n and I finished what I think we would both agree was one of the most compelling and important courses we have experienced. Looking into the wide variety of social, political and economic issues facing a modern ‘Network Society’, this unit was delivered with passion and insight whilst facilitating something I feel is all too lacking in higher education – the ability to debate and reason your own opinions.If ever there was a good indication of how important these issues really are, the investment and publicity the BBC have put into their current documentary series ‘The Virtual Revolution’ is it. Both this series and our unique final year unit tackle the ever changing issues of the web’s impact on our lives, its effects on globalisation and the nation state, the implications of privacy to online communities, and asks challenging questions as to how technology both promises and threatens so much.
After considerable reflection it simply disappoints me to see so many of my higher education colleagues being given a limited range of technical expertise, with no consideration as to the wider impacts of technology. I do not foresee an IT industry where highly specific technical disciplines are redundant, but surely in a globalised world that is impacted so significantly by far more than just ‘how stuff works,’ isn’t it time we really stared to ask ourselves where people come into our new technologies. Bafflingly, multi-disciplinary courses such as the one we are currently enjoying are under threat at many institutions, including mine. Higher education, like most public services, has even more responsibility to deliver value for money in difficult economic times. Yet in my opinion, and far more importantly in the eyes of most employers, graduates that can understand the immense implications of technology as well as just how to create it, stand a far better chance of tackling the most important issues.
I would urge any young person to consider a degree that incorporates the technical, business and social implications of technology. The level of engagement and debate encouraged by the academic running my most recent course is, I fear, all too unique. Any university looking to remove such courses need to deeply consider the role they think their graduates will have in a modern, Network Society.
Im going to contradict myself here so be patient. I completely agree and disagree with the points you have made.
ReplyDeleteWe need more multidisciplinary degrees but the degrees being taught should attempt to focus and produce an end product.
My experience so far is that we have learnt many skills over our first 2 years but use little to none of them in our final and most important year. Why bother teaching us how to program if it has no relevance to our dissertations. Why teach us how to construct a website when we are encouraged to stay away from producing an artefact.
Teaching us the social implications is important and the network society will benefit greatly from our new found knowledge but as the range of topics is so immense we will have to eventually narrow our focus.
Asking where the person enters into the equation is perhaps more suited to a university/think tank environment. Employers want Skills, they can teach to a certain level, but a graduate who has a solid base of relevant skills is far more employable than a multi-disciplinary graduate.
We need these degrees but they need refining, CAS has the highest employment rate, but i think we have to look at the amount of students taking the course, if there are only 6 graduates the possibility of them getting a job it IT has to be high, Whether any of these people actuall find a job they want to do or just take a job as they have touched upon it in there degree is another a question.
So in short yes we need these degrees and people should be encouraged to take them, but they need refining and focussing as far too much of it is wasted, with pointless units that add nothing to the end product. The network society will benefit from well rounded students but, in a society that demands more on the technical side than ever before we should temper these choices with a solid base of skills