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

在南非，高等教育的性质正在迅速演变。教育技术、公私伙伴关系和雇主期望的变化正在导致高等教育迅速和史无前例的“分拆”和市场化。例如，在过去的几年里，我们见证了许多灵活的在线课程和资格认证、短期课程和MOOC的出现，这些课程通常是通过大学和私人组织之间的合作提供的。非捆绑课程指的是将课程分解为独立的单元，通常以灵活的在线模式提供，允许大学通过将课程分配给几个单独的、更具成本效益的部分来应对扩大入学、增加学生人数、来自替代供应商的竞争和技术变革的压力。市场化指的是越来越多的替代性(私立)提供者与大学一起提供高等教育课程，通常是通过在线方式并以较低的成本提供，以及大学和私立提供者之间正在形成的伙伴关系，以在广泛的层面上提供经认证的学习。特别是，南非高等教育似乎准备从基于市场的创新中受益，这些创新可能有助于提高南非社会不同阶层的平等程度和机会。虽然这些变化可能会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非捆绑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风格的“非捆绑”的未指明商业模式的出现，这反过来又导致大学与私人合作伙伴或提供商之间的关系不明确。为使非捆绑技术增强的教育或公私伙伴关系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，这是这一及时和创新建议的主题。因此，我们提出以下主要问题：非捆绑和市场化如何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、就业能力以及经济发展潜力产生什么影响？我们将通过关注“教育市场形成”的过程来探讨这一研究问题。我们的目标是将高等教育的市场化和非捆绑作为谈判和策略的结果，这些谈判和策略具有“结构性”功能。我们的核心假设是，市场不是自然而然地出现的，而是通过日益网络化的互动而形成的，这些互动涉及个人决策、集体讨论、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”的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，以及至关重要的是，通过与广泛的利益相关者的系统接触。该项目的成果将直接影响南非、其他非洲国家和英国高等教育的未来发展，因为它提供了证据，证明将高等教育课程和提供高等教育的替代提供者分开在教育成果、高等教育机会和就业能力方面是有效的。该项目将通过批判性地评估正在进行的“分拆”和市场化趋势对南非的经济发展产生直接影响。这项研究将提供教育技术支持新兴高等教育市场的有效性的证据，直接影响到教育技术部门、技术供应商和替代高等教育供应商。

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.