Universities of Tomorrow. CEPES Papers on Higher Education.

This essay examines the future directions of university education in Europe, focusing on technology and the information revolution as the driving forces behind educational change. Whereas the mission of universities in the past was to accumulate, refine, and pass on knowledge, their new task is to educate and train people to manage and gain access to the universal data base of knowledge. Universities need to offer more options to their students, encourage broad rather than specialized education at the undergraduate level, and utilize new teaching methods, such as distance learning via interactive computer connection, to keep abreast of the explosion of knowledge and the rapid changes that societies are undergoing. The pioneering work of the British Open University in the use of distance learning and computer technology are discussed. The debate over student choice and intellectual property rights is also examined. (MDM)