Digital Transformation of Higher Education: A Foresight Study

This report presents the results of the third study carried out within the framework of the UNIDIGIT@L project (The digital transformation of university degree programs: learning analytics, subjectivities and performance in pre-pandemic times and during COVID-19, Ref. TED2021-130743B-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The study focuses on exploring possible futures for the digital transformation of Higher Education in Extremadura through the application of futures studies methodologies.

The study was conducted with the participation of members of the university community (teaching staff, technical/management/administrative and service staff, and students), who analysed four alternative scenarios—Growth, Collapse, Discipline and Transformation—and defined a preferred future for the institution. Using techniques such as Organizational Retrospective Analysis, SWOT analysis, the COCD Box and the Reinert method (Iramuteq), discursive patterns were identified around three main axes: Ideas (specific and feasible proposals), Reactions (critical assessments and subjective experiences), and Transformations (approaches to institutional and methodological redesign).

The results show a progression from immediate lived experience towards the formulation of systemic proposals, highlighting the need to combine practical feasibility with a vision of deep change. The study concludes that universities should integrate the critical perceptions of the community, promote teaching autonomy, make regulations more flexible and foster active methodologies to address the challenges of digitalisation.