The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotified Mind...
Technology offers greater potential for a personalised approach to higher education, write Michael Rosemann and Martin Betts in Times Higher Education. In particular, they identify what universities can learn from the music platform Spotify.
Of course, while personalised education is a hot topic, Rosemann and Betts note that, to date, little has changed.
For more than a century, universities have rarely broken with the notion in learning programme design that the time in which and when learning takes place is fixed...
Rosemann and Betts identify three pathways to personalised learning:
Learner-driven (learners navigate a vast sea of online information and resources).
Teacher-driven (teacher as guide and mentor).
Automation (digital technologies, including AI, finding learning materials to suit you).
The authors see sufficient similarities between entertainment and education to make Spotify a reference point for personalised learning. This involves:
Using an app with your own account.
Curating your favourite/most relevant content.
User rating tools; teaching the app what further content will suit you.
Virtual social spaces for like-minded users to share similar content.
Following your favourite content makers to get their latest releases.
Some might see Higher Education as a last bastion against such stuff. Yet, apps are ubiquitous because they are engaging. Apps guide many people's every waking hour. Spotify also has a desktop application, pictured above (with the iPhone version inset). Ultimately this has significant implications for Higher Education and the scale and type of physical space it needs. Spaces will need to be about social interaction, group work and reinforcing what has already been studied online. But who will make this happen at scale? When will universities seriously invest in the technology (of course, two engineers founded Spotify - not the musicians)? For now, there are a few roadblocks.
Do we have a concrete future?
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on Monday, there are multiple feasible and effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are available now. We can secure a liveable future for all, but time is running out.
Of course, construction is one of the greatest emitters. A significant part of the problem is its use of concrete. Concrete was responsible for about 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, and the world uses around 30 billion tonnes every year. This week the BBC looked at how concrete might become a surprising climate solution (see video).
The biggest problem is a crucial ingredient: cement. Cement production uses a lot of energy and releases carbon. Carbicrete is replacing cement with a by-product of the steel industry. The Carbicrete process actually sequesters carbon while making use of the waste material.
Meanwhile, the University of Bradford is embracing the circular economy concept. Research is using demolition waste to make new concrete.
Finally: this week:
At the UCL East Campus (at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East London), the Marshgate building achieved practical completion. Marshgate will house spaces for the Engineering at UCL East, the Advanced Propulsion Lab, the Manufacturing Futures Lab, the Urban and Built Environment Co-Labs, as well as the Institute of Finance and Technology and the Global Business School for Health.
Fareham College launched its state-of-the-art Energy Hub this week. The £1.4 million investment includes electric vehicle charging points, ground and air source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, plus smart homes technology.
