Innovative Learning and Education Practices in European Universities: A Pathway to Modern Pedagogy

Introduction

Preparing graduates to resolve the emerging contemporary challenges that are caused by change requires consistent review and update of the pedagogies used by teachers (Peterson, 2018). The 21^st century is characterized by the proliferation of scientific and informative technology, the creation of knowledge, and the advancement of research and education (Mykhailyshyn et al., 2018). Burke et al. (2017) supported that the attributes of the modern society, especially, the increased innovation have resulted in the adoption and use of technology in learning. The social changes that have been caused by Web 2.0 tools have had a significant impact on the learning practices for modern pedagogy. Bennett et al. (2012); Kovarova and Simkova (2014); Yadav and Patwardhan (2016); and Henderson et al. (2015) posit that the emergence of educational innovation such as electronic learning, interactive multimedia, mobile learning, wireless devices, and hypermedia over the past 10 years has helped in promoting pedagogy at institutions of higher learning.

In the 21^st century, universities in Europe and other parts of the world lost the monopoly of producing and disseminating knowledge as a result of the introduction of innovative learning and education practices (Freitas & Paredes, 2018). The challenges European universities are experiencing in pursuit of fulfilling the demands of the society can be categorized into economical, technological, and faculty-based issues. First, higher learning institutions models are based on the economy (Mehaffy, 2012). The model is focused on educating more students and promoting learning at a lower cost. Second, education at universities is affected by technological advancements because the Information Communication Technology (ICT) requires changes to the teaching and learning process. Third, the faculty is required to enroll in professional development activities that impart them with the competencies to offer the quality of education that is demanded in society. The faculty members at universities are required to be innovative and apply current academic teaching and learning methods. Hence, learning at universities should be innovative, engage students, and fulfill the learners’ educational needs (Freitas & Paredes, 2018; Mehaffy, 2012; & Norgard et al., 2018).

In the modern era, the foundation roles of education include (a) guarding the quality of knowledge produced and disseminated, (b) promoting reflective and critical thinking, and (c) structuring learning (McGrath et al., 2016). Institutions of higher learning are the core validators of scientific theories, which is done through falsification procedures such as peer-reviews. The introduction of ICT has resulted in changes in academic research and publication because of the prevalent reliance on open science to disseminate findings. Faculty members in universities are responsible for promoting reflective and critical thinking by imparting students with competencies and skills (Brennan et al., 2014). In universities, structured learning is done to help graduates transition to the labor market (McGrath et al., 2016).

This chapter was written to discuss the importance of technology in higher education and the practical applications of innovation education in European universities, specifically, MOOC, blended learning, and flipped blackboard. The authors began the chapter by making the reader aware of the factors that have supported the adoption of innovative learning and education practices in European universities, which have significantly affected the institutions’ monopoly of creating and disseminating knowledge. The authors then proceed to provide background information on the factors that have influenced the adoption of innovative learning and educational practices in European universities.

In the background section, the authors focused on the impact of innovative education and learning practices in Europe and argued for the importance of the university management and governance to provide adequate resources. A discussion of the characteristics of innovative education is relevant to this chapter because it helps the readers understand that not all technology that is applied in learning can be categorized as innovative. The background section supports the readers' ability to determine the technology the can be categorized as innovative learning and educational practices. Similarly, a discussion on the ideology of innovative education in Europe was included to enable the readers to understand that the adoption of innovative technology in universities does automatically result in a change in pedagogy. The section is relevant because it contains a discussion on the concepts that support the ideology of innovative learning and educational practices, which could result in the advancement of modern pedagogy.