Simon Shurville, Thomas (Barry) O'Grady and Peter Mayall
This paper aims to provide context for papers in this special issue on Australasian e‐learning. The paper aims to examine the background to Australian flexible and transnational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide context for papers in this special issue on Australasian e‐learning. The paper aims to examine the background to Australian flexible and transnational education and to evaluate the educational and intuitional flexibility of three typical products of the Australian educational software industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The history of Australian distance education is summarised and drivers for flexible education are presented. A model of flexible educational software is introduced with three dimensions: educational, institutional and support/training. Three educational software products are informally reviewed using this model to establish that the current generation of Australian educational software offers significant educational and institutional flexibility.
Findings
The three examples of Australian educational software rate highly in both educational and institutional flexibility and also offer excellent support.
Research limitations/implications
The existence of hot spots of educational technology innovation in relatively isolated areas such as Perth and Tasmania warrants further investigation.
Practical implications
The Australian educational software industry produces extremely flexible products with excellent support that are worthy of consideration by international customers. Policy makers in Australia are alerted that current policies in ICT off shoring and the Australian Research Quality Framework (equivalent to the British Research Assessment Exercise) may threaten this industry, which contributes to sizable exports in transnational education.
Originality/value
The paper brings the flexible nature of Australian educational software to light for an international audience.
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Simon Shurville, Tom Browne and Marian Whitaker
Educational technologists make significant contributions to the development, organisational embedding and service provision of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) environments…
Abstract
Purpose
Educational technologists make significant contributions to the development, organisational embedding and service provision of technology‐enhanced learning (TEL) environments, which are key enablers for mass access to flexible higher education (HE). Given the increasing centrality of this role, it is advocated that institutions investigate sustainable career structures for educational technologists. This paper aims to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The arguments are evidence‐driven by the small body of research literature describing the role of educational technologists and contextualized by the experiences as academics and leaders of TEL projects in HE, including managing educational technologists.
Findings
The roles of educational technologists are very diverse, requiring competencies in educational leadership, both management and technical. Their career paths, backgrounds, legitimate powers and organisational locations exhibit considerable variation.
Research limitations/implications
University leaders require evidence to formulate appropriate human resource strategies and performance management strategies for educational technologists. Further empirical research to analyze current issues and future trajectories relating to their aspirations, career structures, legitimate power, management and organisational contexts is proposed.
Originality/value
Given the strategic importance of educational technologists to information and communications technology‐driven transformation, university leaders will require evidence to formulate appropriate human resource and performance management strategies for these key academic‐related/professional staff. This paper brings together relevant literature for the first time, generates recommendations for further research and policy discussion.
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Diana Quinn and Simon Shurville
The new economies of the twenty‐first century require new approaches to learning and teaching from higher education (HE). Accordingly many universities have gradually scaled‐up…
Abstract
Purpose
The new economies of the twenty‐first century require new approaches to learning and teaching from higher education (HE). Accordingly many universities have gradually scaled‐up learner‐centred approaches, including flexible delivery and technology‐enhanced learning, from the domains of enthusiasts towards the institutional level. This paper seeks to argue that these new economies and styles of learning and teaching bring similar requirements for scaling of assessment practices in HE, in particular, that it is now time for many universities to consider change initiatives to scale‐up the assessment of experiential learning to the institutional level.
Design/methodology/approach
The need to scale‐up assessment of experiential learning in the Australian and international higher HE contexts is discussed and a variety of change initiatives to scale‐up assessment of experiential learning at the University of South Australia is described. These initiatives are explored in the wider context of change management in HE.
Findings
Assessment of experiential learning is at a tipping point where it needs to transition from the enthusiasts towards the mainstream of academics. Support for this process is a new challenge for academic developers, educational technologists, librarians and other stakeholders, akin to other recent challenges such as mainstreaming flexible learning and technology‐enhanced learning. It is argued that for change to succeed learners and academics require local or regional evidence that experiential learning and its assessment are both beneficial and manageable.
Originality/value
Taking assessment of experiential learning to the institutional level is a challenge that is reminiscent of the need to scale‐up flexible delivery and technology‐enhanced learning over the past decade. Information that can help universities to graduate large numbers of knowledge workers with appropriate graduate attributes developed through experiential learning should be beneficial to the graduates, the institutions and society at large.
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Simon Shurville, Tom Browne and Marian Whitaker
This paper seeks to examine the emerging role of the Senior Academic Technology Officer (SATO) in higher education. It aims to consider two existing templates for this…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to examine the emerging role of the Senior Academic Technology Officer (SATO) in higher education. It aims to consider two existing templates for this professional role derived from mainstream information management and information technology: the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Characteristically, CIOs and CTOs might be expected to have different appetites for creative destruction. The paper seeks to focus on the match between a SATO's own appetite for radical technological change and innovation – that is, for creative destruction – and that of their institution. The paper concludes with some observations concerning role design and appropriate recruitment and selection criteria for SATOs in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper informs its discussion with a micro case study and the outcomes of a virtual anecdote circle comprised of 20 senior academics, administrators, and educational technologists from higher education institutions in Asia, Australia, North America, and the UK.
Findings
The research suggests that the preferred model for a SATO is closest to that of a CIO with a leaning towards innovation and change. However, the paper finds that a SATO's personal appetite for creative destruction may be in conflict with the institution's culture, norms and values, resulting in poor outcomes for both. In order to avoid extreme mismatch the paper recommends a realistic approach to the recruitment and selection of SATOs that is aligned with the organisation's tolerance for innovation and change.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the body of research‐based literature concerning the strategic management and development of professional scientific and technical staff.
Originality/value
Given the strategic importance of SATOs to ICT‐driven transformation, university leaders will require evidence to formulate appropriate human resource and performance management strategies for these key academic‐related/professional staff. The paper brings together evidence from a highly informed group of stakeholders with active interests in the field using a virtual anecdote circle.
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Ken Fernstrom, Michael Henderson, Barry O'Grady and Simon Shurville
Simon Shurville and John Williams
To show how a combination of hard and soft project and change management methodologies guided successful in‐house development of a campus‐wide information system.
Abstract
Purpose
To show how a combination of hard and soft project and change management methodologies guided successful in‐house development of a campus‐wide information system.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of the methodologies and management structures that guided the development is presented.
Findings
Applying a combination of the dynamic systems development method, rapid prototyping, PRINCE 2, Checkland's soft systems methodologies and change management helped to develop a product that met user needs, offered value for money and was delivered on time.
Practical implications
The case study shows that the advantages of formal governance brought by PRINCE 2 can be retained in a softer environment where user needs generate work packages and stage gates.
Originality/value
There is widespread evidence that more than half of all IT projects fail and that the softer people issues are essential for success. The paper presents an example of fusing softer approaches with formal governance. It should interest programme and project managers, senior sponsors, software developers and usability specialists.
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Bernard Scott and Simon Shurville
In order to develop transdisciplinary working across the disciplines, clear epistemological foundations are required. The purpose of this paper is to show that sociocybernetics to…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to develop transdisciplinary working across the disciplines, clear epistemological foundations are required. The purpose of this paper is to show that sociocybernetics to provides the required unifying metadisciplinary epistemological foundations and transdisciplinary frameworks.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors note that second‐order cybernetics provides a metadisciplinary framework for discerning the causes and cures for the schisms within the natural and cognitive sciences. The particular contributions of sociocybernetics are to extend the second‐order understandings to unify the social sciences and, by incorporating extant sociological theory back into the transdisciplinary pursuits of cybernetics and systems theory, to enlighten and enrich those pursuits.
Findings
In order to highlight the power and fruitfulness of these contributions from sociocybernetics, the authors problematise, deconstruct and reconstruct key concepts concerned with human communication. To do this, they take as central the question, “What is a symbol?” and present a sociocybernetic, transdisciplinary solution. In doing so they make clear the epistemological poverty of approaches in cognitive science that are based on the thesis that brains and computers are both “physical‐symbol systems”.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the metadisciplinary and transdisciplinary aims of cybernetics and, in particular, uses a sociocybernetic analysis to enlighten foundational issues in cognitive science.
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Michael Henderson, Simon Shurville and Ken Fernstrom
Small and specialist inter‐disciplinary conferences, particularly those relating to technology enhanced learning such as International Conference on Information and Communications…
Abstract
Purpose
Small and specialist inter‐disciplinary conferences, particularly those relating to technology enhanced learning such as International Conference on Information and Communications Technology in Education, provide valuable opportunities for academics and academic‐related/professional staff to report upon their research and development activities, including their insights into teaching practice. However, the existence of such conferences is now under threat due to a global shift towards quantitative research assessment exercises, which favour bibliometrics, such as citation counts and impact factors, over peer review. The purpose of this paper is to contextualise the discussion by describing the nascent qualitative research assessment in Australia and its implications for small conferences. It also aims to present heuristic strategies to ensure that publications are recognised by quantitative research assessment exercises.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on a wide literature base as well as their experience as academics, conference organizers, professional developers, and researchers to describe the changes to the culture of research assessment and research management and their observed implications for small and specialist inter‐disciplinary conferences.
Findings
Conference organizers and scientific committees should consider several strategies to maximise bibliometric impact of conference papers. These strategies include: transparency in reviewing processes; building alliances with peer‐reviewed journals; considering boutique “by invitation” conference formats; and publishing papers which are indexed and standards based. The authors also point out that small and specialist conferences should leverage their communities of practice to facilitate publication and research opportunities and thereby increase the tangible benefits of participation.
Originality/value
This paper is valuable to conference organizers and participants who are adjusting to a culture of bibliometrics. This paper highlights key issues as well as suggests strategies to improve impact values.