Our team – AHEAD

Project team

Dr. Dominic Orr

FiBS Institut für Bildungs- und Sozialökonomie, Berlin: d.orr@fibs.eu (Project leader)

"I have studied and reflected on higher education challenges for most of my career. Previously I had a focus on student life, on the one hand, and institutional governance, on the other. But expansion in higher education coupled with developments in digitalisation really is bringing these two topics together in a new way. This leads to the questions: who will be the students of the future and what will the organisational form of higher education be for them? This is what facinates me in the AHEAD project."

Katrin Schulze

FiBS Institut für Bildungs- und Sozialökonomie, Berlin: k.schulze@fibs.eu

"What fascinates me most about this project is the view into the future. During my time at university I have experienced everything from slides with overhead projects to the use of an interactive whiteboard and audience response systems, depending on the lecturer. The implementation of digital possibilities is therefore strongly dependent on the conditions, but also on the interest of the lecturer. I am also pleased that we are using promising new methods in the course of this study, such as a citation analysis with metadata, the use of new visualization programmes and the open science approach to discussion via our Blogfest in November."

Dr. Klaus Wannemacher

HIS-HE Institut für Hochschulentwicklung, Hannover: wannemacher@his-he.de

"In the field of digitisation of higher education, a wide range of empirical surveys and status quo analyses are available. Accompanying discussions on future developments are usually characterised by a primary consideration of cutting edge technologies. The specific approach of the AHEAD project that I am particularly interested in, however, is to carry out a horizon scanning which also focusses on didactic-methodical approaches and the envisaged improvement of learning quality. The project team combines the analysis of competence requirements, didactic requirements and innovative educational approaches within the scope of a trend analysis. Different lines of development and design options of higher education are viewed from an integrated perspective. Thus, they can ideally be made fruitful for educational policy decisions, and for processes of higher education and teaching development through universities."

Philipp Schmidt

Massachusetts Institute of Technology: ps1@media.mit.edu

Dr. Maren Lübcke

HIS-HE Institut für Hochschulentwicklung, Hannover: luebcke@his-he.de

"What particularly fascinates me about this project is the challenge to draw a coherent picture of universities in 2030 by bringing the different temporalities of the relevant developments together. On the one hand, there are the rapid developments in technology, creating pressure to act upon all levels and the complex organisational structure of universities, which appear to be very robust but not very adaptive. In between, the teachers and learners, like all of us, appear to be oscillating between enthusiasm for improvements and own path dependency."

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Martin Ebner

Technische Universität Graz: martin.ebner@tugraz.at

"Education is vital to our society, so we work to facilitate it and to offer it in high quality. We can use technologies to support this. In the AHEAD project, I am particularly interested in how universities can face off technical challenges and harness new technologies purposefully to fulfill the demands of an education for tomorrow's world."

Markus Koschutnig-Ebner

Technische Universität Graz: markus.ebner@tugraz.at

"Despite the technological progress, modern service-oriented infrastructure, mobile services and the possibility to learn anytime and anywhere, this potential is not (yet) fully exploited in teaching and learning. In this context, I am very interested in what measures universities can initiate to meet the challenges of teaching and learning in a rapidly changing and growing society in the future. "

International advisory board

Prof. Ki-Sang Song

Department Chair of Computer Education and Director of Global Education Cooperation Center at the Korea National University of Education

"As a professor and researcher in the field of teacher education, I will be able to provide information on the new technology and its impact on higher education, and changes in primary and secondary teacher education in connection with new trends of higher education. Since 2015, I am involved in the Korean government project “Program for Industry Needs Matched Education (PRIME)” targeting the adjustment of the university graduate student from humanities to engineering that more jobs are available. I am very interested in this project because I have been co-worked with UNESCO, World Bank, IDB, KOICA, and KERIS for improving quality of education an international experts on ICT in education, providing educational provisions to developing countries needs information that AHEAD project pursues."

Dr. Elisabeth Hovdhaugen

Senior Researcher at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education

“My perspective is on analyses of students, the student body as a group and how that is changing over time. I have experience analysing recruitment patterns, student body composition, study progression and completion rates, as well as dropout from higher education. I’ve has conducted these types of analyses on Norwegian data, but am also familiar with the trends and patterns in other European countries. I think rethinking the student experience is central to preparing a future higher education system.”

Dr. Fred de Vries

Program Manager ‘Open Learning Scholars’, Abdullah Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, UAE

Fred is professionally committed to the design and organisation of high quality flexible education, with focus on open and online learning and the use of educational technology. A key drive is impact of innovation into actual implementation. Currently he manages the Open Learning Scholars program of the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education (AGFE). It focusses on bringing innovative online and blended learning degree programs and recognized credentials from high quality accredited universities to Arab youth anywhere they are. He had various roles at the Open University of the Netherlands, including instructional designer, researcher on Technology Enhanced Learning, EU project manager and policy advisor for the executive board. Besides he worked at the UNHCR on the design and delivery of innovative training solutions. He has been an external expert for the European Commission, UNESCO, IRC and the OSCE. Before joining the AGFE he was a Program Director for Digital Education at Saxion, a large Dutch University of Applied Sciences in transformation.

Prof. Ingo Rollwagen

professor for management in creative and knowledge industries at the Fresenius University of Applied, Berlin Sciences

"Algorithms, agility, ambience and acceleration changing education – All key terms for looking ahead towards shaping the future of learning. The way individuals want to, can, should and are able to learn is changing profoundly. Ambient knowledge technologies advanced-analytics based algorithms embedded in new education and learning technologies and applications, ambient learning environments on the basis of mixed reality technologies (augmented and virtual reality) and new forms of school building are changing the nature and pace of learning. In a move from education to active, analytics and formative assessment based, non-formal, gamified, individual learning now is the time to anticipate future developments and dynamics to enable individuals and decision-makers to shape responsibly and collaboratively the horizon for the future of learning."

Mr. Alex Usher

President of Higher Education Strategy Associates, Canada

Prof. Martin Weller

Professor of Educational Technology, Teaching and Learning Innovation and Director of the Open Education Research Hub at the Open University, UK.

Dr. Nina Arnhold

senior education specialist at the World Bank