Search results

1 – 4 of 4
Per page
102050
Citations:
Loading...
Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2008

Cornel J. Reinhart

This paper aims to examine changes occurring in the organization and delivery of learning at the level of higher education, and argues that it is now possible to envision the

2347

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine changes occurring in the organization and delivery of learning at the level of higher education, and argues that it is now possible to envision the shape and structures of the future digital university.

Design/methodology/approach

Beginning with a history of the basic organizational paradigm underlying the traditional university, this paper systematically explores the impact on this paradigm of new technological and pedagogical innovations: learning management systems (LMSs), learning objects, iPods, blogs, student e‐mail, wireless connectivity, Google's search capacity, distance (web‐based) education, and blended learning on the pedagogy of tertiary education.

Findings

The physical structure of the university is a consequence of the hierarchically organization of knowledge, the predominant model from the late middle ages through the industrial era. As knowledge becomes more extensive and complex, the old organization is proving inadequate. The organization of knowledge in several dimensions will bring a massive restructuring of institutions of higher education. The new digital university will have the web rather than disciplines and the library at its virtual center with (nearly) infinite access to the larger peripheral world. No longer holding a monopoly on information, the postmodern café university competes with commercial, for‐profit institutions of learning, thus offering traditional and new adult learners immediate access and enormous learning flexibility. This enables students of all ages to take advantage of learning experiences from any connected institution, commercial or traditional, in the world.

Originality/value

As a comprehensive and systematic examination of the impact of digital tools in the contemporary university, this paper can offer guidance to university administrators, faculty members, and others involved in the educational process.

Details

On the Horizon, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1074-8121

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2008

Carla R. Payne and Cornel J. Reinhart

This paper aims to explore the question: how well do course management systems (CMS) support constructivist pedagogy; how well do they support conversation?

640

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the question: how well do course management systems (CMS) support constructivist pedagogy; how well do they support conversation?

Design/methodology/approach

This article reviews the basic pedagogical orientation of CMS as recently represented by analysts and proponents, while offering an analysis of the implications of these theoretical positions for learner activity within CMS. It compares CMS structural design for its capacity to support collaborative learning against inherent tendencies to fragmentation, individualization and learner isolation. Sampling a widely adopted CMS in use, the article analyzes how well CMSs fulfill the specifications for a progressive, collaborative, learner‐centered environment.

Findings

Despite protestations to the contrary, this paper finds that the imperatives to manage discussions and count participation supersede pedagogy in most online courses. Curiously, despite the reemergence of the ideas of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky, the CMS is more behaviorist than constructivist.

Originality/value

As a comprehensive and systematic consideration of the application of constructivist principles to course management systems at the tertiary level, this paper offers guidance to university administrators, faculty members and others involved in the educational process. The author's conclude that if the underlying, non‐neutral, behaviorist principles of the emerging CMS model are subjected to educators' analysis and thoughtful debate, perhaps it's not too late to build learning architecture that encourages student interaction and conversations; that cedes greater control to learners for integrated participation and constructed learning.

Details

On the Horizon, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1074-8121

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2008

Boria Sax

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue of On the Horizon, which is devoted to the next wave of innovation in online education; analyzes the traditional

507

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue of On the Horizon, which is devoted to the next wave of innovation in online education; analyzes the traditional tension between the realm of books and reality, and to examine ways it which this may be influenced by digital technologies; and reviews possible alternatives to the structure of the traditional classroom for online education.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the work of Hans Blumenberg, this article begins with analysis of the malaise that pervaded literary culture on the threshold of the digital age. It evaluates various educational structures and technologies as attempts to respond to this challenge.

Findings

Books not only contain but also structure learning, in fact they condition our expectations of what “knowledge” would be. The world of books has traditionally been opposed to that of “experience,” but digital technologies now provide new means of storing knowledge that transcend this dichotomy. This is a major change in the structure of knowledge, which will eventually transform our institutions of higher education.

Originality/value

This article shows how the development of digital media was not simply driven by technology but was a response to the exhaustion of literary traditions, as thinkers began to doubt whether there was anything more worth putting in print. This perspective enables the article to go beyond the technological determinism that pervades much futuristic writing, and suggest how we may innovate, particularly in education, while retaining continuity with the past.

Details

On the Horizon, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1074-8121

Keywords

Access Restricted. View access options
Book part
Publication date: 10 February 2015

Cornel Ban

Soon after the Lehman crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) surprised its critics with a reconsideration of its research and advice on fiscal policy. The paper traces the…

Abstract

Soon after the Lehman crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) surprised its critics with a reconsideration of its research and advice on fiscal policy. The paper traces the influence that the Fund’s senior management and research elite has had on the recalibration of the IMF’s doctrine on fiscal policy. The findings suggest that overall there has been some selective incorporation of unorthodox ideas in the Fund’s fiscal doctrine, while the strong thesis that austerity has expansionary effects has been rejected. Indeed, the Fund’s new orthodoxy is concerned with the recessionary effects of fiscal consolidation and, more recently, endorses calls for a more progressive adjustment of the costs of fiscal sustainability. These changes notwithstanding, the IMF’s adaptive incremental transformation on fiscal policy issues falls short of a paradigm shift and is best conceived of as an important recalibration of the precrisis status quo.

Details

Elites on Trial
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-680-5

Keywords

1 – 4 of 4
Per page
102050