Extensive Reading
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How COVID-19 Can Reinvent Higher Education
Cameron Mirza
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has seen unprecedented measures taken by nations to protect human life，to keep economies afloat，and to ensure that education systems are still able to function and students can learn，albeit in a distance learning environment．
Higher education has been significantly disrupted as millions of students around the world are now studying remotely as campuses shut down in an attempt to help contain the virus．Many overseas students are in self-isolation away from family or have had to go back home．There is no clarity if overseas students will return next academic year or indeed how COVID-19 will impact on overall university recruitment and retention for next year，for students and faculty alike．
It’s a potential funding crisis for many private universities．The impact of the current situation will have a profound impact on universities around the region in many ways and will force institutions to rethink their operating models，strategies，and fundamentally how higher education will be delivered．It will also create opportunities，imagine if you are taught by the best subject matter faculty regardless of where they or you are in the world？Or the fact that learning is no longer bound by traditional semesters，credit hours，or having to spend hours traveling to a class，time wasted．We are now in an era where it is all possible due to technology．
Whilst many sectors have been disrupted by technology over the last decade higher education has remained largely in its traditional format through bricks and mortar infrastructure and face-to-face delivery．Given the current challenges，this model is broken．Interestingly，despite all the talk in recent years of disruptive technologies—AI，big data，machine learning，blockchain，VR and AR—the reality is that universities are typically using low tech applications or ones they already had to deliver remote learning．As faculty around the world frantically work to transfer learning materials to online materials perhaps this is the time to pause and take a longer-term，view of how higher education could innovate and transform itself．
In the short term，operating like this is a necessity due to timescale and logistical challenges．Long term this is a unique opportunity to transform the higher education sector and one which must be grasped．I am a strong advocate of face-to-face learning and the broader experience of a campus-based higher education which supports the transition of young people into adulthood．That said，we face a great opportunity to hack higher education both at speed and scale to transform the sector beyond traditional outcomes and demographics．To move the sector to a more blended or fully digital experience．
［A］Placing lecture slides onto a learning platform or converting documents into PDFs is digitalization，not digital transformation．Yet imagine the sort of inclusive and forwardthinking model higher education could have if it leveraged frontier technologies and shifted its outlook of traditional learning and partnerships？
［B］Universities should be looking to AI to do the heavy lifting of faculty to free up time to allow them to focus on the actual job of teaching and doing research．AI’s potential to change the way teachers teach and students learn，helping maximize student success and prepare them for the future．Collective intelligence tools will be available to save teachers time with tasks like grading papers，so teachers can spend more time with students．AI can help identify struggling students through behavioral cues and give them a nudge in the right direction．Universities can even use AI to offer a truly personalized learning experience，overcoming one of the biggest limitations of our current education model．AI has the power to become a great equalizer in education and a key differentiator for institutions that embrace it．
［C］Universities now more than ever have the opportunity to redesign service delivery and mobilize collective action to transform the university experience：an experience that transcends age，demographics，socioeconomic status，employment status or family situation by offering affordable exciting courses with rich content which are accessible to nontraditional students through leveraging technology．
［D］There will be no physical graduation ceremonies this year：what a great opportunity to use blockchain to issue students their degrees and transcripts this year or even students portfolios on a distributed ledger which is secure，tamper-proof and verified．Student credentials can be shared with employers in seconds rather than having to dig through piles of files and papers because the credentials are on your phone．This is digital transformation，not digitalization．
［E］Whilst many universities will fundamentally operate in the same way as they did pre-COVID 19，those institutions with bold ambitions and forward-thinking leadership can grasp this golden opportunity to create a seismic shift and affect change in an unprecedented manner by questioning what they do and how they do it．
［F］Now is the opportunity to think about the real challenges we face and how frontier technologies can help to solve them rather than the other way round．
［G］This crisis has taught us what we have always known and perhaps forgotten，that there is no substitute for a good teacher．Technology can and should support teachers to allow them to focus on changing lives through their interactions with students，but the way those interactions occur in the future may well be very different from the past．
（885 words）
＼Word Tips＼
1．reinvent vt．重塑，彻底改造
2．outbreak n．＆vi．（战争、疾病）爆发，发作
3．unprecedented adj．空前的，无前例的
4．albeit conj．虽然，尽管
5．disrupt vt．破坏，使瓦解，使分裂
6．infrastructure n．基础设施，公共建设(https://www.daowen.com)
7．blockchain n．区块链
8．frantically adv．疯狂地，狂暴地
9．timescale n．时间量程，时标
10．leverage v．利用；n．手段
11．nudge n．推动
12．demographics n．人口统计资料
13．portfolio n．档案，文件夹
14．seismic adj．地震的，因地震而引起的
＼After-reading Exercises＼
I．Directions：The last 7 paragraphs in Text B are given in a wrong order．You are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A-G．The first and the last paragraphs have been placed for you．
The correct order of the last 7 paragraphs should be：
［A］________，________，________，________，________，［G］
Ⅱ．Directions：Choose the right conjunction or preposition for each blank．
1．Higher education has been significantly disrupted________millions of students around the world are now studying remotely．
A．as B．so C．when D．that
2．The impact of the current situation will have a profound impact on universities around the region in many ways and will force institutions to rethink their operating models，strategies，and fundamentally________higher education will be delivered．
A．why B．how C．that D．because
3．________the current challenges，this model is broken．
A．As B．Since C．Given D．In that
4．In the short term operating like this is a necessity________timescale and logistical challenges．
A．in case B．except C．as a result D．due to
5．I am a strong advocate of face-to-face learning and the broader experience of a campusbased higher education________supports the transition of young people into adulthood．
A．when B．where C．how D．which