that any job today depends 80 % on the skills and competencies the candidate already has , and this is what we must give our students . Knowledge is easily accessible today , but you need the skills to access the knowledge . It ' s neither the instructor nor the textbook that ' s the main source of the knowledge – it is open source . But accessing the knowledge you need requires skills . Four years ago at HCT we shut down our physical library and moved it online , creating an advanced digital library . We contracted with McGraw-Hill and gained access to tens of thousands of books and supplemental materials online . That ' s a major step forward and a very special partnership . Sadly education has lagged behind other sectors in adopting technology of this type up till now , but this concept will have to be widely adopted .” By ditching the bureaucratic mindset of face-toface teaching and written exams , HCT can turn out students ready to hit the ground running , and contribute to employers at the speed required by today ' s employers .
This conversion to a digital , paperless campus customised for its principal stakeholders , the students , is in full spate at HCT and Professor Al-Shamsi is determined to deliver it over the coming five years . It might have taken 50 years , he says , had not the pandemic accelerated the process . Make no mistake , in executing this plan HCT is showing the path to global higher education transformation . “ Unless digital change is done , and done quickly , higher education across the globe , like another Kodak , would be put out of business , and a whole generation of students let down .” technologymagazine . com 311