University World News report on IE conference "Reinventing Higher Education"

(Previous post on conference)

SPECIAL REPORT: Reinventing higher education

Driving snow rather than volcanic ash greeted participants as they arrived at Segovia in Spain for a Reinventing Higher Education conference organised by the city’s IE University. The debate was considerably hotter inside IE’s magnificently converted 13th century convent however, where 50 deans, rectors and academics from universities including Zhejiang, Leeds, Stanford and Monterrey met with innovating companies such as Google to try to define the future of higher education. University World News correspondent Paul Rigg was present and filed these reports.

GLOBAL: A shared vision of the future?

Paul Rigg

"I cannot think of any other international forum which draws together leaders in education to discuss these kinds of issues," said Dr David Mills, of Oxford University's department of education. "Perhaps it may lead to a shared vision of the future."

UK: The virtues of just listening

Paul Rigg

It might be expected that any dean of a university with an audience of international academics and press would take the opportunity to bang their own drum. But in his keynote speech at the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University in Segovia, Professor Michael Arthur, Vice-chancellor of the University of Leeds and Chair of the Russell Group of UK Universities, immediately impressed his audience by explaining the importance of listening.

GLOBAL: Higher education's changing needs

Paul Rigg

If a symbol of the rapidity of change in higher education was needed, few could beat the sight of Luca Paderni of Google sitting on the same panel as the heads of the universities of Frankfurt, Guido Carli and Monterrey, at the conference Reinventing Higher Education held in Segovia, Spain.

GLOBAL: Diversity of models in higher education

Paul Rigg

Professor Eero Kasanen, Rector of the Helsinki School of Economics, kicked off the afternoon session of the Reinventing Higher Education conference at IE University in Segovia by asking: "Why are there not more mergers of universities?"