DATA EMERGED FROM THE CONFERENCE “TRADITIONAL AND TELEMATIC UNIVERSITIES. WHY A WAR MAKES NO SENSE” by Redazione Scuola.
April 10, 2024
In Italy, 13 percent of graduates come from Telematic Universities. Developed since 2003, they have had good success especially among the students who need a university degree, while working. This was the starting point for Marco Bassani, Professor of History of Political Doctrines at Pegaso Telematic University, and Carlo Lottieri Associate Professor of Philosophy of Law at the Department of Legal Sciences in Verona, who organized the conference “Traditional and Telematic Universities. Why a war makes no sense,” currently in progress at the Italian Chamber of Ministers. In the Covid years, it was said during the conference, there has been a 410 percent increase in enrolments at Telematic Universities “and this result should give us pause for thought.”
ITALY HAS FEW GRADUATES
Italy has a very low number of graduates, it is second to last in the EU, ahead only of Romania and Telematics broadens the audience of both those under 25 and student workers. In a world that is changing rapidly, we need to move towards liberalization that allows everyone to give their best”, stated the two teachers. According to whom «the conflict between online and traditional universities is paradoxical after that for at least two academic years, due to the pandemic, traditional universities were also forced to adopt technologies for distance teaching. They were therefore able to measure the differences compared to their methodologies: they were able to understand the limits but also the great potential”
IDENTIKIT OF STUDENTS
According to a recent survey by the Einaudi Foundation, today the students at Telematic Universities are mostly workers who live in the South of Italy, the area of the country where there is the need to improve human capital. In addition to this, there are about 18 million High School graduates in Italy who do not have any kind of tertiary ( or post – secondary) education. To date, Telematic Universities – it emerged – intercept the needs of almost 250 thousand people, or 13 percent of the total Italian University students, without burdening the public accounts (because the resources come from the fees paid by students) by suggesting a University reality that is more varied, plural and able to meet the demands of diversified segments of the student body.
INNOVATIVE METHOD
“To meet the challenges of education, it is essential to adopt an innovative approach that focuses on maximum autonomy of institutions in order to foster the emergence of teaching tools and educational projects adaptable to the changing needs of students and the demands of the labor market. It is also important to promote a culture that values competition between Universities, in general, and between Traditional and Telematic institutions, so as to enrich Educational Offerings and prepare students and managers for an increasingly dynamic and global future,” said Marco Bassani.
SOCIAL ROLE
“Recognizing the social role of Telematic Universities means responding to the expectations of those who have not been able to graduate in the past, those who do not have the financial resources to move to a university town and those who cannot afford to study without working. The legislature, therefore, instead of opposing, should liberalize a University System today stiffened by dense regulation, which hinders any kind of innovation.”
“There is no doubt that the societies of the future will be characterized by constant recourse to Telematic Universities and, already today, the need to be constantly updated and capable of learning is emerging more and more. In this sense, a positive relationship with educational innovation must be maintained, enhancing the opportunities offered by technology. To oppose innovative teaching solutions would be irresponsible: instead, it is essential to reward value and competence, rather than merely favouring a single mode of teaching. From this point of view, it would be a mistake to oblige Telematic Universities to hire hundreds of new professors or lecturers; The telematic approach is completely different from face-to-face methodology, and new hires would not be employable in any way: not to mention that this would force tuition fees to rise considerably,” Carlo Lottieri concluded.