitioners from around the world. This data driven exercise was guided by the question: What are the critical aspects of higher education transformation needed for lifelong learning in a digital era?

The paper outlines the data gathering and analysis processes, which include Grounded Theory steps of open, axial, and confirmatory coding. For those with demonstrated knowledge about technology-enabled lifelong learning, there is an interrelated taxonomy of structures and processes that must be addressed in policy creation and reform of higher education. We argue that these seven identified elements need integrated repurposing to achieve lifelong learning outcomes: ‘Multimodal delivery’, ‘Pedagogical change’, ‘Financial resources’, ‘Quality assurance, ‘Digital literacy’, ‘Accessibility’, and ‘Equity, diversity and inclusion.’ In addition, we identify government policy examples from Sweden and Canada that support these change requirements in alignment with SDGs.

António Guterres (2020) https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sgsm20003.doc.htm

International Commission on the Futures of Education (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. Paris: UNESCO.

Societal development in the 21st century has had an impact on competencies needed in working life. Such development includes a continuous professional development, and a lifelong learning process where higher education institutions are an essential partner. Contemporary lifelong learning has multiple purposes such as increased employability, organisational development, global competition, and also hopefully involves the aspect of personal development. This paper aims at reporting preliminary results focused on lifelong learning and the current transformation of higher education, posing the following research question: How can a preliminary framework for lifelong learning based on networked learning experts' perceptions of the transformation of higher education be designed? Eight experts from six different global regions, known for their research and publication records in higher education, lifelong and work-integrated learning, were invited to participate in this study, which involved multiple data collection methods. Data analysis involved staged thematic analysis with multiple coders and inter-rater verification and negotiation. The preliminary findings note the current state of the analysis based on the perceptions expressed by these experts in interviews. These findings consist of the following elements: Lifelong learning, Pedagogy, and Technology. These elements are each represented by a circle that intersects with the transformation of higher education and are seen to be surrounded and impacted by three different levels: the individual, organizational and societal levels. These levels interplay with the elements of Lifelong learning, Pedagogy, and Technology as driving forces in the transformation of higher education. How these driving forces will continue to have an impact on higher education, and how higher education steps up to take on these challenges warrant further research.

Policy documents have long emphasized lifelong learning, social development, global competition and employability. At the same time, how higher education needs to be transformed to meet this demand for creating opportunities for lifelong learning is an important issue. This study seeks to take on the literature through the exploration of two main constructs: lifelong learning and higher education reform, answering the question of which key themes of lifelong learning, if any, are emerging in higher education reforms. Using a systematic review of relevant, foundational, and current published literature on lifelong learning and higher education reform, the two-step selection of the publications is presented. Key themes are discussed as well as next steps in the continued study with the systematic literature review in which selected articles will be read by and expert panel. How lifelong learning and higher education reform can create a diverse higher education system which will address diverse students and required competencies in diverse, dynamic societies will be of importance for future study.