DIDAMATICA 2015 – ISBN 978-88-98091-38-6 Big Data and Models of Innovative Teaching with Cognitive Computing M. Coccoli, A. Guercio 1 , P. Maresca 2 , L. Stanganelli 3 DIBRIS, University of Genoa Via Opera Pia, 13 I-16145 Genova, Italy mauro.coccoli@unige.it 1 Kent State University – Stark 6000 Frank Ave, NW, Canton, OH 44720 aguercio@kent.edu 2 DIETI, Federico II University, Naples Via Claudio 21, 80125 Napoli, Italy paolo.maresca@unina.it 3 Università e-Campus, Via Isimbardi 10 22060 Novedrate (CO), Italy lidia.stanganelli@uniecampus.it The paper discusses the smarter university model and some experimental activities as the base model that supports the educational institution while transitioning from the information technology era to the knowledge technology era. Jobs that require news skills and abilities will be in demand and the academy will be transformed from the role of "generator of knowledge" to the role of "generator of knowledge generators". 1. Introduction As MIT professors Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee state in their latest book, we are at the dawn of the second machine age, an era in which we see machines that we did not believe were possible to create only a few decades ago. The machine evolution will continue because «the exponential, digital, and recombinant powers of the second machine age have made possible for the human to create two of the most important one-time events in our history: the emergency of real, useful artificial intelligence (AI) and the connection of most of the people on the planet via a common digital network. […] In this new age we care more about ideas not things, minds not matter, bits not atoms, interactions not transactions […], which call for new organizational structures, new skills, new institutions, and perhaps even a reassessment of our values.» [Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2014]. The invention and the use of such machines consequently require the creation of specialized skills. Never like now, there has been an increased demand for skilled labor. Many economists have confirmed this trend and they