Emergence of new technologies is not only changing paradigms of business but also putting huge pressure on education system. The blazing fast speed of technological revolution is straining IT organizations to come up with innovative solutions.

It is an established fact responsibility creating employable workforce lies with education system. The major concern about today’s education is whether it is geared up to meet perpetually growing demands of technological developments.

Paradox of Education In View of Modern Business World

Modern IT businesses are adopting all possible measures to reduce the time gap between conceptualization of an idea and its final development into a functional solution. This period is referred to as Time to Value (TtV) and is a holy grail of every organization. Modern technologies such as high end mobile communications and cloud computing are facilitating reduction of TtV to a significant extent.
 
Organizations are able to adopt greater resilience and adaptability due to these cutting edge technologies. Contraction of TtV is destined to continue in the face of escalating competition and shortening of product life cycles. Organizations are constantly attempting to bring newer versions of existing applications to stay ahead of competition.
 
If we use the parameter of TtV to compare modern business strategies and education systems, then we get a disturbingly skewed scenario. It is expected that a student should graduate in the span of four years. However, in reality this period has prolonged and as per the Department of Organization, students are talking at least five years to complete a four year degree course.

Considering that a student needs at least five years to graduate and become ready to be employed we can conclude that the TtV has extended to more than five years from four years. This is in total contrast to product TtVs that are getting shortened. If the same trend continues, then higher education will lose its relevance over a period of time.

Obsolete Education System 

When we think about the existing education model, we can visualize the huge concrete infrastructure that houses class rooms, libraries, laboratories, assembly halls, and hostels, just to name a few. These institutions are surrounded by carefully landscaped gardens and well maintained approach roads. These facilities are designed to admit thousands of students each year and put them through degree courses that would last for four to five years.
 
Now consider the modern communication system that has enabled people from across continents and nations to communicate with each other, share their views, and post their status in real time. We are able to appear for interviews, participate in meetings, and address a gathering remotely with help of Skype or similar application. Virtual class rooms are slowly becoming relevant and giving boost to the concept of distant education.
 
These two scenarios force us to accept the bitter fact that today’s colleges and universities are outdated. It is highly contradictory that when the world outside is moving at a hectic pace by using smart-phones, virtual meetings, video conferencing, and cloud computing, the colleges are forcing our students to behave like ostriches by cutting them off from the ongoing developments in the universe outside.
 
It is disturbing to note that many colleges are going to the extent of banning social media inside college premises. Who would believe that colleges are the places where future citizens are being nurtured and prepared to enter outside world? On the contrary, colleges have become places to hide and shut our students from outside world.
 
Impact of Technology on Job Security

It is an unfortunate fact that phrases such as job stability or job security have slowly become antiquated. This has happened due to the emergence of readily available workforce that can be instantly hired on contractual basis to accomplish tasks for a short period. Technology has made it possible to identify, approach, and hire teams of freelancers to complete work assignments.
 
Integration of freelancers into cohesive teams and ability to quickly move them in and out of different work assignments have facilitated many organizations to get the most knowledgeable and competent workforce without having to offer a permanent employment to individuals.

Hence, the importance of acquiring post-graduate qualifications is bound to subside. This is also relevant for working graduates who are trying to pursue higher education in order to get better and high paying jobs.

Modern Education Tools Boost Out Of the Box Thinking

One of the most hyped distant education sites is udemy.com, that offers more than 40000 courses and is offering convenience of learning from student’s own place, and own device at own pace. There are around 12 million students leveraging this platform right now.
 
One of the instructors, David Travis is amazed at the effectiveness of online education since many students have switched their careers after understanding relevance of user experience. The video driven courses also offer opportunity to interact with instructors. Some of the more focused sites are codeacademy.com and bloc.io that cater to IT related courses such as coding and web development.
 
It is high time that students who are planning to pursue higher education begin to contemplate out of the box. It is worth noting that the major development that is poised to take place in terms of higher education would not be possible without turning to cloud that holds key to the content.