Transformations in the University Today: Integrating formative models

Abstract

The introduction and intensive use of ICTs, and the internet in particular, have led to important changes at universities over the last three decades. Technologies have transformed people’s skills and lives and they have transformed organizations too. This article reviews the most important changes at universities that have affected all the members of the education community: students, faculty and administration. It analyses the transformations in pedagogy, in the use of technology and in university management and administration in order to highlight the importance of finding the necessary balance between accessibility, quality and cost of university education. The transformations resulting from the impact of the Information Society have brought about a change in the focus for the university dynamic, which has moved from what should be taught or transmitted to stressing the skill of how to learn. This has led to the rise of new university models involving hybridization that blends on-campus and online. These models are transforming universities as we know them.