The era of the university lecturer as the ¡°sage on the stage¡± who imparts wisdom to students is over, according to a business education expert who argued that the duty of teaching staff is now to ¡°facilitate a learning environment¡±.

Robert Reid, senior executive adviser at the Florida-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, said that while the pace of change in higher education is ¡°often glacial¡±, increasing numbers of academics are now ¡°unbelievably engaged with students, and have used technology such as the flipped classroom model to create an effective learning environment¡±.

Speaking at IE University¡¯s Reinventing ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ conference in Madrid, Mr Reid said that such lecturers ¡°drag their colleagues along because their colleagues realise that the ¡®sage on the stage¡¯ is gone and today the faculty member is really a facilitator of a learning environment¡±.

¡°They are not the source of information ¨C the information is out there. Their job is to help students assimilate and figure out what does it mean [and] how do we use it,¡± he added.

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During a panel discussion on the future of work and how universities can develop talent for today¡¯s world, Mr Reid said that while there are ¡°still some sages on the stage¡±, he was ¡°pretty optimistic¡± about the quality of lecturers at universities. ?

¡°There are a lot of people in a lot of places who have learned how to teach in a very different way and in a very effective way. But it¡¯s certainly not 100 per cent,¡± he said.

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Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa at Deloitte, who also spoke on the panel, highlighted the importance of universities¡¯ creating graduates with strong communication and people skills and downplayed the threat of artificial intelligence for jobs.

¡°I even accuse many of my staff of being robots because they don¡¯t think enough. Do I want robots to replace them? That¡¯s the last thing I want. I want people, I want human beings who can connect and communicate, who come up with ideas,¡± he said.

ellie.bothwell@timeshighereducation.com