"Learning from the Future" Symposium
This third symposium, designed and organized by the Centre for Support of Pedagogical Innovations (CSIP), was held on October 12 and 13 at the University of Montpellier . A look back at this key event for pedagogical transformation in higher education, which brought together more than one hundred national and international experts.
At this event, the CSIP brought together a range of key players from diverse backgrounds, continuing a collective reflection initiated in 2018. This 3rd symposium was held on October 12th and 13th at the University of Montpellier. The program included plenary sessions, workshops, futuristic brainstorming, and a roundtable discussion, presented by more than 30 high-level speakers. Over one hundred Professors Students, decision-makers, instructional designers, EdTechs… came together to reflect on educational developments and imagine future prospects after a crisis that has shaken up all stakeholders in higher education.
“This meeting is an opportunity to look back on 10 years of educational transformations and on a crisis that has revealed as many needs as it has creativity and opportunities. Over these two days we have been able to think and imagine together the university of 2031,” emphasizes Mireille Brangé, Coordinator of the national acceleration strategy for education and digital technology at the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI), who inaugurated this symposium alongside Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier and Anne-Sophie Barthez, Director General of Higher Education and Professional Integration at the MESRI.
Unprecedented working sessions
The team at the Centre for Support to Educational Innovations, in collaboration with the Louvain Learning Lab, the Catholic University of Lille , and the National Centre for Arts and Crafts , proposed several new working sessions around three main axes structuring the major stages of educational transformation from 2010 to 2031. "The objective is to learn from the past 10 years, to examine teaching and student practices, to identify the different challenges in order to generate relevant questions for the next 10 years ," explains Brigitte Lundin, Director of the CSIP at the University of Montpellier.
Better anticipate the future
Teachers and students from across France shared their experiences of teaching during the health crisis. “Beyond the shock and questions, what we want is to collectively identify different teaching initiatives to learn all the lessons from the crisis we have just experienced,” explains Jean-Patrick Respaut, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the University of Montpellier. “We want to better anticipate the future and avoid finding ourselves in the same unprepared situation we all faced.”
Finally, the presence of graphic facilitators allowed for the unveiling of a giant summary of the futuristic brainstorming workshops. These creative sessions energized the collective work and sparked innovative ideas about the future of higher education, with its tensions and transformations. These two days of reflection and networking concluded with a roundtable discussion on international perspectives and future directions. " The future is here, and it starts now! " concluded Brigitte Lundin. The next meeting will be in 2022.