Education needs innovative ideas if we were to realise the objectives of the NEP. Student centric learning, personalised learning are the new terms that need close watching as we move forward. ‘Customer is king’ is a long-understood adage in the industry. Is it time it is applied to education as well? For long education has been teacher driven. Henceforth it will be student driven.
What is innovation? It starts as an idea that addresses the market needs. It must create value for both students and stakeholders and every institute and university should be looking at especially when the shelf life of skills has been reducing with each intervention of technology. ‘Theory only’ as is done in many of our institutions must change to blended and hybrid learning with special emphasis on competency-based skills (CBS).
Innovation must start with the teaching learning process. Current pedagogies must be re-invented and innovated for better outcomes. Like all skills, teaching skills too need to be upgraded. Re-skilling and up-skilling are the answers. Today, universities need new business models. Sometimes tried and trusted methods that have delivered in other universities of eminence must be retrofitted for success. Innovation implies value creation.
Universities of the future will need to change their organisational structures, change the business model, adopt cooperative structures enhancing inter, Intra and multi-disciplinary approaches and redefine the concept for faculties or departments. Collaboration is the answer. We must ask, what the country is receiving, for the crores spent on higher education and if it is effective? Learning outcome-assessment for determining institutional effectiveness must be reinvented for different forms of education delivery.
The World moved from simple open loop assessment practices which were input based to more reliable closed loop technics that allowed measurement of outcomes through feedback. It is time we moved from closed loop accreditation methodology to more adaptive based systems for Quality Assurance (QA).
The future universities must adopt QA as a way of life, guaranteeing quality educational services rather than fall back on rankings, ratings and outdated accreditation procedures. The examination offices must invent new roles with students opting for flexible degrees, designer degrees or certifications, and even provide opportunities for acceleration in education according to fast innovation cycles. Universities must worry about stakeholders going to courts on undelivered program or course outcomes. The answer is simple. They must innovate to survive.
Teachers too must innovate with new teaching methods. Online content must be extensively used as it has strong repeatability. Teachers must hand hold students with online content and appropriate tutorials. Flipped classrooms, social media, new teaching infrastructures like equipment for virtual worlds must be seamlessly integrated. Digital rights management must be made an imperative.
As much as saying that teaching methods have to innovate, even the learning methods must suitably innovate. The ecosystem today demands a move-over from massive to personalized learning. However, an effective and optimized blend must exist between the two.
Investments in new learning infrastructure for e.g., increased computing capacities or AR/VR devices must be made. To realize the 50 GER proposed in the NEP, a shift from presence learning to distance learning must be made. However, the traditional distance learning should transform into blended/hybrid learning.
Some academicians think that creativity and innovation are synonyms. They are not. Creativity is coming up with a new idea whereas innovation is using the idea, to solve the pain points and creating value. If the university has to survive and thrive amongst thousands similar, then requirements of students must be answered. Innovation allows the university to stay competitive.
In India or anywhere in the world, education is the only business that will always be recession proofed. It will always have a solid customer base. The teaching learning pedagogies may be excellent and courses may be very contemporary. They may also have perfectly wrought supply chains. The number of enrolments too may be growing. But remember, outside the university ecosystem, education paradigm is changing quickly. If one stands still or continues business as usual, he/she will be at risk.
‘What will happen to the universities that do not innovate?’ They will be at risk of becoming irrelevant, reduce their productivity, lose students and ultimately go out of business. Have we not seen institutions closing down? Universities will increasingly require to take stock and measure impact, whether by qualitative means, like interviews to assess customer satisfaction, or quantitative means, like outcome metrics.
Innovation in a company, can transform the existing business model to adapt to changing environment, satisfy existing but unanswered market needs, bring new technologies, products or services to market, create entirely new markets and effectively react to market disruption. Are universities any different? How do universities innovate then?
Firstly, universities may try incremental innovation to increase efficiency of current processes, for example increasing digital offerings, cutting costs or upgrading infrastructural facilities especially labs, and services. Universities could spend 60% of their efforts, whether in money or manpower, in incremental innovations.
Secondly, universities could indulge in expansive innovation, helping them to grow in the long term. The competitors may not follow this route. Complete digital transformation and AI driven smart campus are in this category. This may require some testing and prototyping and may take a year or two. A university must focus about 30% of its efforts on expansive innovation.
Thirdly a university could try ‘Disruptive Innovation’. It could try new programs and services that are needed in the industry and for research. It must create a completely new business model, with a novel value proposition. It means a university must constantly invent or reinvent its offerings. The rewards are great, but come with some uncertainty and take three to five years to succeed. Universities should devote about 10% of their efforts to disruptive innovation.
What can universities that are going downhill do? They could try out ‘Business Model Innovation’, where the university processes transform radically and also innovate in the way their products are brought to market. However, this could be challenging.
The leaders in the universities have a strategic role to play and can truly drive innovation, but they can also be stumbling blocks. To succeed, they must allow a certain amount of freedom for their team to explore solutions. Innovating is like entrepreneurship and must allow a degree of creative trial and error. Remember innovation is not everyone’s job and ‘cannot be done here’ mindset must be discarded.