CHAPTER 8
MANAGING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VIRTUAL CLASS
INFRASTRUCTURE IN CONVENTIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION
In Chapter
7 the last of the four research cycles was described which concluded the action
research.
In Chapter
8 the findings of this research are presented as they relate to the first of
the two research questions: "How does one manage the implementation of the
virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education?"
The
discussion in Chapter 8 synthesises the reflections in Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7
on managing the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure, and relates
these to the theoretical underpinnings of this research.
As in each
of the four cycles (4.3.1, 5.3.1, 6.3.1 and 7.3.1) these findings are presented
as a set of heuristics addressing the following elements of the MIT90 schema (see Figure 1.3) that is
8.1. strategy
8.2. roles and skills
of individuals
8.3. organizational
structure
8.4. technology.
The heuristics
that will be discussed in this chapter are listed below in Table 8.1.
Strategy (8.1) |
|
1. Follow a simultaneous top-down
and bottom-up approach |
|
2. Address the management issues of intellectual property, copyright, privacy
of personal information and security |
|
3. Presenting papers and attending relevant conferences are strategies
for establishing contacts and legitimising academic staff involvement |
|
4. Consider the cost to students of Internet access while studying
on-line as well as the cost of the
technology |
|
5. Address the affective domain
of the students in on-line communications |
|
6. Lewin and Schein's change model
can provide a helpful overall structure for organizational change |
|
7. Participate in networked education as early as possible |
|
8. Use a pilot project or a few pilot projects |
|
9. Ensure that solid technological
expertise is consistently available in the planning, development and deployment of networked
education |
|
10. A "free give-away of the
first version" marketing strategy for on-line promotion can be followed |
|
11. Do thorough market research |
|
12. In the promotional strategy
balance the gradual sharing of information about the virtual class with the
rapid developments in this field |
|
13. Ensure ownership |
|
14. Ensure that educators and educational principles
drive the implementation of the virtual
class infrastructure |
|
15. Increase the general use of ICT as well as the
computer and information literacy levels |
|
16. Identify and test the perceived critical success
factors at an early stage |
|
17.
Obtain adequate central funding for wide
impact |
|
18. Ensure that implementing networked education is a strategic objective and that the reward
systems of the educational institute are tied to it |
|
19. Highlight
the benefits and advantages of the virtual class for the institute, teachers
as well as students |
|
20. The "non-hygiene factors" (the
"motivators") in Herzberg's theory can be used as motivational tools |
|
21. Treat the development of networked
education as a commercial project |
|
22. Use a
prototyping systems development methodology for developing courses for the
virtual class |
|
23. Address quality assurance issues in networked education |
|
Roles and skills of individuals (8.2) |
|
1. Provide computer literacy
training for students |
|
2. Address the concerns,
perceptions and changing role of academic
staff |
|
3. Provide training and support for academic staff |
|
4. Ensure that the scholarship of
teaching is recognised and appreciated |
|
5. Design an appropriate workload formula for teachers in
networked education |
|
6. Address authenticity in
assessment and on-line communications |
|
7. Address the social needs in
learning of both students and teachers |
|
8. A development team composed of
the following roles are proposed: sponsor, project manager, content director,
creative director / graphic designer, computer specialist, educational director,
editor, on-line media developer, gatekeeper and student representative |
|
Organizational structure (8.3) |
|
1. Ensure wide representation from the outset |
|
2. Establish a central unit to
provide sustainable training, support, research and development |
|
3. Use a multi-disciplinary team for the development of networked education |
|
4. Carefully consider the internal
political patterns and dynamics that form part of the culture of the
institute |
|
5. Establish
an ICT Help Desk facility to support students and staff in networked
education |
|
Technology (8.4) |
|
1. There is a need for flexibility
in acquiring information and communication technologies for networked
education. |
|
2. Physical locality and time zones
of teacher, learner and materials need to be explicitly considered and
facilitated in creating the technological virtual class infrastructure to
effectively transcend geographical proximity and time constraints |
|
3. The needs of students and teachers in networked education impacts on
the nature, management and services of the library. The library is required
to provide most of its services electronically. |
|
4. A basic technical implication
for a conventional tertiary educational institute that aims to implement the
virtual class infrastructure is that a web server needs to be managed for
hosting the on-line materials. An internal Web server seems to be the
preferred option for managing courseware. |
|
5. An effective initial strategy to
rapidly start networked education in terms of the technological architecture
would be to initially focus on developing the front-end technologies. |
Table 8.1 Heuristics of managing the implementation
of the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education
8.1 Strategy
The virtual
class needs to be regarded at some point during its diffusion within the
institute as an educationally sound and commercially viable educational
paradigm and not as an educational experiment. Therefore an important strategy
to adopt if the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure is going to
be institute-wide is to manage the progression of the diffusion of the virtual
class from experimental mode to being established as part of the organizational
structure of the institute. It seems that the methods for promoting the virtual
class internally to the relevant parties have to be regarded as a significant
management issue when implementing the virtual class infrastructure in
conventional tertiary education. A top-down approach to simultaneously augment
a bottom-up approach is believed to be necessary, as put forward in Roger's
(1983) diffusion of innovation theory (this aspect is discussed in 8.5 below).
The
management issues of intellectual property (Johnston and Challis, 1994) and
copyright (Barnard, 1997; McCullagh, 1995 September) in the academic
environment in general have been problematic, but these issues are amplified in
networked education where copying and replicating materials are alarmingly
easy. This issue is further complicated by the notion of instructional design
through teams (used by the HYDI team), which is proposed as the desired
approach in networked education. A model of shared ownership can be explored
where the institute retains the right to use the materials if members of the
course development team should leave, and where staff have
the right to use the materials developed by the team in their new environment.
It is important when
a conventional tertiary educational institute embarks on networked education
that these management issues be resolved at the outset.
These
issues also relate to ensuring privacy of personal information (Dearden, 1995
September; Underwood, 1995 September) and the required security (Graham, 1995
September) within the ICT systems underpinning networked education. In
networked education at Wellington Polytechnic most of the information resides
in digital form on computers. This includes the educational materials
themselves, assignment work and results of student assignments, on-line
communications (both synchronous and asynchronous) among students and with the
lecturer and/or tutors, students' progress data through on-line tracking, as
well as enrolment and payment information.
Digitized education via the Internet faces the same challenge, which
requires unprecedented levels of security in teaching and learning systems
(Graham, 1995 September). These can be partially addressed through the use of security
software as well as user identification and password controls that worked well
at Wellington Polytechnic. Operational policies to cover procedures such as
signed undertakings by students to use materials for their personal studies
only might also be necessary.
This
research analyses the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure within
conventional tertiary education, in which research output in terms of papers at
reputable conferences and publications in respected journals, are regarded as
important criteria for academic performance. Presenting papers and attending
relevant conferences proved to be important strategies for establishing
contacts with colleagues at other tertiary institutes working in the field of
networked education. Structuring networked education projects as research
activities can legitimise the involvement of academic staff in networked
education that otherwise can be difficult to justify. This strategy might be
essential to secure academic staff involvement when the scholarship of teaching
(discussed below) is not recognized to the same degree as the scholarship of
research. Networking with others and
maintaining these contacts can also lead to valuable national and international
feedback and advice on local efforts to implement networked education.
In the
virtual class the cost on the part of the student cannot be ignored and,
besides strategies to provide affordable access to adequate ICT, the cost of
Internet access while studying on-line needs to be considered. The cost of
distribution of materials shifts considerably from the institute to the
student, as the students have to pay their ISP for studying on-line. This
management issue is highly relevant to the issue of equity of access (discussed
in section 9.11 in Chapter 9). A specific strategy that can be followed in this
regard is to have a networked course in a compressed state that students can
download as a single file. Students would only have to link up to the Internet
for on-line communications and possibly on-line assessment. The potential
benefits to the institute, like student tracking and database functionalities,
need to be balanced by the cost to the student. Networked education should also
be designed with the smallest possible ICT "footprint" on the student
side. Furthermore, courses can be designed so that hard copy or off-line soft
copy can be provided with ease.
Addressing
the affective domain of the students, that is the area of feelings and
emotions, in the virtual class is a challenge that needs to be addressed to
ensure a high level of meaningful learning and communicating in the virtual
class (Negroponte, 1997 June). The challenge is for the virtual class, as a
computer mediated education system, to accommodate, facilitate and communicate
emotions (be it verbal, body language or otherwise) as an integral and vital
part of the message. Networked education can deliver some support for this
aspect through on-line audio and video conferencing, emoticons and
well-designed graphics. Teachers need to be aware of, and able to manage the
new dynamics of communication in a virtual environment (Gundry and Metes,
1997).
The Lewin
and Schein model for organizational change (Stair, 1992:396) proved helpful as
a change model to provide overall structure for implementing the virtual class
infrastructure in a conventional tertiary educational institute. However, the
various stages may be treated not as linear but as dynamic elements of an
iterative process.
Participating
in networked education as early as possible seems to be important to create a
desired niche and build up desired experience in the international virtual
educational market in which there is a huge interest (as discussed in Chapter
1). To have any impact in this growing area, early participation seems a better
approach than not responding to the possibilities and threats of networked
education. Kenichi Ohmae asserts that "to prevent competitors from getting
there first, a company must launch in the key markets simultaneously. Globalisation will not wait" (Caulkin, 1990:29).
Using one
or a few a pilot projects seems to be an effective strategy for introducing an
innovation like the virtual class in a conventional tertiary educational
institute. A pilot project facilitates experimentation in a new field
(Goldenfarb, 1995), the testing of concepts and processes, the formulation of
guidelines and principles, the establishing of credibility, the promotion of
the innovation as well as an analysis of how an organisation responds to a new
paradigm or innovation.
Since
networked education is based on ICT, it is necessary for solid technological
expertise to be consistently available in the planning, development and
deployment of networked education in order to address the needs of staff and
students.
A "free
give-away of the first version" marketing strategy for on-line promotion
can be followed in promoting networked courses. This strategy is commonly used
for on-line marketing - Netscape (1996) very successfully used it.
Thorough
market research is as important to inform the critical decision of which
courses to offer first in a networked mode, as in the case of launching any new
service or product in other "markets".
Any
innovation, including networked education, faces the challenge of bridging a lack
of knowledge and understanding of its benefits and advantages. It faces an
additional challenge: to balance the gradual sharing of information about the
virtual class so as to tie in with the cyclical and relatively slow pace of
teaching and administrative cycles that occur in a more predictable and
repetitive pattern within conventional tertiary education. At the same time, all parties involved need
to be kept up to date with this rapidly developing field. This tension is a
management challenge that needs to be addressed in the promotional strategy of
implementing the virtual class infrastructure.
Ensuring
ownership was found to be important in the diffusion of the virtual class at
Wellington Polytechnic. Strategies such as one-to-one and small group discussions,
demonstrations and explanation of the benefits can be used to ensure ownership
of the implementation of the virtual class by senior and middle management
(Goldenfarb, 1995). It is also important for continuity of networked courses to
ensure ownership by the department that offers networked courses (Szabo et al.,1997).
Ownership by the academic staff is pivotal, and therefore the concerns and
perceptions of academic staff need to be addressed (see 8.2 below).
In
order to ensure ownership by academic staff as well as sound educational
quality in networked education, it was important at Wellington Polytechnic for
educators and educational principles to drive the implementation of the virtual
class infrastructure, which served to confirm similar views of Szabo et al. (1997), Willmot and McLean (1994)
and Caladine (1993). It proved essential to involve academics intimately in the
reform process as suggested by Tillema (1995).
An
institute that uses networked education extensively will develop an ICT
architecture that is ubiquitous in order to serve its students and its staff
(both academic and administrative). It appears necessary, therefore, to
increase the general level of computer and information literacy (Goldenfarb,
1995) within a conventional tertiary educational institute when implementing
networked education. Information literacy can be defined as the ability
"to find, evaluate and disseminate information using traditional,
currently available, and evolving technologies for the purposes of
investigation, education, and the solving of real world problems" (ILT21,
1999). One of the four components of information literacy as defined by the
Pennsylvania State University Libraries (1998) emphasises "... a positive disposition towards the use of new
and extant information sources and information technologies".
It
is important for management to identify and test the perceived critical success
factors for the institute in order to progress towards the virtual class at an
early stage (Goldenfarb, 1995) as occurred at Wellington Polytechnic in order
to prevent allocating valuable resources to non-critical activities. Some
factors will prove to be critical and need sustained resourcing while others
might be found to be of no or less significance
In
some conventional tertiary educational institutes decentralized organizational
structures providing for the devolution of central services and
responsibilities to departments are becoming popular (Yetton, 1993; Randle and
Brady, 1997; Hart, 1999 July). Unless adequate central funding is available for
innovations like the virtual class, these developments can easily occur in
isolation and without wider impact.
A management strategy to enable the wide implementation of
the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education is to
ensure that this is a strategic objective and direction, and to tie reward
systems to its implementation (Marquardt, 1996 ;
Munitz, 1997). At Wellington Polytechnic it was done in a very limited way and
led to limited reform. The institutional reward systems should encourage
academic staff and students to become and remain involved in networked
education if it desires wide implementation of the virtual class infrastructure
internally.
It
seems necessary to highlight the benefits and advantages of the virtual class
for the institute, teachers and students, in order to gain the positive
interest of administrative managers and academic staff in the implementation of
the virtual class infrastructure (Goldenfarb, 1995).
The
major motivational tools for participation in the virtual class may not be of a
financial nature. The "non-hygiene factors" (the
"motivators") in Herzberg's theory (1960) can be used as motivational
tools to encourage those involved in the creation of the virtual class; factors
to take into account are, for example a feeling of achievement, recognition of
achievement, how interesting the work is, responsibilities for decision-making,
opportunities to develop and to learn new skills.
The
development of networked education is to be managed as a commercial project in
which professionals fill the required roles and deadlines are set and treated
in earnest. The HYDI team experienced that involving students as part of a teaching
programme in the development of networked education was not successful (see Chapter 5). Students, however, have
an important role to play in quality assurance within networked education
developments (see 8.2 below).
The flexible nature of the media and the characteristics of
the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary
education point to the use of a prototyping systems development methodology for
developing courses for the virtual class (Burch, 1992; Stair, 1992; Szabo et al. (1997).
These characteristics include a low degree of certainty about input and
outcomes, low user experience, immediately desired results, a high degree of
risk and a large number of alternatives.
Quality
assurance in networked education has proved to be challenging as version
control needs to address an increased dynamic in updating materials, which
confirmed the view of Butterfield et al.
(1999, July) that as virtual institutes emerge, the attention to quality
assurance (QA) is more of a necessity, but may be more difficult. It might
become necessary to work with new organizations like the Global Alliance for
Transnational Education (GATE, 1999) that have been created to deal with
accreditation and certification issues across national borders.
8.2 Roles
and Skills of Individuals
The critical and fundamental role that ICT play in networked
education points to the need for computer literacy of students in networked
education, which needs to be addressed through appropriate training.
Part of the rationale for engaging in networked education could be that it uses
the tools of the emerging information or knowledge society as educational
tools. In an information society there is widespread
use of the new communication technologies. This is the society in which
graduates should be able to effectively participate. Access to the virtual
class is limited not only through inadequate access to ICT therefore, but also
through computer illiteracy. The teaching of computer skills could be
integrated as part of the learning process of each academic department and not
only of the department that teaches IT courses. This
can be achieved by pursuing a strategic organization-wide goal to enable
students to engage in the learning process by using the ICT of the emerging
information society.
In
this research it was essential to address the concerns and perceptions of
academic staff because of the need for changing their attitudes and ensuring
ownership by academic staff (Evans and Franz, 1998 April; Taylor, Lopez and
Quadrelli, 1996). Managing the fears and expectations of academic staff is an
important part of implementing the virtual class infrastructure. Our experience
confirmed that the role of the teacher in networked education is changing
(Collis, 1998; Thompson, 1997 June; Zepke, 1998; Leslie, 1994). The teacher
should be more of a facilitator than a provider of information (Hodgson, Mann
and Snell, 1987; Mason, 1998:157; O'Donnell, 1996); in fact, the student has
the materials on-line, has hyperlinks to Websites for further reading, can
communicate with the other students in the course as well as communicate
on-line with students and lecturers in other locations - be it nationally or
internationally. It could be that on-line educators find themselves in a networked
course in the role of either content provider or as facilitator. A model used
by the Open University (UK) provides for the lecturer to do research and also
to work as content provider with instructional designers, while teachers
(facilitators or tutors) are contracted to facilitate the learning of the
students (Laurillard, 1993). These facilitators can in the virtual class be
contracted in from any geographical area since most of the facilitation will
occur on-line. Furthermore, lecturers might have to deal with a new
relationship with their students, which is not one-to-many but one-of-many.
Clearly teachers will have to manage their own learning more efficiently in the
highly accessible and visible international environment. They will need to be more
observant of international developments in their academic fields, if not, they might find that the students themselves would be
pointing out these developments through their use of the global networks.
This
changing role as well as the centrality of ICT in the virtual class point to
the tremendous need for the training and support of teachers in the virtual
class (Caladine, 1993). They need to become familiar with and master the new
ICT used in networked education. Knowing how to use the global networks will be
necessary for their own research and networking with academics. They also have
to be able to point students to appropriate on-line resources. Teachers need to
be aware of and be able to manage the new dynamics of communication in a
virtual environment, for example managing on-line meetings. Understanding how a
virtual team operates is necessary in managing the on-line learning of
students. Academic staff members also need to be proficient in knowledge
management and in dealing with the stress of information overload. Gundry and
Metes (1996) indicate that dealing with foreign cultures requires teachers to
have knowledge about cultural diversity and sensitivities for cultural
differences. Nguyen, Tan and Kezunovic (1996) argue for the creation of a strategic
plan for training academic staff in educational reform. Acquiring these skills
and dealing with the stress of change and information overload underline the
imperative for proper training and support mechanisms for teachers. The
extensive interest in the workshops conducted by the author regarding networked
education further indicates that staff development can be used as an important
strategy to advance the implementation of networked education among academic
staff. This strategy correlates with proposals by Mason (1996, June), Szabo,
Anderson and Fuchs (1997) and Gabel and Feeg (1996, June).
In
the polytechnic environment, the scholarship of teaching is recognized and
appreciated, which was important as this is where the impact of the virtual
class is most noticeable (Nixon, 1996). Involvement in networked education can
also be structured as research projects to encourage academic participation.
An
appropriate workload formula for teachers in networked education is required to
cater for a new definition of "contact time" or "office
time" (Barnard, 1997; Johnston and Challis, 1994). Timetabled teaching periods are no longer
helpful as a way to determine workload.
Management could rather be constructed around outcomes and performance
agreements.
Another
important management issue in the area of assessment that is to be addressed in
implementing networked education, is that of
authenticity - ensuring originality of work when the only contact between
teacher and student is computer mediated. This problem in paper-based distance
education is often addressed by having a substantial part of the assessment
done in a controlled environment. Other strategies to manage this problem, such
as continuous assessment, sampling of some assignments and conducting random
personal interviews on-line, can be used. Another area
where authenticity impacts the virtual class is in on-line communications. It
might be beneficial to obtain student photographs at enrolment with some form
of official confirmation of identity. The photograph can then be used
extensively in the whole educational process, for example in chat groups and
assessments and can be printed on certificates. However, proper training and
clear guidelines for students in addition to regulations regarding this matter
may be the most effective way to address this issue.
Addressing
the social needs of both students and teachers when it comes to teaching and
learning in the virtual class is as important as it is on a physical campus
(Caladine, 1993; Taylor and White, 1991; Tiffin, 1996b November). Strategies
such as newsgroups, electronic mail discussion lists, synchronous on-line
meetings, arranging some kind of meetings in the physical realm with other
students, designing courses with a high level of interactivity and using
photographs and video clips of students and lecturers within a course can all
be used to support these needs. Academic staff may have a negative reaction to
increases in transactional distance (
A
development team for networked education composed of the following roles is
proposed: sponsor, project manager, content director, creative director /
graphic designer, computer specialist, educational director, editor, on-line
media developer, gatekeeper and student representative. These roles incorporate
the "five actor categories" that Paquettee, Ricciardi-Rigault,
Paquin, Liegeois and Bleicher (1996, June) distinguish in the construction of a
virtual campus, namely the learner, trainer, content-expert, manager and
designer. The centrality of ICT in developing on-line materials emphasizes the
important role of the computer specialist in the development team. The central
role of the student in networked education (see
Chapter 9) points to the inclusion of students in order to contribute to
quality assurance within the multi-disciplinary networked education development
team. The student representative role provides essential feedback during the
development process and contributes to the internal quality assurance process.
Our experience confirmed the importance of a gatekeeping role as proposed by
Katz and Tushman (1997).
8.3 Organizational
structure
The
effective diffusion of the virtual class in a conventional tertiary educational
institute requires that the process is not localised in a specific academic
department or grouping but occurs in such a way that it can serve the whole
institute. Ensuring wide representation from the outset seems a necessary
strategy when an institute-wide effect is desired (Goldenfarb, 1995). The
concerns raised by the computer services group in this research also
demonstrates the importance of ensuring that all wider stakeholders are
consulted on the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure, and that
the existing organizational structures are respected.
It
is proposed that an institute wishing to implement networked education
establish a central unit to provide sustainable training, support, research and
development of networked education to staff and students. This strategy uses
the first of the three possible implementation approaches of "flexible
delivery options" in higher education proposed by Taylor, Lopez and Quadrelli
(1996).
In
the design and development of networked education a multi-disciplinary team is
required because of the involvement of diverse disciplines such as education,
graphical elements and ICT (Taylor, Lopez and Quadrelli, 1996; Spender, 1996a
September; DEC working party, 1989). This is in contrast to the general
practice of instructional design in conventional tertiary education, which is
often a solo activity of an individual lecturer. Although instructional design
deals with "… how to make instruction work as well as possible with the
tools at hand" (Mager, 1988:1), the reality in conventional tertiary
education is that instructional design often does not deal with graphic design
and ICT design. In networked education, however, instructional design in
practice generally also includes graphic design as well as ICT design. The
scope of instructional design in practice in the virtual class is thus wider
and different from the practice in conventional education.
It
seems necessary when introducing the virtual class into a conventional tertiary
educational institute to seriously consider the internal political patterns and
dynamics that form part of the culture of the institute (Pettit and Hind,
1992). The implementation of the virtual class infrastructure calls for
appropriate policies to be developed, for example policies governing access of
on-campus students to the Internet and publishing on the WWW. Institutional
policies blend the requirements of an innovation with the institutional capabilities
and culture and are therefore necessary for wide implementation. This top-down
aspect was neglected in this action research and could have been used to obtain
positive support from administration.
In
networked education both students and lecturers are required to assume a new
level of sophistication in ICT use, which requires appropriate ICT support.
Help facilities like context sensitive help buttons, details on technological
requirements and troubleshooting help need to be included within networked courses.
There are, however, aspects about using ICT or technical problems that require
students or staff to interact with a knowledgeable person. It is therefore
suggested that an ICT Help Desk facility be established to support students and
staff in networked education. This ICT Help Desk should be available to staff
and students by means of both electronic and conventional communications (such
as a 0800 telephone number).
8.4 Technology
Both
networked education and the supporting ICT and applications are relatively new
and are changing rapidly (see 9.4 in Chapter 9). An institute's approach
to acquiring and discarding ICT therefore needs to be flexible. Caution is
required when acquiring technologies to avoid being locked into its particular
processes and approaches.
Physical
locality and time zones of teacher, learner and materials need to be explicitly
considered and facilitated in creating
the technological architecture of the virtual class in order to effectively
transcend any geographical proximity and time constraints when delivering networked education (National
Center for Higher Education Management Systems, 1995; WA Telecentres, 1995).
Networked education can, however, impact negatively on the mobility of the
course materials (Mason, 1999). The affordability and weight of portable
computers such as Laptop computers and notebooks rule out these technologies
from being an adequate solution to provide mobility. Smaller hand-held palmtop
computers with infra red updating capabilities are a positive step in
re-creating mobility for students in networked education. A development of
significance in this regard is experiments by the New Media Lab at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Negroponte, 1997 June) and by commercial
companies in the
The
needs of students and teachers in networked education also impacts on the
management and nature of the services of the library. The library is required
to provide most of its services electronically and to provide increased access
to external electronic resources rather than local paper-based materials
(Barnard, 1997; Odlyzko, 1994). Capital expenditure on physical extensions to
libraries can be replaced by subscriptions to on-line databases and resources.
Another development of significance for libraries in this regard is the current
experiments with programmable paper (discussed above). Libraries might in
future be mainly responsible for managing copyright contracts and electronic
databases with categorised information that is accessible on the WWW for down
loading onto computers or possibly into electronic books. The library might
also become an important access area to networked education for on-campus
students by making available computers in the library.
A
basic technical implication for a conventional tertiary educational institute
that aims to implement the virtual class infrastructure is that a web server
needs to be managed for hosting the on-line materials. This can be done using an Internet Service
Provider - which requires an additional relationship in need of being managed -
or an internal web server of the institution’s own. A stable, dedicated
internal Web server seems to be the preferred option. An internal Web server
will allow for experimentation with and testing of new technologies which
require quick access to, and a high level of control of the scripts, on-line
databases and other ICT.
An
effective initial strategy to rapidly start networked education in terms of the
technological architecture is to initially focus on developing the front-end
technologies, that
is to say those technologies that support the user-computer interface. The
technologies in the virtual class are usually flexible (for example HTML),
which allow for the back-end technologies to be introduced at a later stage -
technologies such as a suitable database and course-management software.
8.5 Augmenting
Rogers' Diffusion Theory
Innovation
diffusion theory (Rogers, 1983) provides a general explanation for the manner in
which new entities and ideas like IT and networked education are disseminated
through social systems (in this case conventional tertiary education) over
time. Diffusion, when according to Rogers' theory the innovation emerges from
outside senior management, essentially follows a bottom-up path from early
adopters to widespread use. This bottom-up approach was found to be essential
for the diffusion of networked education at Wellington Polytechnic. This action
research found that if the implementation is only top-down, academic and allied
(administrative) staff will not be aware of the possibilities of networked
education and the impact it might have on them, while ownership could well be a
problem.
Tillema
(1995) analysed historical studies, largely based on experience in the
schooling sector, and supports the bottom-up approach and warns that top-down
attempts to achieve educational reform have failed. Tillema asserts that
top-down attempts will continue to fail unless they deal with the cultural and
pedagogical traditions and beliefs on which current practices and
organizational arrangements are based.
This
research suggests further that the Rogers’ diffusion of innovation theory, when
the innovation emerges from outside of senior management, needs to be augmented
with a top-down component that includes both senior and middle management in
order to accomplish effective diffusion of the virtual class in conventional
tertiary education. This correlates with Drucker's (1985) assertion that a successful innovation
should aim at leadership from the beginning in order to be innovative enough
and capable of establishing itself.
If
it is only bottom-up, senior managers might not support it and resources might
be difficult to obtain. The prominence of the project at Wellington Polytechnic
and the level of resources made available would not have been possible without
senior management and middle management support. When political problems were
encountered, the President was able to step in and direct matters. Middle
management, that is heads of academic and administrative departments, played an
important role in controlling resources; in some cases in a positive way and in
other cases withholding support. (However, when the initiative for moving
towards the virtual class comes from senior management this support is
implicit.)
Goldenfarb
(1995) describes the importance of senior and middle management support with
reference to the CWIS project that started by setting up a Steering Committee
with representatives from four of the twelve academic faculties in the
University, the Library and Information Technology staff. Invited participants
were mainly lead users, who had already some relevant expertise, or were
recognized as stakeholders who stood to benefit largely from the use of the new
technology.
The head of Information
Technology demonstrated some early achievements to the Vice Chancellor and his
deputies. Their awareness and interest in the project provided the top-down
pressure on heads of departments to support the project. This gave the project
the legitimacy and full acceptance into the everyday operation of the
institution.
When
departments were asked to identify what was critical to their adoption of CWIS,
all ten departments nominated their product champion, who drove the project
through all the critical steps of the implementation process. Seven of the ten
departments identified the support of their leader as having played a major
role.
This
illustrates the central role that senior management plays in bringing about
organizational change, and in this case, the introduction of the virtual class
in a conventional tertiary educational institute. The backing from a group of senior managers
accompanied by strong budgetary support seems to be necessary if the
progression towards the virtual class is to be an institutional one. Berge and
Schrum (1998:35) contend that the "key to success of campus initiatives in
technology-enhanced learning and distance education is the support of campus
leaders". Daniel (1998) argues that a technology strategy is necessary for
campus universities like Wellington Polytechnic, which underlines the
importance of a top-down component when implementing the virtual class in
conventional tertiary education. Daniel (1998:143) also maintains that
The application
of technology without a concurrent transformation in the teaching/learning
process will be an add-on that will only increase costs. Re-engineering the
learning environment will not occur without the development of a technology infrastructure.
Losing
the two content providers outside the Educational Development Department in
cycle 4 was a serious setback for the diffusion of networked education into
other academic areas. It points to the vulnerability
of only using a bottom-up approach in which the energy of the diffusion is
vested in individuals. The top-down approach can add to the continuity of the
diffusion of innovations; this approach ensures that the objectives of an
innovation are laid down in longer-term strategic plans, annual plans,
committee discussions and minutes, and operational policies.
Goldenfarb
(1995) found that a critical success factor in the diffusion of innovation was
following both a top-down and bottom-up approach.
Szabo,
Anderson and Fuchs (1997) report on the implementation of the virtual class at
the University of Alberta, Canada and support a simultaneous top-down and
bottom-up approach:
There are two
major intended goals of TIES [Training, Infrastructure and Empowerment System].
The first is that the chief academic officers identify a vision for alternative
delivery systems of instruction for the university, publish that vision widely,
and demonstrate their commitment to it in a clear and convincing fashion. Secondly,
departments within the university create leadership task forces to interpret
the vision for their unit and prepare colleagues to implement the shared
vision.
Daft
(1989:274) states that a bottom-up innovation process is typical for
technological innovation (within an organic management structure) while
administrative innovations typically follow a top-down direction of change
(within a mechanistic management structure). However, the virtual class, as a
technological innovation also requires changes in administrative processes to
operate effectively, and hence needs both approaches.
Using
a bottom-up and top-down process links up to the learning organization concept
(Marquardt, 1996:218) in which "...
it is possible for any member to be an awareness-enhancing agent or an
advocate for new competence development. In this way, both top-down and
bottom-up initiatives are made possible". Using both approaches
simultaneously confirms Gunn's (1998:142) assertion that
An effective
technology strategy works in both directions. From the top down, it is
articulated through institutional objectives, sensitive to existing culture,
constraints, strengths and weaknesses, and presented as a coherent, achievable
set of goals with appropriate incentives and rewards. It must also move from
the bottom-up where knowledge of teaching strategies, learning contexts and
disciplinary expertise can be translated into action plans geared to
achievement of institutional strategic objectives and so creating a sense of
ownership at all levels of the institution.
In
following both approaches simultaneously, preference needs to be given to an
organic implementation model rather than an institutional implementation
model. In the organic model the
processes and outcomes are based on grassroots level needs, the diffusion
occurs in an evolutionary way, and the persons taking ownership of the new
paradigm drive the implementation. This is in contrast to the institutional (or
mechanistic) implementation model in which processes and outcomes are developed
through a broad top-down decree, and ownership of the new paradigm is not a
high priority; staff are expected to do as instructed.
More emphasis needs to be placed on the organic implementation model because
the paradigm of the virtual class is a new concept in conventional tertiary
education, and understanding the possibilities of the virtual class and how it
serves the needs of students and teachers is a gradual process which requires
time. Holt and Thompson (1998:215) assert that "whatever the road to
mainstreaming, it is a slow, difficult and time-consuming one to negotiate
successfully". Academic staff members need to take ownership of the
virtual class concepts and practices because they largely operate in an
autonomous way when deciding how to deliver teaching. The implementation of the
virtual class in a conventional tertiary educational institute is a long-term
strategic process and can be jeopardised if its implementation is decreed in a
top-down fashion to achieve short-term gains.
Everett
Rogers commented as follows on a question set to him by the writer (E. Rogers, personal communication, 10
July 1998), on whether
I think that it greatly helps an innovation
diffuse if it has top management support, especially for its rate of adoption
to reach critical mass, after which further diffusion can be self-sustaining.
But top management support may not be necessary if the innovation has
sufficient relative advantage, compatibility, etc.
However,
the findings in this research suggest that a simultaneous top-down and
bottom-up component is necessary for an effective diffusion of the virtual
class in conventional tertiary education. Bates (1995:47) contends that
"... even more important than an
environmental scan for managing change is the development of a long-term
vision". Moving towards networked educational management requires
visionary leadership which cannot be left to bottom-up initiatives but requires
strategic planning by senior management in education and government.