Digital education in the marketised university

The new frontier of inclusion or enclosure?

Prelegere susţinută de:

dr. Mariya Ivancheva, University of Liverpool, UK

Abstract of the lecture: “Over the last decade online education offered in low-cost smaller curricular units has promised to disrupt the elite university ‘bundle’ especially for students who cannot access traditional full-time residential degree programs. Yet, the recent rise of MOOCs and online degrees offered via privately run online platforms has occurred in parallel with rapid marketization of higher education. Under growing economic austerity since 2008, public universities have tried to reduce their expenditure on teaching staff recruitment while advancing their VIP hiring, brand investment, and emphasis on national excellence frameworks and international rankings in pursuit of third-stream income. They have steadily raised student numbers and reduced office and accommodation space on campus, while proactively recruiting fee-paying students through the promise of luxury digital and physical infrastructure and personalised ‘student experience’. And while academic practice is highly affected by these changes, academics are rarely consulted about rising student numbers and workloads, of the conditions of the public-private partnerships and the purchase of hardware, software, or infrastructure. Based on fieldwork at six UK universities in 2017-2018 including over thirty in-depth qualitative interviews with academics and senior managers of online program management providers and public universities, this presentation explores the impact of unbundling on academic practice. Analysing the narratives of the groups on the role of technology, expertise and pedagogy, I indicate some challenges to the academic profession in the digital era. Focusing on convergent and conflicting interests of academics, senior managers and students, I suggest how different unbundling strategies could deepen inclusion or exacerbate an ongoing enclosure of academic practice at public universities.” Find out more about this event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/592842047878898/