Universities Without Walls: Future Skills & Future Work

Episode Overview

In this episode of The EdTech Podcast, host Philippa Wraithmell explores the future of higher education with two trailblazing leaders:

• James Newby, President & CEO of NMITE (New Model Institute for Technology & Engineering), UK
• Dr. Thomas Funke, Founding President of Tomorrow University, Germany

Together, they unpack how universities are moving away from rigid, traditional structures and toward challenge-based, mission-driven, hands-on, and emotionally intelligent learning models. They explore how technology, global communities, and redesigned pedagogy are preparing graduates for real-world impact, not just academic achievement.

Key Themes in This Episode

• The shift toward flexible, human-centered, challenge-based learning
• How hands-on, employer-connected programs create work-ready graduates
• Global remote learning communities and metaverse-powered collaboration
• Emotional intelligence, adaptability, and mission-based learning
• The future of skills for the workplace — beyond degrees
• Rethinking assessment: no exams, no grades, competency-based feedback
• Accelerated degrees and efficiency in higher education
• How universities can disrupt outdated systems and lead meaningful change

Why Listen to This Episode?

This conversation is essential for anyone curious about how higher education is being rebuilt for the future. You’ll learn how leading universities are:

• Eliminating exams in favor of authentic, skills-driven assessments
• Moving from lecture halls to mission-focused, collaborative studios
• Preparing graduates with empathy, creativity, teamwork, and adaptability
• Using technology and the metaverse to build global learning ecosystems
• Designing degrees around real employer challenges and real societal needs

If you want to understand how higher education must evolve — and what future-ready learning can look like — this episode offers practical perspective and bold inspiration.

Who This Episode Is For?

This episode is ideal for:

• Higher education leaders and policymakers
• Educators and lecturers
• EdTech entrepreneurs and innovators
• Employers seeking future-ready talent
• Students exploring next-generation university pathways
• Anyone interested in the future of skills, work, and learning

Full Episode Description

What if a university had no walls, no lecture halls, and no exams? What if learning began not with modules, but with your mission, your values, and your desire to create impact?

\In this episode, we explore how NMITE and Tomorrow University are rewriting the rules of higher education.

James Newby describes NMITE’s “small by design” engineering university — an institution where students work 9–5 in challenge-based studios, collaborate with real employers, build machines that work, and graduate one full year faster than traditional UK degrees. The model focuses on action, integration, teamwork, and practical learning that makes students genuinely work-ready.

Dr. Thomas Funke shares how Tomorrow University created a fully remote, global learning ecosystem powered by social learning, personalised pathways, and mission-driven education. Learners start by identifying what matters to them, then develop skills through projects that address real-world issues — supported by a worldwide community.

Together, they discuss how universities can become places of reflection + action, where emotional intelligence sits alongside cognitive skill, and where learning becomes a lifelong, flexible, stackable journey. They challenge outdated systems and invite educators to reimagine what teaching, assessment, and student experience should look like in the digital age.

From accelerated degrees to metaverse campuses, and from employer-integrated challenges to global inclusion, this episode reveals how learning can evolve when institutions dare to innovate.