Global students

Universities-internationally-are confronting a revolution. While these institutions of higher education have evolved over the past centuries, the pace of change has not been as rapid as it is at the moment. This a because, at one level, the culture is changing, universities are moving from institutions which have been based on print, and the written word, to institutions that are part of the new digital age. One of the most important shifts taking place in this new context is that students are systematically being redefined as clients. This is partly a result of the overall emerging pattern of ´user pays´ which is characteristic of the new information-as-commodity era. But this classification of students as consumers, or clients, is going to result in a startlingly different educational practice and philosophy around the world. To start with, universities are going to have to put more value on teaching and this represents a considerable shift in position. Students increasingly have new power that they can exercise. They are no longer confined to local or national institutions. They can vote with their virtual feet; they can enrol in any online university around the world. Possibly at even less cost. As distinct from the past, students in the future are going to be faced with an embarrassment of courses, as universities across the world compete for their business and try to make the quality of their teaching a selling point