Table of Contents | Chapter 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Conclusions | References
 

Chapter 1 Formative Elements of the On-line Institute

Aims and Objectives:

This dissertation asks questions of current educational systems and institutes and their place and roles in a world increasingly dominated by information and communication technologies.

It is suggested three key elements will combine to enable the on-line institute:

It is the objective of answering the above questions to describe both a technological solution and an organisational culture capable of supporting an educational institute to embrace change and proliferate in an information age.

Introduction

"To educate is to communicate, by spoken and written language, by image, symbols, sound and body language. Over the next twenty to thirty years, the transformation of our societies into information societies will make it necessary for the education system of our societies to adapt to a new educational environment in the information society."

(Roll in Tiffin and Rajasingham,1995:xiv)

All sectors of education and training stand to gain from moving some, if not all, of their services into accessible digital formats. If this digitisation is then utilised in a fully-interactive information system new systems and relationships between systems can open and blossom. It is this system of systems that many see as the dawning of the information age where one traverses informative, educational and entertaining resources unrestricted by time or place. In an educational context the greatest immediate gains of such a system would come to the student who by participating in a learner-centred education system can tap into a global network of lifelong learning. Later, societal gains, based on a better informed population and a more efficient delivery of educational services, may be had.

What are the major issues confronting any educationalist, wishing to take advantage of these new and emerging information and communication technologies, in order to start the migration to the information society?

While technology will allow the construction of education systems untethered by time or place the major challenges to their implementation will be cultural and social. The concept of an educational institute with no desks, no rooms and no schoolyard or campus is a difficult one to grasp for educators and students alike and even more so for governments. These systems have the capacity to undermine current educational foundations changing them for all time.

Also, while there are those in education who believe new technology is equally suitable for every educational context there are teachers and trainers who are sceptical of technology dominating the classroom environment or the academic process.

It is these questions and others like them which have propelled and shaped this dissertation.

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1.1 The Flexible Organisation

As education along with the rest of society emerges from the industrial age and the twentieth century what are some of the fundamental questions facing our educational systems? Can educational systems change? Can they change so that they can satisfy the changing requirements of a changing clientele into the next century and beyond? Is the current educational model capable of solving its own problems or should it be abandoned and replaced by a flexible teaching and learning system using developing communication and information technologies?

There is of course no one answer to the above questions. The best response to change is flexibility in both attitudes and systems, not prescriptive solutions. Flexible organisations would develop flexible tools, which in the hands of those with institutional vision, may be used to help deliver that vision, whatever it may be. For many these tools are the information and communication systems which in the latter stages of the twentieth century, fuel, support, and in some cases even justify the modern organisation. Organisations are embracing powerful, transparent and ubiquitous information systems as they enter the next millennium hopeful of coping with the relentless change we are experiencing. The alternative, to remain with the known, ignore or not understand the requirements of a `learning organisation', or to rely on outdated knowledge bases, may be to wither. Or as one Pro-Vice-Chancellor put it "the hard edge question about technology is whether universities in the longer term are to survive at all" (Cochrane,1996).

There have been key radical changes in the past thirty years and post-modernism, neo-humanism and disorganised capitalism in particular, describe those changes. "Post-modern theory is emancipatory. Individuals are freed from the imperatives and restrictions of structures, because these have been discredited and demolished." (Limerick and Cunnington, 1993:9) Has the educational institution been demolished? Not quite, but crumbling indeed, perhaps only to re-build.

To build the educational institute of the future it is difficult and perhaps wasteful to start by reshaping the university or school of the past. Though without acknowledging the wider social and cultural systems which they are embedded in, and essential to, little progress can be made by the implementation of new electronic information systems and educational technology. Successful implementation, even in a fantasy campus, is impossible without radical change to the underlying institutional systems our education systems are currently built upon and form part of. Systemic changes are needed, and some are occurring regardless of recognition of their existence.

1.1.1 Educational Institutions and Change

The image of the university or school as the holder of the `truth' is disappearing. One possible new role is to become a facilitator and a conduit to information and education which empowers society as the learner, to form its own relationship with, and knowledge from, the available information. The major and most radical change required therefore would be that tertiary institutions need to, conceptually, get out of the way! As Logan points out, "knowledge, not capital, is the new source of wealth" (1996:1). Universities have huge stores of knowledge but many are loathe to share it for fear of eroding their respect and power base in the community. The institution that invests their knowledge wealth back into society should reap the rewards, while those that hoard could, like the monarchies of Europe, become irrelevant and wither gracefully. Limerick and Cunnington (1993) would suggest that the modern university needs to change its culture from competitive to entrepreneurial, from goal-driven to opportunity-driven, from goal setting to vision creating.

But what is this `knowledge' and how can it be better accessed?

1.2 The Currency of Knowledge

Many of the social systems built up over the history of humankind revolve around the availability of, and control of, knowledge and its basic raw material - information. The information, and hence knowledge, can take all forms, from the ephemeral (though perhaps important) or frivolous, to the historical (though perhaps trivial) or the dogmatic. Developed in parallel have been differing communications paths and languages in which information and eventually knowledge are stored and transported. In most cases access to the communications path and an understanding of the syntax of the language used is required to partake in the process of communication. From body language and word of mouth through to electronic broadcast and satellite imagery systems etc. communication systems have evolved to transport these languages.

Logan has recently espoused that there exists five languages in the history of humankind -

"speech, writing, mathematics, science, and computing" and that they form an "evolutionary chain of languages". (Logan, 1996:4)

From this progression it can be seen also that there is an evolution of storage in that the knowledge has become embodied in the languages themselves. This is true of the "Gnosticism" or "secret meanings encoded in language" (Eco,1990:9). Consider literature where we `read between the lines', mathematics with its abstraction and science or computing with their sometimes technical incomprehensibility. One's first introduction to any language as in speech is in the learning of the semantics and syntax. Hence most of the knowledge for the understanding of the language is itself, that same knowledge and can only be built iteratively. Using sound (to speak), scribbles (to write), counters (to add), blocks (to classify) and now calculators (to compute) we begin to build our knowledge of languages. The three Rs are free to all but after that it is either self learning, tertiary education or membership of a specialist organisation or guild, to attain knowledge which most hope will offer some form of economic or social advantage. Eco considers that "the more esoteric a form of knowledge can be shown to be, the more greatly it is prized. .... A common psychological element .... lies in the attitude of suspicion or disdain towards apparent meaning...." (Eco,1990:9)

It is little wonder then that most of our higher learning institutions through the centuries grew from foundations of exclusion (class, religion, gender and wealth) and the specialisation of language as esoteric knowledge. So, was much of this specialisation produced solely to protect the reputation of the institution and the individuals it supported? Dessaix thinks so and parodies teachers in humanities departments in our universities writing for each other in a career boosting patois which they know in advance no public can understand.

"You are better advised to write a small jargon-larded theoretical volume on cross-dressing to be read by a few dozen people who agree with you than to write an opinion piece in the national press ..."(Dessaix, 1997).

But the barriers to the institution and its knowledge base have been lowered. Higher education is more accessible and information flows more freely.

Primary and secondary schooling gives us rudimentary knowledge of language and basic participation abilities in the economy while higher education allows access to the more esoteric forms of language with its associated (either perceived or real) economic and social advantages. The gap between the two levels has narrowed and the pressure to leap it has intensified. There is perhaps one vital difference from the new culturally and socially diverse groups currently enrolling in Australian universities and their counterparts of a generation ago. While earlier one was expected to take on the values of the institution as well as (and perhaps even in return for) its knowledge, today's student is far more likely to just take the knowledge, `and you can keep your values, thank you very much!'

This is a vital difference because it suggests that a totally new type of learning institution may emerge, one which attempts to be value free. Some such institutions are already appearing where their primary role is to broker certification schemes for corporate clients and hence are little more than a 'shop front'. Most schools and universities on the other hand actually sell themselves on their value systems or as some cynics would suggest their `snob value'. This will be further entrenched in Australia by the recent introduction of full fee undergraduate courses and the attempts of the older `sandstone' universities trying to add tiers of respectability, between themselves and other universities, to justify the charges.

For many from backgrounds which are not defined by so-called Australian `middle-class values' this elitism is perhaps an enigma. Perhaps it is the notoriety that comes with a higher education degree that is sought after, as this degree is the credential which allows them to bridge socio-economic gaps. The nuance of a perceived ranking, (dependant on the accrediting organisation), of that degree is lost on many who have just scraped into higher education and hence fled the possibility of a life of low paid employment in the service sector. They have yet to learn of the covert discrimination of an egalitarian education where overcrowding and battling for resources, while living on study subsidies, is a constant struggle.

1.3 From Exclusive to Inclusive

The increasing "massification" (Cochrane, 1995) of higher education has brought much debate and insecurity to the system. Not the least being the system's understanding of what its true role is, in current and future societies. Will the University of the next century be a learning factory or a place of enlightenment? This `identity crisis' is currently causing much conflict and confusion. For most of this century at least the university had a major role in the establishment and support of a `professional class' based on the Human Capital Theory of Adam Smith in the eighteenth century where:
" `a man educated at the expense of much labour and time' expected to earn wages 'over and above the usual wages of common labour' in order to repay the cost of an education..... (Smith 1979: 203-4)." (Marginson, 1993:33).
Dessaix recently wrote that "universities exist to produce economically productive social units" and he wonders whether this also:

"has something to do with a desire to make sure that only people of a certain social class are in a position to think freely, people less likely to think disruptive thoughts."(Dessaix,1997)

Soucek (1992) simultaneously simplifies the argument while complicating the issues of the university's role when he talks of one `fundamental conflict' in education:

"What determines educational policy? Broadly speaking, there are two major determinants - accumulation strategy (ie , a national economic strategy) and a social progressive interest in emancipation. ..... what needs to be born in mind is that the emancipatory goals cannot be realised without a successful economic strategy." (Soucek,1992:4)

This is the conflict. One of an untethered learning vs "how do we fund it?"; a liberal arts, humanities philosophy vs vocational training and preparation for the work force; emancipation vs jobs. Internally, the notion of language specialisation which dominated universities in the past may now be seen in economic terms as somewhat selfish. Therefore will the requirement for research to produce results force `blue skies' research to diminish, while academics are used more for `professional services' than teaching?

Further, in the past educational policy had the added weight of the hierarchical systems in governmental, religious and educational organisations which developed very strict paths of communication where hegemony, or the authority and correctness of information, was a central tenet. If it doesn't come from the top how can you be sure it is `true'? Prior to selection for higher education on ability, there was no compelling reason for the scholar selected on class to critique the hegemony of the system. That has all changed, and new worries have emerged.

If the university was the embodiment and pinnacle of the disciplines associated with each of the first four languages, speech (oration), writing (literature), mathematics and science, will any fall from dominance be directly attributed to its inability to embrace the fifth language - computing?

What's more the global communications revolution has developed something the hierarchical, tradition laden university has never come across before - the fully informed consumer. Navigating the globe with ease, using the coding of the fifth language, every potential user of higher education is within reach of every potential supplier of higher education in the world. From an era when they prided themselves on being exclusive, universities now have to be seen to be inclusive, or the consumer, the student, will go elsewhere.

1.4 Higher Education Consumers - What do they want?

There is an emerging trend of students who don't want to wait a lifetime to be recognised as a specialist in esoteric languages. Many just want recognition in the form of a credential which can bring them a sense of security in a time of turmoil. This is manifested in the popularity of the para-professional certification schemes offered by many in the computer industry. These schemes provide a credential that is recognisable and written in the language of the marketplace, which can be used to support the holder and their families in a period of mass unemployment. This credential is attained using skills which it is perceived won't become redundant on graduating since these skills will be needed in the information age.

One view is that vocational courses somehow devalue universities. Should the university offer these vocational courses? "What, after all, is a medicine, dentistry, veterinary science or accounting degree, if not vocational?" (Armitage,1997:35) With an 80% increase in students at university in Australia from 1983 till 1996 it becomes obvious that most are there for more than a grounding in the humanities or social science. Post-school education relates to jobs but more importantly to career and lifestyle.(Armitage,1997)

They therefore want lifelong learning where the concept of the job becomes secondary to the work since they will change employers regularly and so their skills will need to be portable. They will then seek organisations who can meet their demand for continuous learning and who can offer specialist quick lectures and two or three day intensive seminars (Reinecke,1996: Logan,1996). They will heed industry champions who are saying "do not get a degree in an advanced topic area. Two nights a week for a hundred years is not the way to learn a specific silo of excellence" (Morley,1997)(Cochrane,1996: Marginson,1993).

1.5 Where will students go for this learning?

If students can't get this credential from traditional tertiary educational institutions they will go elsewhere. They will go to virtual academies set up almost completely on the infrastructure and foundation of high speed communication and information systems. "The capacity of private providers of post-secondary education to use information technology rather than physical campuses as their key infrastructure opens the gate very wide indeed" (Reinecke, 1996).

They will go to "service enterprises" who have "information systems that are integrated to deliver service to their customers across the range of academic, administrative and other needs"(Reinecke,1996). These academies will have abandoned "internal institutional imperatives"(Reinecke,1996) and applied IT to service delivery as well as administrative systems so that they change role from administrators of learning to facilitators of learning.

These enterprises will need to deliver services across geographical markets once dominated by and run as "local quasi-monopolies" (Reinecke, 1996) by universities and TAFEs. Hence they will need to follow the "trends towards collaboration, cross-accreditation, franchising, sub-contracting, joints ventures"(Reinecke, 1996) etc. so that they may provide services in both the physical and electronic domains or as Reinecke puts it, "place" and "space" (1996). By offering more flexible courses which don't rely on the `same-time same-place' paradigm of the lecture, geographical, chronological and organisational barriers can be demolished. By setting up self-paced learning and self-navigable administrative systems, as well as tutorial and assessment centres, with and for remote partners, continuous assessment can allow continuous semesters so that facilities and staff are utilised throughout the calendar year.

Tertiary and school students will also seek institutions who seek them, that is, institutions whose market research investigates courses that are relevant to their interests or careers and rely on quality and value in the market. This will likely lead to a rise in student age profiles and learners who undertake the majority of their educational interaction off-campus seeking not only learning but professional services and access to research.

1.6 From Place to Space: Can Education make the Transition?

What is required to move from a teaching to a learning institution, from place centric to user choice of place or space? Reinecke believes that "considerable incentives would be required for university staff and students to transfer the learning environment completely from place to space." (1996) Staff and resources savings may be made by the decline of large lectures though courseware development costs could increase. Still the change of audience and the convenience offered by on-line learning may enable fee based services to be more readily accepted than with the current undergraduates. As the IT manager of Melbourne University suggested, "I believe we are sitting on a gold mine of cost savings" (Pleass, 1996), and he was only talking about the conversion of existing services to an on-line format.

Conclusion

Access to knowledge requires currency in the language of that knowledge. New communications systems have emerged to carry that language beyond the cultural and social barriers of the past.

This chapter highlights key changes affecting education and some that are likely to occur are:

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Table of Contents | Chapter 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Conclusions | References
© 1997 Paul McKey