Delphi Report
Financial crisis 2 round Which of the following factors will produce most important change in the way people learn? Please rate from 1- very little impact to 5- very significant impact FINANCIAL CRISIS
AVERAGE
IQR
CONV.
DIVERG.
3
2-4
4
2
As refraining all throughout the survey, the recent economic downturn - and its echoes in the media and in policy discourse at large - appearently push people to calibrate judgements and foresights on the basis of current global economic conditions and the perception that such a shock will produce deep impacts in the years to come. However the features of this impact are more controversial and even opposite scenarios arise when looking ahead to forthcoming events. Concerning specifically the way people learn, financial crisis results to be a very controversial factor on a double level. The wide extension of the IQR, from 2 to 4, suggests that some experts do not even consider the element as a very influencial one, while for others the impact is strong. Significantly, this impact is primarily related to the issue of funding and investment for education, hence it addresses a policy shift rather than individual/social behaviour. Within this framework, opposite foresights are expressed. On the one hand financial crisis and its socio-economic consequences are expected to push forwards investment in E&T, thanks to an increased effort on the part of the state to support its citizens. On the other hand, economic shortage could lead to cut off expenses and investment in such a long-term and immaterial goal as education, redirecting efforts in favour of more contingent recovery priorities.
Technological progress 2 round Which of the following factors will produce most important change in the way people learn? Please rate from 1- very little impact to 5- very significant impact TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS
AVERAGE
IQR
CONV.
DIVERG.
4,2
4-5
2
2
Interestingly, technological progress is expected to have the highest impact on the way people learn in the future, as the exogenous factor able to concretely affect the modalities (time, space, etc), means and attitudes that people adopt in their learning experience. The IQR as well as the average rate are impressively high, with a negligible number of deviating answers after two rounds.
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Grant Agreement n. 2007-3612/001-001
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