Curriculum Change: The Fluidity of Knowledge and Technology. A Case of University Education in Kenya

Abstract

Abstract The new Information Technology is challenging the future existence of university education in universities. Technology affects the way of thinking of the teacher, the student, the classroom environment and the curriculum. Curriculum describes the knowledge planned for learners to change their behavior. The 21st century technology will continually bring changes in the curricula of the universities and thus introducing the aspect of fluidity. Fluidity therefore, describes curricula as unstable because of technology. The fluidity of knowledge as a result of technology dictates the state of curriculum in higher education. The study sought to find out the status of university education in Kenya in light of fluidity of knowledge and technology. Content analysis was used to collate data for this study. The study found that Website education is slowly taking over the school. The Multi-media integration of concepts, facts, images, data and sound is creating meaning in complex ways in the learner. The challenge is enormous as there are over 550 million websites and billions of searches of information. The study also found that instruction will not be deficient in subject content but university education faces challenges whether all knowledge will lead to achieving the old time educational objectives. The study further challenges universities to ask themselves whether whatever students learn in the four years will still be beneficial or applicable when they graduate because of fluidity of curriculum. The study observes that there will likely be need for “unlearning” of what was learned because the world outside university will have changed. The study recommends that the life span of university curriculum should not be fixed at four years or five or six years but should be flexible enough to change even in two years. Commission for University Education accreditation procedure could be overtaken by technology. Keywords: Curriculum, Change, Fluidity, Knowledge, Technology