scholarly journals Dehumanization of a Human: Abstraction or Reality?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.V. Filippovskaya ◽  
O. V. Rumyantseva ◽  
S.A. Diakonova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Content Quality ◽  
World News ◽  
Functional Illiteracy ◽  
The Times

This article focuses on the topic of society digitalization in terms of the negative impact of innovative technologies on the value and citizens’ cognitive potential. Authors pay special attention to the problems facing the system of higher education. The authors’ argumentation is supported by data analysis of publications from well-known websites (including the Times Higher Education, University World News, and All-Russian Internet Pedagogical Council), as well as interviews with students, university staff and personal observations. The survey has shown that the functioning of universities today is complicated by the phenomena known in modern science as functional illiteracy, or ‘digital dementia’ aggressive disinformation. The development and improvement of methods using by society and academic community aimed at enhancing the information content quality that affects intellectual capital of citizens and intensify the efforts of education subjects in the process of eliminating the consequences of the global bureaucratic structures infringement of academic rights and freedoms. Keywords: digitalization of education, Universities, digital dementia, value and cognitive potential of citizens, aggressive disinformation

Modernisation of Higher Education – Willful Action or Wishful Thinking? The Case of Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-17
Author(s):  
Elena Blagoeva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
National Level ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

The impact of the last global economic crisis (2008) on the European economy put a strain on higher education (HE), yet it also pushed the sector towards intensive reforms and improvements. This paper focuses on the “Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in the Republic of Bulgaria 2014-2020”. With a case study methodology, we explore the strategic endeavours of the Bulgarian government to comply with the European directions and to secure sustainable growth for the HE sector. Our research question is ‘How capable is the Bulgarian HE Strategy to overcome the economic and systemic restraints of Bulgarian higher education?’. Because the development of strategies for HE within the EU is highly contextual, a single qualitative case study was chosen as the research approach. HE institutions are not ivory towers, but subjects to a variety of external and internal forces. Within the EU, this is obviated by the fact that Universities obtain their funds from institutions such as governments, students and their families, donors, as well as EU-level programmes. Therefore, to explore how these pressures interact to affect strategic action on national level, the case method is well suited as it enabled us to study the phenomena thoroughly and deeply. The paper suggests the actions proposed within the Strategy have the potential to overcome the delay, the regional isolation and the negative impact of the economic crisis on the country. Nevertheless, the key elements on which the success or failure of this Strategy hinges are the control mechanisms and the approach to implementation. Shortcomings in these two aspects of strategic actions in HE seem to mark the difference between gaining long-term benefits and merely saving face in front of international institutions.

РЕЛИГИЯ И НАУКА: КОНФЛИКТ ИЛИ ДИАЛОГ? (ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ МИРОВОЗЗРЕНЧЕСКИХ И СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ ПРОТИВОРЕЧИЙ В РОССИЙСКОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ)

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
G. E. Bokov
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Religion And Science ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
Official Position ◽  
The Face

The article is devoted to the study of the worldviews and social contradictions in Russian society on the example of two different positions on the relationship between religion and science. According to one of these positions these relationships are defined as conflict. The second, opposing point of view says there never was and there cannot be any conflict between religion and science. In the publication such points are called “the paradigm of conflict” and “the paradigm of dialogue”. It shows, the first “paradigm” in the Soviet period of Russian history was determined by ideologization of science and was an important part of anti-religious propaganda. On the contrary, “the paradigm of dialogue” has always been represented primarily by religious thinkers. Today it is the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The official Church document “The Basis of the Social Concept” says religion and science are designed to complement each other, especially in solving ethical problems that inevitably arise in the face of modern science. However, secular scientists often see in such statements the Church’s claims to active participation in the public life, including the educational process. Representatives of the academic community often speak out against the introduction of the theological educational programs and the theological departments in secular Universities of the Russian Federation. Thus, in contemporary Russian society some continue to believe that there is a conflict between religion and science, while others insist on the need for dialogue.

A necessary evil? The rise of online exam proctoring in Australian universities

2021 ◽  
pp. 1329878X2110058
Author(s):  
Neil Selwyn ◽  
Chris O’Neill ◽  
Gavin Smith ◽  
Mark Andrejevic ◽  
Xin Gu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Automated Systems ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Surveillance Technology ◽  
Online Examination ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Necessary Evil ◽  
Australian Universities

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the rapid but sometimes controversial take-up of ‘online examination proctoring’ systems by universities keen to maintain their assessment schedules during times of campus closure. Following the theoretical tradition of media ‘domestication’, this article examines the mainstream adoption of different online proctoring systems in Australian higher education during the first year of the pandemic. Through analysis of interviews, documents, news, social media and marketing materials, the article examines the ‘appropriation’, ‘objectification’, incorporation’ and ‘conversion’ of proctoring technology from the perspective of commercial providers, university authorities, university staff and student groups. This raises a number of critical issues underpinning the adoption of this exam surveillance technology – not least the surrender of control to commercial providers, the hidden labour required to sustain ‘automated’ systems and the increased vulnerabilities of ‘remote’ studying.

scholarly journals An assessment of the interplay between literacy and digital Technology in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahrokh Nikou ◽  
Milla Aavakare
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Digital Literacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Willingness To Use ◽  
The Impact

AbstractDigital technologies fundamentally transform teaching and learning in higher education environments, with the pace of technological change exacerbating the challenge. Due to the current pandemic situation, higher education environments are all now forced to move away from traditional teaching and learning structures that are simply no longer adaptable to the challenges of rapidly changing educational environments. This research develops a conceptual model and employs Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using Partial least Squares (PLS) to examine the impact of information and digital literacy on 249 Finnish university staff and students’ intention to use digital technologies. The findings show the complex interrelationship between literacy skills and digital technologies among university staff and students. The results illustrate that information literacy has a direct and significant impact on intention to use; while, unlike our expectation, digital literacy does not have a direct impact on the intention to use. However, its effect is mediated through performance expectancy and effort expectancy. The authors suggest that to understand the changes that are taking place in higher education environment, more attention needs to be paid to redefining policies and strategies in order to enhance individuals’ willingness to use digital technologies within higher education environments.

scholarly journals Organizational Change Management in Higher Education through the Lens of Executive Coaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 269
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Vlachopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Change Management ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Organizational Change Management ◽  
Executive Coaches ◽  
Leadership In Higher Education ◽  
Education Leaders ◽  
Higher Education Leaders

This study investigated perceptions of organizational change management among executive coaches working with British higher-education leaders and factors that make leaders effective when managing change. This basic qualitative research used semi-structured interviews with eight executive coaches selected through purposeful sampling. As main challenges to efficient, inclusive change management, participants mentioned leaders’ lack of a strategic vision or plan, lack of leadership and future leader development programs, and lack of clarity in decision-making. They recognized that leaders’ academic and professional profiles are positively viewed and said that, with coaching and support in leadership and strategic planning, these people can inspire the academic community and promote positive change. Additional emphasis was given to the role of coaching in the development of key soft skills (honesty, responsibility, resiliency, creativity, proactivity, and empathy, among others), which are necessary for effective change management and leadership in higher education. The paper’s implications have two aspects. First, the lessons of the actual explicit content of the coaches’ observations (challenges to efficient change management and views of leaders); second, the implications of these observations (how coaching can help and what leaders need).

The Economic Efficiency of the Romanian Higher Education at the End of the 1960s. A Demographical Perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-40
Author(s):  
Corina Doboș
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Efficiency ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Education System ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Special Concern ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Main Factor

Abstract: With the development of demography and population studies in the second half of the 1960s in Romania, a special attention was given to the economic efficiency of the Romanian education system, as education was considered ‘the main factor of economic growth’. Several demographic and economic studies reveal a special concern for the developmental effectiveness of the higher education system. This article examines several key concepts (such as ‘intellectual capital’ as opposed to ‘physical capital’, or ‘education stocks’), used by Romanian demographers for the evaluation of the economic efficiency of the Romanian higher education system at the end of the 1960s.

scholarly journals Talking the Talk and Fitting In: Troubling the Practices of Speaking? ‘What you are Worth’ in Higher Education in the UK

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Addison ◽  
Victoria ◽  
G. Mountford
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Research Projects ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
The North ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Fitting In ◽  
Uk Higher Education

In this article we raise questions about fitting in pertaining to various classed identities within two UK Higher Education Institutions (HEI). We discuss the pains and privileges attached to accent and ways of speaking worth: Who is able to mobilize and capitalize on inscribed values, as they come to be attached to ways of talking? Accents and ways of talking are part of embodied class identities and whilst some carry connotations of intelligence, other ways of talking are positioned as lacking value, as well as other cultural meanings ( Sayer 2002 ; Spencer, Clegg and Stackhouse 2013 ; Lawler 1999 ; Skeggs 1997 ; Southerton 2002 ; Taylor 2007 ; Macfarlane and Stuart-Smith 2012 ). In this article we discuss our empirical research carried out in two separate qualitative ESRC-funded research projects in the north of England with undergraduate students (Victoria Mountford) and university staff (Michelle Addison). Focusing primarily on white British ways of talking, we examine how embodying particular accents or ways of talking affect classed notions of ‘fitting in’ or ‘standing out’ (Reay et al 2009: 1; Abraham and Ingram 2013 ) in HE. In a climate of uncertainty in Higher Education we are concerned that the importance of demonstrating one's impact, value and worth comes down to more than just productivity, it is becoming demonstrably about being able to ‘talk the talk’. Here we trouble the practices of speaking ‘what you are worth’.

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