JCU International Think Tank: The Virtualization of Education, Training, and Work
John Cabot University has teamed up with New York University, the City University of New York, University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), University of San Andres (Argentina), Nato Defense College (Rome), Politecnico di Torino (Turin), Università di Pisa, Università di Comunicazione e Lingue (Milan), Roskilde University (Denmark), and Aarhus Business School (Denmark) to create the think tank “The Virtualization of Education, Training, and Work.”
Created and coordinated by the Institute of Future and Innovation Studies at John Cabot University, this international think tank has been assembled as a collaborative effort to face the challenges of the new educational realities produced by Covid-19. Universities, like other public and private organizations around the world, have been forced to very quickly adapt to a new reality of smart working, online teaching, and mediated live interactions. This transformation is not new, especially in academia, and it has been slowly developing for over a decade. The unprecedented pressures of the health crisis, however, have created a global momentum, a new socio-economic context, and a unique transformational impetus that did not exist before. New communication tools, and globally shared practices and experiences are quickly evolving in education, training, and work. This evolution will most likely continue, and the accumulated experience, innovations, organizational and adaptation processes, and human and economic investments will lead to new permanently integrated mediated practices that will once more transform the way we work, interact, and socialize.
The think tank, composed of experts from several international institutions who will share experiences and best practices specifically developed to address the immediate challenges of this transformation in education, ultimately aims to conceptualize and reflect on the broader implications, opportunities, and consequences of this momentous social transformation.
The think tank created and hosted by the JCU Institute of Future and Innovation Studies is led by JCU English Professor Carlos Dews. It also includes JCU’s Educational Technologist, Prof. Khaison Duong, and Reference Librarian Livia Piotto, who are also members of the University’s internal Covid-19 response team. To follow the ongoing work of the think tank and the updated full list of participants please visit the Institute’s website.
