A Thematic Analysis of UPOU’s Virtual Roundtable Discussions (VRTDs) on the University of the Future

Abstract

The impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) on education has been widely discussed in recent literature. Referred to as Education 4.0, teaching and learning in the future is seen to be largely influenced by advances in technology brought about by IR 4.0. This has prompted the education sector to evaluate the educational system and envision its future. Like most other educational institutions, Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) are challenged to rethink and retool themselves for the “new normal” and future scenarios. University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) embarked on a participative, reflective, and forward-thinking discussion series through virtual roundtable discussions (VRTD) on the University of the Future (UoF). This study presented the collective thinking of UPOU’s constituencies as captured in the VRTDs conducted from November 2020 to January 2021. A thematic analysis was conducted to surface themes arising from the transcript of five (5) VRTDs on the UoF conducted by UPOU with its faculty, students, staff, and alumni as participants. To contextualize the emerging themes, these were superimposed on the Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) subsystems. The two arising themes were radical transformation and peripheral adjustments. Both refer to the different ways in which the UPOU can transform into a UoF, emanating from the VRTD discussions. An overarching theme of seamlessness was further abstracted. In becoming a UoF, a seamless UPOU is envisioned to be permeable and porous enough to be equal in prestige and purpose with its surroundings.