Integrated learning in the digital age : global voices for sustainable development

Abstract EN

The world is in dire need of new models of integrated education for sustainable development.

Holism in education requires critical thinking as well as creativity and the whole person as a part of a creative process.

Emerging global challenges and risks increasingly underscore the importance of the individual working collaboratively with others around the globe to learn and share with each other, as they examine the complex problems of their regions and our world.

Short-term solutions are being considered, but we need long-term ones that will better equip people to face ―the uncertainties of the future.‖ This paper undertakes a comparative review of three forward-thinking and differing institutional responses to global challenges.

Stanford University was chosen for its recent initiatives demonstrating how knowledge could be opened to the world through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and it has pursued innovative change by creating a new interdisciplinary educational model across selected disciplines.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was selected for its commitment to alternative methods of distributing education and commitment to education for the masses, which helps to transform the lives of the disadvantaged in society by providing higher education through distance and open-university approaches to learning.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University (TAGIUNI) was selected for its collaborative approach in facilitating partnerships, which challenges the traditional monolithic structure of institutions of higher learning.

With TAGIUNI‘s diverse partnerships, expertise increases exponentially through the synergies of the multiple entities working together to attract students and research regionally and globally.

Each is grounded in their unique regional contexts, yet all are responsive to the global need for sustainable development and security.

All are pioneering the development of a global consciousness to address emerging threats and risks to sustainable development--going from challenges, to opportunities, to solutions.