Conflicting logics of online higher education

Abstract

The advent of massive open online courses and online degrees offered via digital platforms has occurred in a climate of austerity. Public universities worldwide face challenges to expand their educational reach, while competing in international rankings, raising fees and generating third-stream income. Online forms of unbundled provision offering smaller flexible low-cost curricular units have promised to disrupt this system. Yet do these forms challenge existing hierarchies in higher education and the market logic that puts pressure on universities and public institutions at large in the neoliberal era? Based on fieldwork in South Africa, this article explores the perceptions of senior managers of public universities and of online programme management companies. Analysing their considerations around unbundled provision, we discuss two conflicting logics of higher education that actors in structurally different positions and in historically divergent institutions use to justify their involvement in public–private partnerships: the logic of capital and the logic of social relevance.     

Social purposes in search of higher education,or higher education in search of social purposes?

The paper begins by discussing the difficulties of formulating coherent social purposes, with particular attention to the relationship between social purposes and the “inner citadel” of higher education's intrinsic values. A detailed examination is then made of social purposes which have come to the fore in the transition from elite to mass higher education: equality and expansion, in which the importance of higher education as a political phenomenon is emphasised; “hard” vocationalism, the matching of educational content to the skills needed for effective job performance; continuing education (an issue linked to these two social purposes); “soft” vocationalism, which is concerned with abilities highly valued in job performance which are also highly valued in the well-educated person; moral development; and “higher education as society's powerhouse”. The paper concludes by suggesting that however much higher education is implicated in society, it may have to continue to exist in active tension with society if academic ideals are to be self-perpetuating.     

Reconsidering the social and economic purposes of higher education

In this article I seek to reconsider the social and economic purposes of higher education. It begins with the premise that there appears to be a general trend towards governments positioning higher education primarily in terms of the economic role that it can fulfil. Such a trend, however, has attracted considerable criticism. In this article I argue that the problem for higher education is not it having an economic role, but the narrowness of the way in which that role is often conceptualised. Drawing on critical theory I explore the interrelation of economic and social factors within higher education and the wider society in which it is situated. This article argues for a redefinition of the purposes of higher education to ensure that both universities and workplaces are sites of human creativity and that the profound and exciting work within institutions of higher education benefits all members of society.     

德国“双元制”教育模式在我国高等工程教育中的拓展与实践

借鉴德国“双元制”教育模式的思路、方法,结合我国国情,以机械设计制造及其自动化本科专业为例,从培养目标定位与课程设置、实践课程教学内容的开发和“工学交替”时机的选择等三个方面入手,将德国“双元制”教育模式拓展应用到了我国高等工程教育领域。     

A cross-cultural comparison of student learning patterns in higher education

Previous studies of “the Chinese learner” have confounded the effects of culture and context or have used heterogeneous samples of students. In this study, 134 British students and 207 students from mainland China following 1-year postgraduate programmes at six British business schools completed the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI). The two groups yielded the same factor structure on both instruments. There were no significant differences in their scores on the CEQ. On the RASI, the British students produced higher scores on deep approach and strategic approach. These differences could not be attributed to differences in response style. In short, when British and mainland Chinese students were compared within the same educational context, their perceptions and approaches to studying showed the same underlying constructs, but in the present context Chinese students were less likely to exhibit deep or strategic approaches to studying.     

Developmental patterns of privatization in higher education: a comparative study

In most developing countries, as the young population increase in number and consequently, the demands for higher education rise, the governments cannot respond to all demands. Accordingly, they develop private higher education sectors as an alternative solution. In developed countries, some moving factors are influential in creation and the increase of private institutions but there are scarce evidences and comparative results about developing countries. The current comparative study seeks to investigate and analyze the main factors of privatization in higher education of three developing countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kenya. After a short outline of theoretical foundations, this study provides more in-depth explanations of the principal and common effective factors.     

现代远程高等教育产业化及其模式分析

我国现代远程高等教育已经表现出比较明显的产业化与市场化倾向。现代远程高等教育之所以能够比其他教育类型率先实现产业化,除了政策法律方面的因素外,主要是由其独特的消费对象、成本利润、分配方式决定的。目前,我国现代远程高等教育已形成了主体办学型产业化模式和服务体系型产业化模式,两种模式表现不同,利弊各异。     

国外高等职业教育发展模式探析

在高等职业教育的发展过程中，国外高等职业教育的发展模式主要包括四个层面，即：高等职业教育与普通高等教育发展的关系模式；高等职业教育的院校发展模式；高等职业教育发展的办学模式和高等职业教育发展的管理模式。     

Public and private sectors in higher education: A comparison of international patterns

This paper seeks to extend understanding of the varying nature and varying forms of private higher education. Three basic structural divisions between private and public sectors of higher education are compared: mass private and restricted public sectors; parallel public and private sectors; and, comprehensive public and peripheral private sectors. The private sectors are then contrasted in terms of such functional characteristics as state authority, financial constraints and dominant orientation toward either academic goals, the student marketplace or external patrons. The highly diverse American private sector is viewed in this context. A consideration of mass private sectors then suggests that parameters of public policy are set by structurally derived characteristics of higher education systems.An earlier version of this paper was delivered to the Third International Seminar on Higher Education in Asia, sponsored by the Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, January 28–29, 1987. This version has benefited from the comments of the Conference participants, as well as those of Paul DiMaggio.     

Combining competing units in higher education: An analysis of voting patterns

Two competing units in teacher education were combined into a single unit at the University of North Dakota. In the first year of the new unit, the Center for Teaching and Learning, several decisive activities have taken place. Among those activities is the formation of three standing committees and the major decision making body, the constituency council. The voting patterns for the committees and the constituency council were investigated, with a major interest in any factionalization in the voting patterns. Generally, the effectiveness of voting blocks was rather limited, indicating a reasonably satisfactory integration of the two competing units.     

我国近代高等教育学制与高等教育现代化

中国近代学制的建立与发展极大地推动了高等教育的现代化进程,并在此期间受到了许多西方包括日本等国影响,但学术界对其发展过程是依附还是借鉴分别持不同观点。通过分析中国近代高等教育学制的嬗变来反思中国高等教育的现代化进程,势必对高等教育未来的发展有所帮助。     

Where Soviet and neoliberal discourses meet: the transformation of the purposes of higher education in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia

This paper studies transformations in the role of higher education in Russia as represented in official Soviet and post-Soviet policy documents between the 1950s and 2013. The focus is on the categories defining the purposes and tasks of higher education in the larger context of society and economy. There is a basic dichotomy in relation to the purposes and role of higher education, between vocational training (which is seen as a determining factor in the economic development) and personal development/education (seen as a condition of social development). The balance of these two poles, economic instrumentalism and social instrumentalism, changes throughout the history. The Soviet documents emphasized the importance of both, with the predominance of the social instrumentalism. The transitional period of the late 1980s and early 1990s is characterized by increasing humanistic discourse in regard to higher education. Later post-Soviet documents, reflecting neoliberal policies, largely abandon social instrumentalism and more exclusively promote the economic role of higher education. Economic instrumentalism is the meeting point of two historical eras, with their respective ideologies and political agendas. Connecting Soviet and neoliberal discourses highlights the importance of historical legacies in regard to the economic, applied nature of higher education, and underlines the crucial role of the state, which facilitated acceptance of neoliberal agendas in Russian society. The analysis also contributes to further understanding of the nature of the neoliberal reforms globally and in post-socialist countries.     

现代旅游高等职业教育办学理念及模式探讨

现代旅游高等职业教育是旅游职业教育的高等阶段,在教育中要体现出“高等性”和“职业性”的办学特点,用“职业本位、能力本位”的教育教学理念指导整个教学活动,树立全球意识、市场意识、质量意识、特色意识和可持续发展意识,走“产学结合”的办学模式,实现“产学研一体化”,提高旅游高等职业教育的办学效益。     

Using digital and paper diaries for learning and assessment purposes in higher education: a comparative study of feasibility and reliability

The incorporation of diaries and journals as learning and assessment vehicles into programmes of study within higher education has enabled the further growth of reflection, creative writing, critical thinking and meta‐cognitive processes of students’ learning. However, there is currently little research that aims to compare how different types of diary are used and for what specific learning and teaching purposes, so, with this in mind, a study was carried out to investigate digital diary use within a group of undergraduates, to some of whom the authors allocated Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), which they used to contribute to a blog (digital diaries), and to some of whom hard‐backed format (paper diaries) were given. This paper is the first of two from this study. The findings indicated that whilst students found both forms of diary acceptable and convenient, differences emerged in the way that the diaries were being used on a day‐to‐day basis, both in the frequency of entry and in the length of entries made. Throughout the study, the digital diaries were used more frequently, although the entries were often brief and incomplete. Conversely, students completing the paper diaries made significantly fewer entries in total, but those that were made were longer and more discursive in nature. Further, it was found that the paper diaries possessed positive qualities related to handling and attractiveness that promoted more prolonged use, whilst the negative qualities of the digital diaries were linked to technical limitations. The implications of this work are considered in relation to more general notions of using dynamic devices to encourage students to engage in reflexive criticism.