Icdk outlook No. 04, May 2019 The Future of Education

 
 
Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education 
5 
1. 
Introduction 
The end of university?
Throughout the last decade, technological improvements have had radical impact 
on traditional industries, not least in the US. Whether replacing typewriters with 
computers, tasks of bank tellers with ATMs, or factory workers with robots, all 
these changes have been enabled by technology and allowed humans to do more 
advanced work.
You may think: What does this have to do with education? 
The emergence of technological improvements influences education in the US both 
directly and indirectly. The way education is delivered can now be done through 
the use of new technologies and the skills taught in the educational system are to 
be used in the future labour market, which is subject to automation.
In Silicon Valley a lot of new actors within education are emerging to shake up the 
traditional model of education by utilizing technology to either deliver education in 
new ways (e.g. online) or change the content of classic education by being more 
job-centric and digitally focused in its learning objectives and curriculum. Debates 
surrounding the future of work furthermore generate a push for ensuring a 
workforce that is complementary to robots, and not competing with them.
So, what does this mean for the future of education in the US? The short answer 
is: potentially a lot. The longer answer is what we have tried to give in this ICDK 
Outlook from Silicon Valley
1
. We cannot predict the future, but in the following 
report, some of the trends and signals of change that are present in Silicon Valley 
within education, and specifically higher education, will be outlined
2
. By looking at 
recurring signals, we have identified two main tracks: 1) The impact of the new 
educational alternatives on the shape of education and 2) the implications of the 
future of work on the demand for skills and content being delivered in the 
educational system.
These “New Alternatives” and “New Demands” will be the primary chapters of this 
report for outlining signals, cases and drivers of change in education.
1
The research for this report is based on 
interviews with representatives from 
emerging education alternatives, stakeholders and established universities, both private 
and public, to learn more about the challenges and opportunities they are facing in 
Silicon Valley.
2
As this report is based on the educational actors in the US, it is important to keep in 
mind that the US Educational system resembles a business industry to a higher degree 
than the Danish educational system. 

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