CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This
research reports the findings of a three-and-a-half year study that started in
July 1995 and examined what key management issues are involved when implementing
the virtual class (Tiffin and Rajasingham, 1995) in conventional tertiary
education in
Over this period a study was also made of the
endeavours to manage the implementation of the
virtual class infrastructure and the operations of the virtual class at
Wellington Polytechnic, a conventional tertiary educational institute in
By
definition, the virtual class equates
to the process that occurs when teacher, learner, problem and knowledge
interact through information and communication technologies (ICT) for the
purpose of learning (Tiffin and Rajasingham, 1995). The manifestation of the virtual class used in this study
occurs through the interaction of the teacher, learner, problem and knowledge
by means of Internet- and intranet-based technologies called networked education. An intranet is an internal network on which documents are viewed
by using a Web browser (Cher, 1995; Gundry and Metes, 1997). These two
terms, virtual class and networked education are used
interchangeably throughout this study.
The term
"management" is used in a
broad sense to describe planning, organising, leading and control (Schultheis
and Sumner, 1989:65) at all levels within a tertiary educational institute. It
relates to management processes of the institute, administrative departments,
academic departments, the design and development of the teaching materials, the
actual delivery of the teaching materials and the students’ own management of
their learning.
Conventional
tertiary education in this study is a term referring to post-compulsory public
educational institutes that are funded predominantly through the state to which
it also has a central reporting responsibility. Such education further has
clearly defined administrative and academic components, does not differentiate
between their students on a cultural or racial base and, furthermore, has a
strong focus on face-to-face education as learning and teaching occur
physically “on-campus”.
The virtual
class is seen as integral to the operations of the emerging information society
or information age (
Rajasingham (1999:166) points out that despite the
wide penetration of ICT in
To Beare
and Slaughter (1993) the information or knowledge society is characterized by
the fact that manufacturing industry and large-scale factory production are no
longer the prime employers of a country’s workforce. Tapscott (1996:xiii) describes this change as a communications revolution:
A new medium of human
communications is emerging, one that may prove to surpass all previous
revolutions – the printing press, the telephone, the television – in its impact
on our economic and social life. The computer is expanding from a tool for
information management to a tool for communications. Interactive multi-media
and the so-called information highway, and its exemplar the Internet, are
enabling a new economy based on the networking of human intelligence. In this digital
economy, individuals and enterprises create wealth by applying knowledge,
networked human intelligence and effort to manufacturing, agriculture, and
services... Such a shift in economic and social relationships has occurred only a handful of times before on this planet.
The
emerging information or knowledge society is having an increasing impact on the
concept and practice of tertiary education. Tapscott (1996:xv)
notes that "the new media is changing the way we do business, work, learn,
play, and even think”.
Drucker (1989:259) asks in the context of the
emerging information society "and
will tomorrow’s university be a ‘knowledge center’ that transmits information,
rather than a place that students actually attend?” Garrison (1989:121) asserts
that the “…status quo as represented by much of conventional education limits
the pressing need to integrate learning and living in an information society”. Peters (1993:53) contends that “the definite shifts described indicate
that the organization of the learning process in the post-industrial society
might become entirely different in many ways”.
The virtual
class can therefore be seen as an inevitable component within an emerging
information or knowledge society in countries like
Networked
education, as defined in this study, uses the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW)
technologies extensively. This research coincided with a time of dramatic
growth in the use and size of the Internet and WWW. According to Gray (1999)
the World Wide Web grew from and estimated 23,500 Websites in June 1996 to
230,000 in June 1997 and 650,000 in January 1998; an average annual growth of
more than 1000%. The Internet in 1996 (Wizards, 1997) was represented (through
domain names) in 129 countries and in July 1999 in 252 countries (Internet
Software Consortium, 1999b), an average annual growth rate of over 30%. This
correlates with data from the longest-running survey of Internet hosts (Glave,
1998) to the effect that the Internet itself has been growing at a rate of
about 50 per cent per year over the research period covered here. The size of
the Internet, based on the number of Internet hosts (which is the key
measurement of the size of the Internet), tripled over the research period
according to The Internet Software Consortium (1999c) (see Figure 1.1 below).
The dramatic growth of Internet hosts is also illustrated by the annual growth
rates over the research period, which in 1995 was 73%, in 1996 101%, in 1997
57% and in 1998 58% (Internet Software Consortium, 1999a). The Internet
Software Consortium (1999c) depicts the exponential growth of the Internet in
their latest survey as follows:
Figure 1.1 Internet growth
(Internet Software Consortium, 1999c)
At the same
time the profile of Internet users is undergoing a major change. McKenzie, (2000) remarks on this opening up of
the original network of scientists and computer buffs to an increasingly vital
communications medium serving the workplace and a rapidly growing number of
households. The widespread use of and access to the Internet in
The
research period was further characterised by an exponential growth of interest in and spread of the virtual class as Farrell (1999:2)
indicates "… the interest and
activity in the concept we have called virtual education is extremely
dynamic". Although Internet facilities like electronic mail,
Gopher, Archie and UUNET, had been used widely by the academic community in
tertiary education since the 1980s, the advent of the World Wide Web in 1991
has contributed to a new and wide interest in the use of the Internet in
education. Berners-Lee (1999a), the inventor of the Word Wide Web (WWW) notes
the steady annual rise, by a factor of 10, in the load on the first Web server
("info.cern.ch") between 1991 and 1994. In 1992 academia, and in 1993
industry, started taking notice. He was hoping that
educators would pool their resources and create a huge supply of online materials;
his fervent wish was for much of this to be available freely, especially to
those in developing countries who may not have access to this material in any
other way.
A
search for the term "virtual class" for instance on the WWW search engine
Alta Vista in 1995 by Tiffin and Rajasingham - when this research started -
returned six documents all pointing back to themselves in New Zealand (J. Tiffin,
personal communication, 18 April 1999). The same query in December 1999
returned more than 7000 documents pointing to a host of authors from countries
including the
The virtual
class provides students with the ability to study at their own pace, and at
their choice of time and place. The remarkable growth of interest in the
virtual class might also be influenced by “...the emerging culture of post-modernism” (Hartley, 1995:420) which leads
to increasing pressure for “...choice, flexibility and diversity” (Hartley,
1995:421). Another factor contributing to the growth of the virtual class might
be the potential increase in the cost-effectiveness of delivery as Romiszowski
(1993) points out that telecommunications costs are falling whereas the costs
of educational space, staffing and transport are rising. This wide
interest can also be linked to the pressure for change in educational policy
referred to by Fullan (1991:17) as “… internal contradictions, such as when
indigenous changes in technology lead to new social patterns and needs…”
The
virtual class can also be seen as an educational response to the globalisation
that has been occurring and accelerating in other fields like the economy
(Holland, 1987; Tapscott,1996) and communications; as
There is optimism among many educators that the quality of learning can
be enhanced through effective hypermedia environments within the virtual class.
Hypermedia can be defined as multi-media (which includes
text, movement, sound, pictures, colour) with hyper-links, which seamlessly
transports the reader to other hypermedia materials (Uys, 1998). It could
contribute to addressing two known problems in traditional distance education,
which are a decrease in personal motivation and a sense of isolation (Stacey,
1997; Henri and Kaye, 1993:29-31).
Both asynchronous (e-mail, message boards) and real time on-line communication
facilities (voice, video, Internet Relay Chat and shared whiteboards over the
Net) can be used very effectively to address these problems. Concerning
educational materials on the WWW, Berners-Lee (1999b) remarked on the fact that
it would show how essential people, and their wisdom,
and their personal interactions, are to the educational process; a university
is, after all, a lot more than its library. Effective networked courses have
the potential to bridge the boundaries and limitations of time and
space. It can provide for a variety of learning styles and various navigational
paths through educational materials. It allows students to take more control of
their learning and develop "life" skills like time management and
research skills. The virtual class allows them to set their own study plans,
search for WWW resources and critically evaluate its validity. Lundin
(1993:13-16) argues that:
The use of ODE [Open and
Distance Education] and CIT [Communication and Information technologies] is at
least as good, and in some instances better than face-to-face programs in terms
of both student satisfaction and achievement as well as staff perceptions.
Methods based on ODE and CIT can be effectively applied to every aspect of
every subject in any curriculum given the appropriate design, media mix and
learner support services.
Networked
education is seen by some as a way to address the increase in the world demand
for tertiary education. Daniel (1998:12) states that
“one new university per week is required to keep pace with world population
growth but the resources necessary are not available. Higher education must
develop more cost-effective methods so that public resources can be focussed on
schools and youth training”. Bates (1999)
concurs that by using technology for teaching
universities can serve the public more cost-effectively and in particular can
prepare students better for a technologically based society.
The
increased interest in the use of the Internet in education has been evident
through papers and representation at national and international conferences
like the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) Conferences, the
World Conferences on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (ED-MEDIA) and the World Conferences on Educational
Telecommunications (ED-TELECOM). This interest is
also evident in the extensive listings of networked courses at WWW sites like
the World Lecture Hall (The University of Texas at Austin, 1998) the TeleCampus
Online Course Directory (1999) and the Directory of Online Colleges, Internet
Universities, and Training Institutes (Geteducated, 1999). Hanvey (1998), for instance, reported that by the middle of
1998 most Australian universities were offering some of
their learning materials and courses via the WWW.
The large number of tertiary institutes in New
Zealand and institutes internationally which have been engaged in implementing
the virtual class have also been featuring in participation and
representation of participants in electronic mail
discussion lists such as DEOS-L, OCC-L and a New Zealand based list created by
the author: OnLinEdu.
The
interest shown in the virtual class by tertiary education institutes of
The
implementation of networked education relates to a core management issue in
tertiary education, as Holt and Thompson (1995:47) aptly say:
All tertiary institutions --
whether they see themselves as being open and distance institutions or not --
are grappling with the challenge of information technology in relation to the
very core of the academic enterprise: teaching and learning, research and
scholarship.
Attempts to
introduce any significant reform, as is the case with the introduction of
networked education into the system of conventional tertiary education, will
impact on all of its sub-systems. Bates (2000:196) contends that “…using
technology to extend the campus on a global basis will affect all aspects of a
university or college, but particularly administrative systems”. Fullan
(1991:349) refers to the necessity of looking at innovations within the framework
of institutional development. The term “infrastructure” with reference to the
virtual class in this research refers to the essential sub-systems that are
required for the successful operation of the virtual class, which includes the
systems pertaining to the technological architecture (the ICT systems),
administration, management, instructional design, course development and
delivery. Information and communication technologies (ICT) describe the
collection of available information technologies and telecommunication
technologies. Information technologies refer to the tools used for the
“…collection, storage, processing, dissemination and use of information”
(Richardson, 1979:121) and refer to entities like computer hardware, printers,
servers, databases, computer programs and virtual reality. Telecommunication
technologies refer to the means by which voice and data are transmitted and
include technologies like telephones, modems, satellites, fibre optic cable,
the Internet and intranets (Schultheis and Sumner, 1989; Stair,1992). Just as the conventional class needs a comprehensive
infrastructure of roads, lecture halls, electricity, printing, administrative
and management systems, the virtual class requires a similar, extensive but
digital infrastructure.
A virtual
organisation for Ahuja and Carley (1998) can be described as a geographically distributed organization whose
members are bound by a long-term common interest or goal, and who communicate
and co-ordinate their work through information technology This correlates with
the concept of virtual educational institutes which “…differ from
their conventional counterparts in that they rely on a telecommunication
infrastructure rather than a transport infrastructure to bring together the
essential elements of education…” (
1.1 Research
problem
The
research problem that this study seeks to address is what the key management
issues are when implementing the virtual class in conventional tertiary
education.
Conventional
tertiary education faces the choice either of attempting to integrate the
operations of the virtual class within current institutional policy and
practice, or of a fundamental reform. Luke (1998) regards virtually all the
rules that apply to face-to-face universities as impediments, if not total
barriers to running a virtual university. Rayport and Sviokla (1995:75ff) argue
that every organisation (including educational organisations) “...today
competes in two worlds: a physical world of resources that managers can see and
touch [the “place”] and a virtual world made of information [the “space”]”.
They illustrate and argue that these “...two value adding processes are
fundamentally different” and that “...a company’s executives must embrace an
updated set of guiding principles because in the marketspace many of the
business axioms that have guided managers no longer apply”.
Luke 5:37-39 (the
Bible, 1978) states that “...new wine should not be poured into old wineskins,
because the old wineskins will break and the new wine will spill out. Those who
are used to the old wine will not want the new wine because they say: “the old
wine is better”.” Jesus referred to the new life that He brings in contrast to
the traditional religious practices of that time. This passage originally
obviously did not deal with the virtual class, but it might be applicable to
the emergence of the virtual class and the new management approaches it would
require. The question is whether the virtual class is “new wine” or just
another type of wine. Chou,
McClintock, Moretti and Nix (1993) also used this metaphor to argue that he
medium of print, for so long our almost exclusive means for preserving
knowledge, has yielded significant ground to the remarkable storage and
retrieval capacities of the computer. They further contend that, this loosening
of the keystone of the modern educational past allows us to glimpse, and
demands that we define, a new educational future no longer constrained and
shaped by the exigencies of print/textbook-based education. Collis
(1998) also reiterated this metaphor when she referred to the implementation of
the virtual class at the
If the
virtual class falls in the “new wine” category, it may have serious
consequences for conventional educational institutes wishing to implement the
virtual class without simultaneously reconstructing the management of their
institutes. Thomas, Carswell, Price and Petre
(1998) argue for a transformation of practices (both teaching and
administrative) in order to take advantage of technology so as to provide
needed functions, rather than superficial translation of existing practices.
Bates (1999) argues that the introduction of the virtual class will prompt a
thorough re-examination of the core practices of an organization, whether
advertising, or registration, or design and delivery of materials, or student
support or assessment of students, in order to arrive at the most effective way
of providing these services in a networked, multimedia environment."
The
hypothesis for this research is that tertiary education requires a new kind of
educational management for managing the operations of the virtual class. Drucker (1998:100) believes that “… as soon as a
company takes the first tentative steps from data to information, its decision
processes, management structure, and even the way it gets its work done begin
to be transformed” Paul (1990:72) argues that an institution that
is dedicated to the values and practice of open learning needs to have an “open
management style”
Drucker (1989:243) constructs an analogy between the
introduction of computers in education and that of the book, and argues that a
revolution in education based on the underlying technologies is occurring:
The printed book, fiercely resisted by the schoolmasters of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, did not triumph until the Jesuits and
Comenius created schools based on it in the late seventeenth century. From the
beginning the printed book forced the schools however to change drastically how
they were teaching…. We are in the early stages of a similar technological
revolution, and perhaps an even bigger one.
Morrison
(1995:189-190) claims that “'the late 19th century higher education model is
increasingly unable to cope with the axial role higher education plays in most
societies”. Based on the new “… dynamics which intrude open higher education
and training”, Morrison argues that these challenge higher education on process
issues: “how to access learning, how to
organize research, how to manage
institutions and systems…"
1.2 Objectives
of this Study
This
research aims to investigate the management of the implementation of the
virtual class infrastructure, as well as the management of the operations of
the virtual class in conventional tertiary education. It aims to address
significant "how” issues as they relate to both of these aspects.
Middlehurst (1993:189) supports the focus on management and states that one of
the themes of change during the 1990s in the tertiary sector has been that
… at all levels of the
university, there has been an increase in the prominence of management, whether
management of research, management of the teaching function, management of
student learning, management within administration, self-management or the
management of others.
Managing
change in general and in conventional tertiary education in particular is
however problematic and is poignantly expressed in the second law of Senge’s
Fifth Discipline(1990:58) “the harder you push, the
harder the system pushes back”. Senge (1990:7) ascribes this resistance to
change also to our own subjectivity, stating that "since we are part of
the lacework ourselves, it’s doubly hard to see the whole pattern of change”.
It is therefore necessary, as Fullan (1991:350) suggests, “… that we explicitly
think and worry about the change process” in educational reform.
This
research aims to contribute to knowledge in that it endeavours to formulate a
set of heuristics as a tentative model for managing the implementation of the
virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education (chapter 8). It
further proposes a tentative new educational management paradigm for the
operations of the virtual class (chapter 9).
The
paradigm and syntagm interact as management of the operations of the virtual
class is being defined and tested through implementation. The interaction between
paradigm and syntagm in this study also leads to a set of heuristics for
managing the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure in conventional
tertiary education. The research is graphically
depicted in Figure 1.2 below.
1.3 Research Question
Various
questions arise when considering the possible interplay between the virtual
class and conventional tertiary education and the effects of this interaction
on educational management. Which aspects need particular attention when
managing the implementation of the virtual class in conventional tertiary
education? Is it practicable for
conventional tertiary education to embrace the virtual class within its current
management practices, or is a totally new environment required to effectively
engage in networked education? How is the management of conventional tertiary
education affected and what changes are required when managing the operations
of the virtual class?
The research problem
translates into two related research questions:
A. how does one manage the implementation of the virtual class
infrastructure in conventional tertiary education?
B. how does one manage the
operations of the virtual class?
Addressing
of these two research questions constitutes the overall aim of this study.
1.4 Research
Approach
Action
research methodology is used in this study as it reflects the interaction
between paradigm and syntagm that is theory and practice. During the action
research the theory influences the practice and the practice changes the theory.
This is the case especially with management of the operations of the virtual
class, which is a new paradigm, and its syntagmatic expressions which are
essentially experimental or pilot (
It is
typical for action research to occur as a spiral of research cycles each
composed of a planning, executing and reflecting phase. Each research cycle
represents a syntagmatic expression of the paradigm, which constitutes the
management of the operations of the virtual class. This new paradigm changes
with the execution of each research cycle as the conclusions of what occurred
in practice are being incorporated in the formulation of the concept of virtual
class management.
Figure 1.2 Graphical
representation of the research
The
execution of the research cycles was governed by the first research question,
which deals with managing the implementation of the
virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education. This research
question refers to the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure at
Wellington Polytechnic, which was the central operational objective of the HYDI
- HYpermedia in DIstance education - project. These cycles were envisaged from the commencement
of the HYDI project as sequential operational stages (Appendix 2). The actual
starting and concluding dates of the cycles were adjusted in some cases as the
project progressed. Although these cycles were initially seen as sequential
stages to implement networked education at Wellington Polytechnic, the pursuit
of the aim of this research added an expansive cyclical dimension to these
stages.
The
author was the project manager for implementing the virtual class
infrastructure at Wellington Polytechnic during the research period and worked
closely with the HYDI team. The research objective of the author, however, led
to the independent research analysis and synthesis presented in this thesis.
Any
true innovation needs to be carried through from “invention” to “exploitation”
(Roberts, 1997:581). Stair (1992:404) also describes an information system
as being operational in that after
systems implementation, the system will be up and running. In order therefore
to address the first of the research questions, the implementation of the
virtual class – being a technological innovation and also an information system
- had to progress from invention to where it was being exploited commercially,
that is enrolling students for networked courses. In order to address the
second of the research questions, the implementation of the virtual class had
to progress at least to the stage where networked education was operational,
that is to the point where teacher, learner, problem and knowledge interact
through Internet- and intranet-based technologies. In order to address each of
the research questions, the action research therefore had to progress through
four cycles to the point of fee-paying students enrolling and participating in
networked courses at Wellington Polytechnic.
The
implementation of the virtual class infrastructure at Wellington Polytechnic
through the four action research cycles confirmed the comment by Fullan
(1991:31) that "…all real change involves loss, anxiety, and
struggle". Various obstacles challenged the implementation, but dealing
with these obstacles ultimately contributed to the research findings. This
innovation also experienced some of the problems that Fullan (1991:27) refers
to when political change occurs, such as “… overload, unrealistic time-lines,
uncoordinated demands, simplistic solutions, misdirected efforts,
inconsistencies, and underestimation of what it takes to bring about reform.”
The findings of this research are based as much on what was learned from the
mistakes that were made, as from the successes of the HYDI project.
This action
research was carried out within the broader framework of systems thinking.
Stoner (1989:56) describes this approach as one whereby an organisation is seen
as a purposeful unit, which is composed of various inter-related parts or
sub-systems. This corresponds directly with the definition of a system as a
unit consisting of a set of inter-related components functioning together to
achieve the objectives of that unit (Stair, 1992:5). Systems theory provides
for feedback loops and self-correcting mechanisms that highlight the importance
of control in systems design (Garrison, 1989:46). Furthermore all systems “…have a
boundary that separates them from their environment” (Schultheis and Sumner,
1989:34).
Many
writers like Miles (1980), Schoderbek (1985) and Stoner (1989) assert that an
organisation, and the management of it, can be viewed as a system consisting of
sub-systems. Senge (1990:7) endorsed this view when stating that “business and
other human endeavours are also systems. They, too, are bound by invisible
fabrics of interrelated actions which often take years to fully play out their
effect on each other”. Scott and Mitchell (1972) postulate that the only
meaningful way to study an organisation is as a system. A conventional tertiary
educational institute can thus be described in systems terms as consisting of
five sub-systems representing the five factors of the MIT90 schema: strategy,
roles and skills, structure, technology and management processes (Morton,
1991).
The systems
approach, and specifically the open systems approach, is followed in this
research because it has been used as a meaningful way to study an organisation
(as noted above) and because it has been commended for its potential usefulness
in synthesising and analysing complexity in organisations (Simon, 1969). The
modern tertiary education institute is an open system and the complexity and
speed of change in its environment is so vast, that questions may be asked as
to whether chaos theory might not also be appropriate to use for this study (J.
Tiffin, personal communication, 24 June 1998). However, the complexity of the
modern organisation and its environment - which is also true of conventional
tertiary education - and its interdependence with its environment, is integral
to the open systems approach which emphasises the fact that the organisation is
an open system, which exists in interdependence with its environment and where
“… principles of multivariable interaction … become apparent, a dynamic
organization of processes…” (Bertalanffy, 1968:154). Leavitt, Pinfield and Webb (1974) also recommended
an open-systems approach for studying contemporary organisations which today
exist in a fast-changing and turbulent environment; this has also become the
case in conventional tertiary education. Bertalanffy (1968) argued that closed
system theory cannot apply to what he called open systems, which is typical of living entities, including
organisations in which the external environment is essential for their
maintenance, survival, and growth. A systems approach to organisations
acknowledges that they are open systems that engage in various modes of
exchange over its boundaries with a complex environment (Katz and Kahn, 1966).
The systems
approach emphasises that "a system is a whole that cannot be taken apart
without loss of its essential characteristics, and hence must be studied as a
whole” (Ackhoff, 1972:40). This emphasis also influenced the presentation of
the research findings in terms of the MIT90s schema. This
schema was defined during the “Management in the 1990’s” research program
(Morton, 1991). Yetton (1993) used it effectively in a study of the management
of information technology (IT) in twelve Australian universities.
The MIT90
researchers investigated the impact of information technology on different
types of organisations from a managerial perspective. The MIT90 schema is based
on the concept that “an organisation can be thought of as comprised of five
sets of forces in dynamic equilibrium among themselves” (Morton, 1991:18). These forces are
strategy (that is how an organisation attempts to accomplish its objectives),
roles and skills of individuals, organizational structure, technology and
management processes.
This schema
seemed appropriate because it highlights the centrality of management processes
in the life of an organisation, it follows a systems approach, it provides an holistic framework for the analysis, and it has to do
with the impact of IT - which is central to the implementation of the virtual
class infrastructure in organisations.
The
research findings relating to the first research question (How does one manage
the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary
education?) deal with four of the elements within the MIT90 schema:
strategy, roles and skills of
individuals, organizational structure and technology (see Figure 1.3). The findings are presented as a set of
heuristics that represents a tentative model for managing the implementation of
the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education (Chapter
8).
Figure 1.3 MIT90 Schema
The
research findings in addressing the second research question (How does one
manage the operations of the virtual class?)
address the element of “Management Processes” within the MIT90 schema. The findings
are presented as the dimensions of a new tentative management paradigm for
managing the operations of the virtual class.
This
research was undertaken within the
The author
believes that the relative immaturity of developments in the area of the
virtual class precludes any conclusive approach. This study is a deductive
study that aims to uncover and highlight management issues when implementing
the virtual class in conventional tertiary education in