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The Information Age University? Journal ofAgricultural and Applied Economics, 28,1(July 1996):1-11 @ 1996 Southern Agricultural Economics Association The Information Age University? Lynn L. Reinschmiedt Introduction As a preface to my comments today, I challenge pending changes in higher education and the indus- you to consider the following questions. Do the in- trialization of agriculture. Urban, in his 1994 Inter- formation age technological changes now taking national Agribusiness Management Association place have the potential to disrupt, or even destroy, presidential address, identified a number of forces the university as we know it? Do these changes driving this transformation. Two of these—recog- have the potential to force restructuring of the land- nition of the new role of the consumer and marked grant system? My comments today will address technological advances—are pertinent to the these questions. In doing so, however, I will not ad- changes being predicted in higher education. Two dress problems facing the land-grant system or the things are happening. First, universities are enter- agricultural economics profession per se, other ing an era in which the consumer (defined here as than those we face as a part of the overall system students and employers) will have considerably of higher education. Others are doing that or have more influence and control over the range of prod- addressed those more unique problems elsewhere. ucts provided. Second, technology is rapidly revo- A major National Research Council (NRC) initia- lutionizing the manner in which educational prod- tive is now examining the relevancy of the land- ucts are packaged and delivered. grant system in the context of today’s society; the I would like to address four critical areas. First, W. K. Kellogg Foundation has funded an initiative an overview of the information revolution in the to facilitate positive change within the land-grant context of other major transformations is essential, system (Warner); and Eidman, in his 1995 Ameri- Secondly, I would like to address specific chal- can Agricultural Economics Association presiden- lenges to higher education. Next, I will question the tial address, summarized key concerns and issues ability of universities to become information age facing the agricultural economics profession and institutions of higher learning. Finally, I will briefly how we are responding to them. I contend that over- address implications for the land-grant system. laying the NRC and Eidman concerns is a series of fundamental changes taking place that has the Information Age potential to drastically modify the higher education model as we presently know and understand it. It is increasingly difficult to read a newspaper or We can make an analogy between the im- magazine article, watch the evening news, listen to the radio, or check your e-mail without being re- minded, either explicitly or implicitly, of how the “information superhighway” has transformed our Lynn L. Reinschmiedt is professor and undergraduate coor- dinator, Department of Agricultural Economics, Mississippi lives, or is about to do so. The term “information State University. superhighway:’ popularized by Vice President Al Presidential address to the Southern Agricultural Eco- Gore, is now commonplace terminology, even to nomics Association, Greensboro, North Carolina, February the computer illiterate. In his book, The Road 5, 1996. The author would like to thank David Schweik- hardt, John Lee, and Sue Benedict for their comments and Ahead, Bill Gates notes that a distinguishing char- suggestions. acteristic of this period in history is exemplified by 2 Journal ofAgricultural and Applied Economics, July 1996 the completely new ways in which information can in London for consulting jobs in the U. S., Africa, be changed and manipulated, and the increasing or Hong Kong, speeds at which we can handle it. Technology is The First Wave of change, the agricultural revo- changing the way we handle information and, fur- lution, evolved over thousands of years, The Indus- thermore, this revolution in communications is trial Revolution, while continuing into the present, just beginning. essentially took 300 years. It is predicted the Third Wave will complete itself within decades (Toffler Technological Change: A Historical Perspective and Toffler). The rate at which change is occurring as the information age and its technologies are un- Futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler have written ex- folding is unprecedented in all of history. tensively on information age changes taking place While often dramatic and cataclysmic, the soci- worldwide and the resulting strains placed upon etal, economic, and cultural changes that accompa- conventional social, economic, and political institu- nied the previous two waves of technological ad- tions. They put the emerging information age revo- vancement developed over a long enough span of lution into perspective by comparing its impacts on time to allow cultural, social, and economic insti- society with previous technological revolutions. tutions to evolve with the technological advances. Specifically, they categorize into three waves For example, the Industrial Revolution, starting in the major phases of social and economic transfor- Great Britain at the end of the eighteenth century mation that have taken place over the past 10 mil- and spreading out over Europe, the U. S., and the lenniums. The first of these, starting about 10,000 rest of the world, was still evolving through the years ago, was the agricultural revolution, when hu- middle part of the twentieth century. The Industrial mans moved from a traditional hunter/nomadic Revolution occurred in waves, thereby allowing society to domesticated agriculture. In this First other countries or regions of the world to learn and Wave, land and labor were the main factors of pro- benefit from predecessors, even though they typi- duction. The Industrial Revolution, or the Second cally lagged in development. The phenomenal Wave, commencing roughly 300 years ago, trans- speed at which information age technologies are formed society from an agrarian state to an urban, being developed is creating political, social, and factory-centered way of life (Dreifus). In the Sec- economic problems compressed into ever shorter ond Wave economy, land is still valuable, but labor time frames. The window of opportunity in which has become massified around machines and larger politicians, decision makers, and individuals must industries (Dyson et al.). A Third Wave, reflecting make decisions and adjustments is becoming the civilization of the computer, satellite, and the smaller and smaller. The Tofflers argue that Second Internet—beginning in the 1940s with the develop- Wave institutional structures are often ill-suited to ment of Harvard’s Mark I and the University of deal with the nature, magnitude, and speed of soci- Pennsylvania’s ENIAC computers—ushered in the etal and economic changes riding the Third Wave. beginning of the information age (Norris). For the Third Wave to “create a better, more civil, Representing a major departure from the past more decent and democratic future:’ we have to as- when the more traditional land, labor, and capital certain the relevancy of Second Wave economic, dominated the economic scene, “actionable knowl- political, and social policies to Third Wave prob- edge,” encompassing data, information, images, lems (Toffler and Toffler, p. 82). The implications symbols, culture, ideology, and values, is the cen- are twofold: either Second Wave institutional struc- tral resource in Third Wave society (Dyson et al.). tures will have to adapt or give way to new ones. In a globally competitive economy, this knowledge Which institutions will adapt and which will resource may reside anywhere. Unlike land, labor fail? A number of questions regarding education (in a physical sense), and capital, which tend to be can be posited. How will education change? How location specific, knowledge resources can be will the institutions that have historically provided tapped from anywhere in the world with today’s educational services change? The following quota- communications technologies. To illustrate this, tion regarding the impact of information age tech- Gates (p. 261 ) gives the example of an English- nologies on higher education institutions sets the speaking Ph.D. in China bidding against colleagues stage for the remainder of my comments: Reinschmiedt: The Information Age University? 3 Thus, while new communications technologies not all of which are unique to information age de- are likely to strengthen research, they will also velopments, but they will become more important weaken the traditional major institutions of lear- as information age changes ripple through society. ning,the universities. Instead of prospering with These forces include (a) a demand for lifelong the new tools, many of the traditional functions learning, (b) accountability in all facets of the tri- of universities will be superseded, their financial partite mission of the university, and (c) new learn- base eroded, their technology replaced, and their ing systems evolving from emerging technologies role in intellectual inquiry reduced (Noam, p. 247). threatening the university’s traditional monopoly position as a supplier of educational services. These three challenges are discussed in terms of Higher Education Challenges higher education in general, but are particularly rel- evant to land grants, colleges of agriculture, and ag- In the context
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