scholarly journals Re-Thinking an Educational Model Suitable for 21st Century Needs

2020 ◽  
pp. 465-482
Author(s):  
Tim Birtwistle ◽  
Robert Wagenaar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Market Society ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Societal Changes ◽  
Learning Pathways ◽  
The Many

Abstract How should learning in higher education best meet the challenges posed by the many changes in society and employment? If graduates are knowledgeable in a particular field of studies and are trained in key generic competences/transferable skills to allow for autonomy and responsibility, is that enough? Is it being achieved? Or are new and diverse sets of learning models (Lifelong Learning or the 60 Year Curriculum) needed? Learners must be empowered to operate as responsible and active citizens in their society and be successful participants in a dynamic labour market. Society will require continuous (re-)training to handle rapid technological and societal changes. To stay relevant as autonomous educational providers, higher education institutions will have to change their formats of learning and teaching. A revised higher education model demands a highly flexible format to cater for individualised learning pathways, based on three key components: (1) a particular field of studies (thematic or disciplinary)—the core—(2) a fully integrated set of transferable skills and (3) a large set of learning units of various sizes covering a flexible curriculum. Can it respond to five societal challenges in each component: interculturalism; processes of information and communication; processes of governance and decision making; ethics, norms, values and professional standards and the impact of climate change? Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Europe (CALOHEE), an EU funded project envisages a new model. The paper will partly be based on the (initial) findings of this project. International cooperation in the context of the EHEA is essential to engage all, and make a change.

scholarly journals Challenges and Drawbacks in the Marketisation of Higher Education Within Neoliberalism

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Gerardo del Cerro Santamaría
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Transferable Skills ◽  
Triple Helix Model ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Many ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

This paper addresses some of the challenges and drawbacks associated to the ongoing worldwide process of marketization (neoliberalization) in higher education. Neoliberalism—the prevailing model of capitalist thinking based on the Washington Consensus—has conveyed the idea that a new educational and university model must emerge in order to meet the demands of a global productive system that is radically different from that of just a few decades ago. The overall argument put forward is that the requirements, particularly the managerial and labor force needs of a new economy—already developing within the parameters of globalization and the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs)—cannot be adequately satisfied under the approaches and methods used by a traditional university. Neoliberalism affects the telos of higher education by redefining the very meaning of higher education. It dislocates education by commodifying its intrinsic value and emphasizing directly transferable skills and competencies. Nonmonetary values are marginalized and, with them, the nonmonetary ethos that is essential in sustaining a healthy democratic society. In this paper I will address (1) some of the problems and shortcomings in the triple-helix model of university-industry-government collaborations, (2) the transformation of students into customers and faculty into entrepreneurial workers, highlighting the many drawbacks of such strategies, (3) the hegemony of rankings as procedures of surveillance and control, (4) the many criticisms posed against neoliberalization in higher education and the possible alternatives looking to the future.

scholarly journals Digital Technology Education and its Impact on Traditional Academic Roles and Practice

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-41
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sappey ◽  
◽  
Stephen Relf ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Traditional Teaching ◽  
Work Identity ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Labour Process ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Impact

This paper explores the interface between digital technologies and the teaching labour process in Australian higher education. We develop an adaptation of the seminal Clark (1983, 1994, 2001) and Kozma (1991, 1994) debate about whether technology merely delivers educational content unchanged – technology as the ‘delivery truck’ – or whether education is changed as a result of using different technologies – education as ‘groceries’. Our adaptation is an extension of this metaphor to include the academic teacher as the driver of the grocery truck. With the implementation of new educational technologies, the human resource management aspects of job design, motivation, skilling and work identity are often overlooked, with critical debate about the impact on the teaching labour process seldom considered. In this argument, we will unpack the Clark-Kozma dichotomy of the education/technology interface by looking beyond the embedding of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Australian higher education to examine more broadly the changes to the traditional academic role as the creator, developer and delivery agent of the educational groceries. This has been reinforced by the marketisation of the sector and the concomitant reconfiguration of the traditional teaching process. All this has led to changes in the sense of work identity for academics (McShane, 2006). While we embrace ICT as a potential benefit for both students and academic teachers, we seek to ensure that the ‘truck driver’s’ evolving role is acknowledged in scholarly debates and included in models of learning and teaching if long-term sustainable work practices are to be achieved. One such model is offered.

A Critical Perspective on the Challenges for Blended Learning and Teaching in Africa’s Higher Education

2014 ◽  
pp. 1043-1066
Author(s):  
Alfred T. Kisubi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
International Development ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Education Administrators

This chapter challenges the readers’ thinking forward in some essential areas of educational change driven by the international imperative for Information and Communication technologies (ICT). It grapples realistically but also hopefully and creatively with many of the seemingly intractable difficulties that people involved in African change encounter, especially during this ICT age: Government policy makers and their usually politically handpicked higher-education administrators who see education reform as a national security priority, but, nevertheless, cede the responsibility of not only financing, but also implementing reform to international donors, who seldom serve Africa’s interests, but push their own agendas disguised as global development “aid.” These international “development” agencies inadvertently subvert equity oriented change efforts and substitute them with those of a comprador team of global and local state elite gainers, who push the responsibility of development through the state’s means of coercion down to the local, scarcely funded entities, such as the African higher education institutions (HEI). This wanton, undemocratic devolution or “structural adjustment,” results in the African HEIs, and governments’ extensive and deep-seated failings that make any hope of improvement appear to be far beyond reach. This chapter illustrates how and why that happens and makes suggestions for solutions.

Technological Literacy in the Profile of Skills of University Professor in the New European Higher Education System

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella Nuzzaci
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
University Education ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
University Professor ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
Technological Skills

This article describes the new requirements of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) - international and cross-cultural, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that are important in all fields of university studies and take on a central role for learning and teaching. The literature review showed that, despite the considerable attention focused on the technological know-how of university teaching, few studies have examined the characteristics of these actors. The purpose is to focus more on teachers, clearly defining the technological skills necessary to develop the new European System of Higher Education in order to facilitate the development of skills, general learning, disciplinary, and professional digital education. This paper analyzes why this adaptation is necessary, the difficulties encountered, the objectives, and the response of teachers to these changes. On the other hand, university education acts on three fronts: the integration and use of new educational technologies in universities, the European convergence and application of ICT, the innovation and education needed to bridge the gap between universities, and teachers facing reality, both socially and professionally. This study contributes to the debate on the interactions between academic literacy, technological skills, and employment prospects for university teachers.

Technological Literacy in the Profile of Skills of University Professor in the New European Higher Education System

2013 ◽  
pp. 76-93
Author(s):  
Antonella Nuzzaci
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
University Education ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
University Professor ◽  
European Higher Education ◽  
Technological Skills

This article describes the new requirements of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) - international and cross-cultural, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that are important in all fields of university studies and take on a central role for learning and teaching. The literature review showed that, despite the considerable attention focused on the technological know-how of university teaching, few studies have examined the characteristics of these actors. The purpose is to focus more on teachers, clearly defining the technological skills necessary to develop the new European System of Higher Education in order to facilitate the development of skills, general learning, disciplinary, and professional digital education. This paper analyzes why this adaptation is necessary, the difficulties encountered, the objectives, and the response of teachers to these changes. On the other hand, university education acts on three fronts: the integration and use of new educational technologies in universities, the European convergence and application of ICT, the innovation and education needed to bridge the gap between universities, and teachers facing reality, both socially and professionally. This study contributes to the debate on the interactions between academic literacy, technological skills, and employment prospects for university teachers.

A Critical Perspective on the Challenges for Blended Learning and Teaching in Africa’s Higher Education

2012 ◽  
pp. 145-168
Author(s):  
Alfred T. Kisubi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
International Development ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Structural Adjustment ◽  
Development Aid ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Education Administrators

This chapter challenges the readers’ thinking forward in some essential areas of educational change driven by the international imperative for Information and Communication technologies (ICT). It grapples realistically but also hopefully and creatively with many of the seemingly intractable difficulties that people involved in African change encounter, especially during this ICT age: Government policy makers and their usually politically handpicked higher-education administrators who see education reform as a national security priority, but, nevertheless, cede the responsibility of not only financing, but also implementing reform to international donors, who seldom serve Africa’s interests, but push their own agendas disguised as global development “aid.” These international “development” agencies inadvertently subvert equity oriented change efforts and substitute them with those of a comprador team of global and local state elite gainers, who push the responsibility of development through the state’s means of coercion down to the local, scarcely funded entities, such as the African higher education institutions (HEI). This wanton, undemocratic devolution or “structural adjustment,” results in the African HEIs, and governments’ extensive and deep-seated failings that make any hope of improvement appear to be far beyond reach. This chapter illustrates how and why that happens and makes suggestions for solutions.

Evaluating Higher Education by Indicators

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-192
Author(s):  
Roger King
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Large Mass ◽  
Knowledge Process ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
External Data ◽  
Static Data ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Higher Education In China ◽  
The Many ◽  
Education Accountability

AbstractThis piece looks at indicators and data models in countries outside China to see if such approaches may contribute to the accountability and quality drives in higher education in China. It notes the policy movement in China from rapid student number expansion to more emphasis on quality and social purpose as desirable characteristics for its universities and colleges. The article remarks that establishing legibility to the center to enable effective but lighter-touch surveillance of higher education institutions is difficult in large mass sectors without a major commitment of resources and bureaucratic intervention which may not be desired by all stakeholders. Rather, it is suggested that utilizing good data and indicators may be one means of overcoming the difficulties in balancing central public control with the increased autonomy of universities in China.The article distinguishes between static data and dynamic data and goes on to consider the relevance of student posts on social media as an accurate guide to the student experience, a key component of the many institutional attempts in China to capture this dimension of quality.Overall, the chapter debates the extent to which an over-reliance on indicators and data may decontextualize the rich experiences and nuances found in the learning and teaching processes. There is the danger of over-simplification and the “exclusion of narrative” necessary for a full understanding of the knowledge process. Rather, the author supports a ‘variable geometry’ of approach to quality assessment and other forms of higher education accountability. This would seek to utilize both external data and indicators alongside a peer review methodology in which human opinion and assessment remains important.

scholarly journals The Role of Educational Communication in Promoting a Student-Centered Learning Style in Multicultural Classrooms: A Reflective Essay on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 838-851
Author(s):  
Hussein AlAhmad
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Learning Styles ◽  
Learning Style ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Educational Communication ◽  
Educational Goals ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
Reflective Essay

This is a reflective essay on my own experience while learning and teaching in multicultural classroom in higher education in the UK. It emphasizes the indispensable relationship between the two fields of teaching–learning and communication processes in such heterogeneous environment. The essay focuses on how, in such context, teachers are key players, focused on excellent critical learning and teaching skills; these involve more than content expertise, or traditional methods, but becoming a student-centred, flexible and innovative teacher, going beyond the evaluation of feedback, to constantly exploring gaps in the learning and teaching process, and adjusting their teaching methods accordingly. Key emphasize is on how two-way, open communication endorses teachers’ awareness of discrepancies within their student groups and offers alternative individualized learning styles. Reflecting on my own experience, outcomes form focus groups, and qualitative interviews, the paper concludes with that, by meeting essential physiological, pedagogical as well as belonging needs and esteem, educational communication leads our efforts in optimizing teaching technique in class management, students engagement, also guide our efforts to attain a motivational climate for interactive learning. Best practices in educational communication can boost teachers’ efforts in employing the educational goals of HE, and recognize their societal impact.

scholarly journals Exploring Factors Influencing Mobile Learning in Higher Education – A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Yuvika Gupta ◽  
Farheen Mujeeb Khan ◽  
Sonal Agarwal
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Asynchronous Learning ◽  
Portable Devices ◽  
Electronic Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
E Learning

<p>In order to facilitate effective learning experiences for the students, mobile learning (m-learning) has evolved as a powerful component of education – learning and teaching. M-learning, as opposed to electronic learning (e-learning) which uses small and portable devices along with laptops and desktops, uses mostly small and portable technological tools. M-learning assists in imparting knowledge focusing on the need of the learner, accessibility, infrastructure, and interaction, irrespective of the place and time. With rapid advancements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and mobile devices, myriad applications (apps) and innovative m-learning and e-learning services are being developed and launched at an unprecedented pace. For students representing different demographics (age, education level, class, socioeconomic status, location, etc.) and enrolled in higher education, m-learning has quickly become the modern style and preferred format of learning and accessing knowledge for its ease of integrating different modes of learning. Motivated by this novel m-learning learning movement, this study synthesizes existing research on m-learning technologies, technological platforms that cater to both synchronous and asynchronous learning/teaching modalities for students and teachers at institutions of higher education.</p>

scholarly journals Web-based lecture technologies: Highlighting the changing nature of teaching and learning

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg Preston ◽  
Rob Phillips ◽  
Maree Gosper ◽  
Margot McNeill ◽  
Karen Woo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
External Time ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nature Of Teaching

<span>There is now widespread recognition of the changing nature of students in higher education: they are demographically diverse, have extensive external time demands, and expect greater flexibility and support during their programs. As a consequence of this and other changes to the higher education sector, many universities worldwide have introduced a range of information and communication technologies to provide students with flexible options for study. Included in these options are web-based lecture technologies (WBLT), designed to digitally record lectures for delivery over the web. This paper reports on recent Australian research into the impact of WBLT on learning and teaching which indicates that, while many academics recognise the changing nature and needs of their students and have introduced WBLT as a consequence, many have not reconceptualised their curriculum and its delivery to meet these changing circumstances. The central premise in this paper is that the introduction of WBLT has been disruptive in nature and has provided a lens with which to view several emerging issues: the blurring of study patterns between internal and external enrolment modes; the role of lectures in technology rich environments; and the changing nature of teaching when technologies are introduced into the curriculum.</span>

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