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Unbundling education: Mapping the changing nature of Higher Education in South Africa

分拆教育：描绘南非高等教育性质的变化

基本信息

批准号：
ES/P002102/1
负责人：
Neil Morris
金额：
$ 50.36万
依托单位：
University of Leeds
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2016 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FP002102%2F1
关键词：
Unbundling education Mapping changing nature

项目摘要

The nature of Higher Education is rapidly evolving in South Africa. Educational technologies, public-private partnerships and shifting employer expectations are resulting in rapid and unprecedented 'unbundling' and marketization of Higher Education. For example, over the past few years we have witnessed the appearance of many flexible online courses and qualifications, short courses and MOOCs, often delivered in partnerships between universities and private organisations. Unbundling refers to the process of disaggregating curricula into standalone units often available in flexible online modes, allowing universities to respond to the pressures of widening access, increasing student numbers, competition from alternative providers and technological change, by distributing provision across several individual, more cost-effective components. Marketization refers to the increasing presence of alternative (private) providers offering HE provision alongside universities, often through online means and at lower costs, and the emerging partnerships between universities and private providers to offer accredited learning at a wide range of levels. In particular, the South African higher education context seems poised to benefit from market-based innovations that may assist with the need to increase equality and access across the diverse sectors of South African society. Whilst these changes may offer opportunities for increased numbers of learners to access education and thus contribute to economic prosperity, there is very little empirical research about the process and impact of unbundling, or the marketization of Higher Education in Africa, or developed countries. In practice, we are observing the emergence of unspecified business models based on different flavours of 'unbundling', which in turn are leading to unclear relationships between universities and private partners or providers. For unbundled technology enhanced education or public-private partnerships to impact positively on sustainable economic growth in Africa, there is an urgent need for systematic research in this area, which is the topic of this timely and innovative proposal. Therefore, we ask the following overarching question: How are unbundling and marketization changing the nature of higher education provision in South Africa, and what impact will this have on widening access, educational achievement, employability and thus the potential for economic development? We will explore this research question through a focus on the process of 'educational market making'. We aim to examine marketization and unbundling in HE as the outcomes of negotiations and manoeuvres which have a 'constitutive' function. Our central assumption is that markets do not appear naturally, but are 'made' through increasingly networked interactions that involve individual decision-making, collective discourse, technical expertise and the deployment of key 'objects': educational technologies, data analysis techniques, and innovative business models. Our study will rely on primary evidence collected through interviews with 'experts', and on the analysis of available datasets, documents and other artefacts and, crucially, through systematic engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. The outcomes of this project will directly impact the future development of HE in South Africa, other African countries and in the UK, through providing evidence of the effectiveness of disaggregation of curricula and alternative providers offering HE on educational outcomes, access to HE and employability. The project will have direct impact through critically evaluating the on-going trends of 'unbundling' and marketization on South Africa's economic development. The research will provide evidence of the effectiveness of educational technology to support the emerging HE market, directly impacting the educational technology sector, technology suppliers and alternative HE providers.

高等教育的性质在南非迅速发展。教育技术，公私合作伙伴关系和不断变化的雇主期望正在导致快速和前所未有的“分拆”和高等教育市场化。例如，在过去几年中，我们目睹了许多灵活的在线课程和资格证书，短期课程和MOOC的出现，这些课程通常是在大学和私人组织之间的合作伙伴关系中提供的。分拆指的是将课程分解为通常以灵活的在线模式提供的独立单元的过程，使大学能够应对扩大入学机会、学生人数增加、来自替代供应商的竞争和技术变革的压力，将课程分配给几个单独的、更具成本效益的组成部分。市场化是指越来越多的替代（私人）提供者与大学一起提供高等教育，通常通过在线方式和以较低的成本提供，以及大学与私人提供者之间正在出现的伙伴关系，以提供各种级别的认证学习。特别是，南非的高等教育环境似乎准备受益于基于市场的创新，可能有助于需要增加平等和进入南非社会的各个部门。虽然这些变化可能为更多的学习者提供接受教育的机会，从而促进经济繁荣，但关于非洲或发达国家高等教育分拆或市场化的过程和影响的实证研究很少。在实践中，我们正在观察到基于不同口味的“取消”的未指定商业模式的出现，这反过来又导致大学与私人合作伙伴或提供者之间的关系不明确。为了使技术强化教育或公私伙伴关系能够对非洲的可持续经济增长产生积极影响，迫切需要在这一领域进行系统研究，这也是本及时和创新建议的主题。因此，我们提出以下首要问题：如何分拆和市场化改变南非高等教育提供的性质，这将对扩大入学机会，教育成就，就业能力，从而经济发展的潜力产生什么影响？我们将通过关注“教育市场决策”的过程来探讨这一研究问题。我们的目标是研究市场化和分拆在高等教育的谈判和演习的结果，有一个“构成”的功能。我们的核心假设是，市场不会自然出现，而是通过日益网络化的互动“制造”的，涉及个人决策，集体话语，技术专长和关键“对象”的部署：教育技术，数据分析技术和创新的商业模式。我们的研究将依赖于通过与“专家”访谈收集的主要证据，以及对现有数据集、文件和其他人工制品的分析，最重要的是，通过与广泛的利益相关者的系统参与。该项目的成果将直接影响高等教育在南非、其他非洲国家和联合王国的未来发展，通过提供证据证明课程分类和提供高等教育的替代提供者在教育成果、获得高等教育的机会和就业能力方面的有效性。该项目将通过批判性地评估“分拆”和市场化对南非经济发展的持续趋势产生直接影响。该研究将提供证据证明教育技术的有效性，以支持新兴的高等教育市场，直接影响教育技术部门，技术供应商和替代高等教育供应商。