2014
OPEN ONLINE HIGHER EDUCATION IN TIME OF ECONOMIC CRISIS: HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN ACHIEVE HIGH QUALITY, WIDE ACCESS AND LOWER COSTS
Alessandra Briganti (edited by) Università degli Studi “Gugliemo Marconi” 0 Alessandra Briganti (Ed.)
Open online higher education in a time of economic crisis:
how technology can achieve high quality, wide access and lower costs
Contributions of Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi to the VI International Guide
Conference 2013 on “The Global Economic Crisis and its consequences on the national
educational systems”
Athens, 3-4 October 2013
© Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, Rome, Italy
January 2014
ISBN 9788897772040
1 Contents
Introduction
Alessandra Briganti …………...…………………..……………………………………………………… 3
Part I – Higher education in a time of economic crisis
The Impact of the crisis on the structure of the higher education systems
Andrea Gentile ………….…………………………………………...…………………………………….. 7
Universities: the twin challenges of fiscal austerity and technological change
Rainer Masera …………………………………………………………………………………………..... 53
Higher education as a main component of the economic crisis management
Carlo Pelanda ............................................................................................................................... 68
Global crisis and higher education worldwide: a synthetic review
Lisa Reggiani ............................................................................................................................... 72
Part II – Pedagogical innovation and social networking in open online learning
Creativity and transversal skills to raise fair European students in a digital area
Ilaria Reggiani ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 96
Learning in virtual worlds for a sustainable learning society: ST.ART Project
Arturo Lavalle and Monica Fasciani ……………………………………………………………....… 105
Advanced technologies promise to generate opportunities to future distance learning models
Gianluca Gigante …………………...………………………………………………………………..… 114
2 Introduction
Alessandra Briganti1
Over 150 experts and researchers representing universities and institutions coming from 38
countries have gathered at the 7th International GUIDE Conference “The Global Economic Crisis
and Its Consequences on National Educational Systems”, which was held in Athens, Greece, on
October 3-4, 2013. The submitted researches and studies addressed critical issues such as the
reform of national higher education agenda, pedagogical innovation in course design and delivery,
higher education in a time of economic crisis and social implications of distance learning.
The global economic and financial crisis evokes negative impacts on Government organization,
while simultaneously generating positive momentum in terms of progress towards an overall
reorganization based on the innovation of processes and products. When analyzing the
educational system as a part of the economy of a country, particularly higher education as an
indication of the future for each and every nation, it is now clear that the economic resources of
national governments are no longer capable of bearing the costs of the actual educational system.
The current framework, characterized by the effects of the economic and financial crisis on the
individual national structures, highlights the need for the reform of the educational system,
beginning with the public education reforms that have characterized modern and contemporary
history.
The massification of higher education has provoked a relentless crisis and universities are unable
even to provide a specialized professional preparation. In this context, the technological
revolution impacted the cultural structures of nations, namely the regulations, procedures,
methods and professional functions, generating an enormous transformation of the internal
structures and relationships of market economies.
Ultimately, the advancement of the global economy and long-term structural relations between
nations has proven essential to the reform of educational systems as a determining factor for the
growth of a population. The current obsolescence of the higher education system limits the
expression of cultural creativity that leads to national prosperity, resulting in inefficient services
and research methods. It is necessary to consider the fact that the education system, only for
university training, costs each of the major OECD countries, on average, over 1% of the GDP. In
this setting of crisis, these resources are likely to be further reduced, becoming insufficient for the
achievement of the desired results in terms of efficiency.
1
Rector, Università degli Studi “Guglielmo Marconi”, Rome, Italy
3 In this perspective, one should question the integration of traditional teaching methods with those
supported by technology, leading to a considerable reduction in costs in relation to the
enlargement of the range of students, while always promising a specialized professional training.
In this context, it is essential to survey the solutions that each nation must develop for adaptation
to the requirements set forth by such a monumental transition. As a consequence, the recognition
of the role of digital technologies in providing the necessary skills for professional success and in
assuring cost-effective equal learning opportunities to the vast audience, should be emphasized.
Since the previous edition of the International GUIDE Conference, held in Rome in 2011, online
and distance education has continued to grow and expand, as shown by a survey conducted
among GUIDE members in August 2013. More and more traditional and open universities have
introduced new pedagogical innovations to their courses and have improved their approach to eLearning. Besides, a veritable earthquake has shaken the foundations of online education over the
past two years: MOOCs. In spite of their strong impact on digital education, MOOCs are an
extremely recent addition and still have to develop a sustainable business and pedagogical
strategy.
Today, as nations begin to place a strong emphasis on the use of ICT technologies within their
education systems, it is our responsibility as professionals in the fields of education and learning,
to protect the right to knowledge from the risk of trivializing the arduous processes of learning
and teaching. It is our responsibility to combat the risk potentially linked to the standardization of
conceptual operations performed through the use of technology. Is that happened, our work would
have been in vain, and all our efforts would fall into oblivion.
Therefore, today we are called to work even more responsibly in redesigning the various
education systems in light of the socio-cultural adjustments to the current global trend. In this
perspective, we must intensify the research dedicated to the analysis of knowledge structure in its
dynamic relationship with technology application in education. And this means, ultimately, to
place first in our work the quality of higher education as a tool for the conservation and
development of a common cultural and conceptual heritage, with the knowledge that culture is
and always will be the driving force behind our history.
The Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi was well-represented in the Athens Conference
with seven papers presented in the sessions “Higher education in a time of economic crisis” and
“Pedagogical innovation and social networking in open online learning”2. In the former, Andrea
Gentile addressed the impact of the crisis on structure of higher education systems, identifying the
reforms needed in higher education for the improvement of quality and the modernization of
2
I would like to acknowledge also the contributions offered by Laura Ricci, Sergio Rios Perez and Krista
Di Eleuterio to the Athens Conference and to the selection and editing of the essays contained in this book.
4 universities in the current economic state. Rainer Masera presented the concept of the “twin
revolution” of technological innovation and fiscal austerity catalyzed by the application of ICTs in
higher education, and the eventual Schumpeterian Process of “creative destruction” in the
revolution of university models. Carlo Pelanda proposed the implementation of a special online
Professional Master, offering the solution of ICT-Based Higher Education as a tool for Economic
Crisis Management. Lisa Reggiani concluded the session, presenting the worldwide effects of the
economic crisis on the higher education system and the relative solutions proposed by some
continents, and reiterated the necessity of e-learning and the massive use of ICT in education as
the key to overcoming the crisis. In the session “Pedagogical innovation and social networking in
open online learning”, Ilaria Reggiani used GENIUS Project to exemplify how, by supporting
creativity and promoting transversal skills, an attitude of cooperation and fairness can be fostered
among European students in a digital era. ST.ART Project, introduced by Arturo Lavalle and
Monica Fasciani, provided yet another example of atypical learning through the combination of elearning and 3-D virtual environments, allowing for a more dynamic teaching and learning model.
As President John F. Kennedy indicated, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed
of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity”. I hope and trust
that the essays by researchers of the Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi collected in this ebook - to disseminate information and foster dialogue on the new challenges and perspectives of
higher education -can contribute to transform the current time of economic crisis into
opportunities for university research and education.
5 PART 1
HIGHER EDUCATION
IN A TIME OF ECONOMIC CRISIS
6 The impact of the crisis on the structure of the higher education systems
Andrea Gentile3
Higher education systems have a central role in an increasingly globalised environment which is
constantly changing and is characterised by strong competition to attract and retain outstanding
talent, and by the emergence of the world financial-economic crisis and of new requirements for
which they have to cater. How will the world financial-economic crisis impact the structure of
higher education systems? How is it possible to modernise the structure of higher education
systems and develop a new model of higher education systems? These questions are particularly
topical as enlargement draws nearer, considering the frequently difficult circumstances of
universities in the accession countries in regards to human and financial-economic resources.
Despite a challenging employment climate in the wake of the financial and economic crisis,
higher education systems represent a sound choice. Yet, the potential of European higher
education institutions to fulfil their role in society and contribute to Europe’s prosperity
remains underexploited. Europe is no longer setting the pace in the global race for knowledge
and talent, while emerging economies are rapidly increasing their investment in higher
education institutions. While 35% of all jobs in the EU will require high-level qualifications
by 2020, only 26% of the workforce currently has a higher education qualification. The EU
still lags behind in the share of researchers in the total labour force: 6 per 100, compared to 9 in
the USA and 11 in Japan. According to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Academic Ranking
of World Universities, more than 30 of the highest-ranked 45 institutions are in the United States
(as measured by awards and research output).
The EU Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 wants to
support a strategy with a significant increase in the budget devoted to financial investment in
education, research and innovation. This is because education, and in particular higher
education system and its links with research and new technological-scientific innovation,
plays a crucial role in individual and societal advancement, and in providing the highly skilled
human capital and the articulate citizens that Europe needs to create jobs, economic growth and
prosperity. Higher education institutions are thus crucial partners in delivering the European
Union’s strategy to drive forward and maintain growth in our society.
The new knowledge economy needs people with the right mix of skills: transversal
competences, e-skills for the digital era, creativity and flexibility and a solid
understanding of their chosen field (such as in Science, Technology, Engineering and
3
Università degli Studi “Guglielmo Marconi”, Rome, Italy
7 Maths). But public and private employers, including in research intensive sectors,
increasingly report mismatches and difficulties in finding the right people for their evolving
needs.
At the same time, higher education institutions too often seek to compete in too many
areas, while comparatively few have the capacity to excel across the board. As a consequence,
too few European higher education institutions are recognised as world class in the current,
research oriented global university rankings.
For instance, only around 200 of Europe’s 4000 higher education institutions are included in
the top 500, and only 3 in the top 20, according to the latest Academic Ranking of World
Universities. And there has been no real improvement over the past years. There is no single
excellence mode: Europe needs a wide diversity of higher education institutions, and each must
pursue excellence in line with its mission and strategic priorities. With more transparent
information about the specific profile and performance of individual institutions, policy-markers
will be in a better position to develop effective higher education strategies and institutions will
find it easier to build on their strengths.
The main responsibility for delivering reforms in higher education rests with Member States and
education institutions themselves. However, the Bologna Process, the EU Agenda for the
modernisation of universities and the creation of the European Research Area show that the
challenges and policy responses transcend national borders. In order to maximise the contribution
of Europe’s higher education systems to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, reforms are
needed in the following key areas:
-
to increase the quantity of higher education graduates at all levels;
-
to enhance the quality and relevance of human capital development in higher education;
-
to create effective governance and funding mechanisms in support of excellence;
-
to strengthen the knowledge triangle between education, research and business.
Moreover, the international mobility of teachers, students, researchers and staff, as well as the
growing internationalisation of higher education, have a strong impact on quality and affect each
of these key areas.
The Europe 2020 education headline target stipulates that, by 2020, 40% of young people should
successfully complete higher education or equivalent studies. Attainment levels have grown
significantly across much of Europe in the last decade, but they are still largely insufficient to
meet the projected growth in knowledge-intensive jobs, reinforce Europe’s capacity to benefit
from globalisation, and sustain the European social model. Increasing higher education attainment
must also be a catalyst for systemic change, to enhance quality and develop new ways to deliver
8 education. Furthermore, while the impact of demographic ageing varies across Member States, the
group of school leavers from which higher education traditionally recruits is shrinking.
Therefore, Europe needs to attract a broader cross-section of society into higher education,
including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, and deploy the resources to meet this challenge;
in several Member States, reducing higher education drop-out rates is also crucial. This increase
in aspirations and achievement cannot be addressed at the tertiary level alone: success also
depends upon policies to improve earlier educational outcomes and reduce school drop-out, in
line with the Europe 2020 target and the recent Council Recommendation on early school leaving.
Europe also needs more researchers, to prepare the ground for the industries of tomorrow. To
make our economies more research-intensive, reaching the 3% of GDP research investment
target, the Union will need an estimated one million new research jobs, mainly in the private
sector. In addition to improving the conditions for industry to invest in research and innovation,
this calls for more doctoral candidates and equipping the existing workforce with research skills,
and for better information on opportunities so that career paths outside academia become a
genuine career prospect for early stage researchers. Tackling stereotyping and dismantling the
barriers still faced by women in reaching the highest levels in post-graduate education and
research – especially in certain disciplines and in leadership positions – can liberate untapped
talent.
Improving the quality and relevance of higher education systems
Higher education systems enhance individual potential and should equip graduates with the
knowledge and core transferable competences they need to succeed in high-skill occupations. Yet
curricula are often slow to respond to changing needs in the wider economy, and fail to anticipate
or help shape the careers of tomorrow; graduates struggle to find quality employment in line with
their studies. Involving employers and labour market institutions in the design and delivery of
programmes, supporting staff exchanges and including practical experience in courses can help
attune curricula to current and emerging labour market needs and foster employability and
entrepreneurship. Better monitoring by education institutions of the career paths of their former
students can further inform programme design and increase relevance.
There is a strong need for flexible, innovative e-learning approaches and delivery methods: to
improve quality and relevance while expanding student numbers, to widen participation to diverse
groups of learners, and to combat drop-out. One key way of achieving this, in line with the EU
Digital Agenda, is to exploit the transformational benefits of ICTs and other new e-learning
technologies to enrich teaching, improve learning experiences, support personalised learning,
9 facilitate access through distance learning, and virtual mobility, streamline administration and
create new opportunities for research.
In meeting the increased demand for knowledge workers, researcher training in higher education
institutions must be better aligned with the needs of the knowledge-intensive labour market and in
particular with the requirements of SMEs. High quality, industry-relevant doctoral training is
instrumental in meeting this demand for expert human capital. Linking funding to the
implementation of the EU Principles on Innovative Doctoral Training will allow Europe to train
more researchers better and faster. From this perspective, we can outline and point out these key
policy issues in higher education institutions:
-
Encourage a greater variety of study modes (e.g. distance and modular learning,
continuing education for adult returners and others already in the labour market), by
adapting funding mechanisms where necessary.
-
Better exploit the potential of ICTs to enable more effective and personalised e-learning
experiences, teaching and research methods (eg. eLearning and blended learning).
-
Promote and increase the use of distance learning and international virtual learning
platforms.
-
Enhance the capacity of labour market institutions (including public employment
services) and regulations to match skills and jobs, and develop active labour market
policies to promote graduate employment and enhance career guidance.
-
Encourage the use of skills and growth projections and graduate employment data
(including tracking graduate employment outcomes), adapting quality assurance and
funding mechanisms to reward success in equipping students for the labour market.
-
Introduce incentives for higher education institutions to invest in continuous professional
development for their staff, recruit sufficient staff to develop emerging disciplines and
reward excellence in teaching.
-
Link funding for doctoral programmes to the Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training.
So, in this perspective, the contribution of higher education systems to jobs and growth, and its
international attractiveness, can be enhanced through close, effective links between education,
research and business: the three sides of the «knowledge triangle». The recent shift towards open
innovation has resulted in increased flows of knowledge and new types of co-operation between
higher education institutions, research organisations and business. But the capacity of higher
education institutions to integrate research results and innovative practice into the educational
offer, and to exploit the potential for marketable products and services, remains weak. Working
across the boundaries of research, business and education requires in-depth scientific knowledge,
entrepreneurial skills, creative and innovative attitudes and intensive interaction between
10 stakeholders to disseminate and exploit knowledge generated to best effect. Public policies which
encourage partnership between professional institutions, research universities, business and hightech centres can anchor education in the knowledge triangle, improve the continuum between
“basic” and “applied” research, and transfer knowledge to the market more effectively. Improved
management of intellectual property will facilitate this process.
As centres of knowledge, expertise and learning, higher education institutions can drive economic
development in the territories where they are located; they can bring talented people into
innovative environments and harness regional strengths on a global scale; they can foster an open
exchange of knowledge, staff and expertise. They can also act as the centre of a knowledge
network or cluster serving the local economy and society, if local and regional authorities
implement smart specialisation strategies to concentrate resources on key priorities and maximize
impact.
In this perspective, we can identify certain challenges which the Member States and universities
must face in order to modernise and restructure higher education institutions and research and
compete in the global competition:
-
Stimulate the development of creative and innovation skills in all disciplines and in all
three cycles, and promote innovation in higher education through more interactive
learning environments and strengthened knowledge-transfer infrastructure.
-
Strengthen the knowledge-transfer infrastructure of higher education institutions and
enhance their capacity to engage in start-ups and spin-offs.
-
Encourage partnership and cooperation with business as a core activity of higher
education institutions, through reward structures, incentives for multidisciplinary and
cross-organisational cooperation, and the reduction of regulatory and administrative
barriers to partnerships between institutions and other public and private actors.
-
Promote the systematic involvement of higher education institutions in the development
of integrated local and regional development plans, and target regional support towards
higher education-business cooperation particularly for the creation of regional hubs of
excellence and specialisation.
Improving governance and financial funding
Higher education systems require adequate funding, and the Europe 2020 strategy highlights the
need to protect the growth-enhancing areas of education and research when prioritising public
spending. Yet, while spending levels vary substantially between Member States, total investment
in higher education in Europe is too low: 1.3% of GDP on average, compared with 2.7% in the
11 US and 1.5% in Japan. The current pressure for fiscal consolidation has inevitably led Member
States to assess the cost-effectiveness of their public investments in higher education and
research: while some have reduced spending, others have increased budgets in recognition of the
growth potential of spending in these areas.
Public investment must remain the basis for sustainable higher education. But the scale of funding
required to sustain and expand high-quality higher education systems is likely to necessitate
additional sources of funding, be they public or private. Member States are increasingly striving
to maximise the value of resources invested, including through targeted performance agreements
with institutions, competitive funding arrangements, and channelling finance directly to
individuals. They are looking to diversify funding sources, using public investment to lever funds
from elsewhere and drawing to a larger extent on private funding; tuition fees are becoming more
widespread, particularly at masters level and above. It will be important to monitor and assess the
effectiveness and impact of these new developments, including on students from poorer
backgrounds, and on equity and mobility.
The challenges faced by higher education require more flexible governance and funding systems
which balance greater autonomy for education institutions with accountability to all stakeholders.
Autonomous institutions can specialise more easily, promoting educational and research
performance and fostering diversification within higher education systems. But legal, financial
and administrative restrictions continue to limit institutional freedom to define strategies and
structures and to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The efficiency of higher
education institutions and so the effectiveness of public investment can be enhanced by reducing
restrictions: on raising private revenue, on capital investment, on the ownership of infrastructure,
on the freedom to recruit staff, on accreditation. Investment in professional management can
provide strategic vision and leadership while allowing teachers and researchers the necessary
academic freedom to concentrate on their core tasks. From this perspective, we can outline these
key policy issues in higher education institutions:
-
Encourage a better identification of the real costs of higher education and research and the
careful targeting of spending, including through funding mechanisms linked to
performance which introduce an element of competition.
-
Target funding mechanisms to the needs of different institutional profiles, to encourage
institutions to focus efforts on their individual strengths, and develop incentives to
support a diversity of strategic choices and to develop centres of excellence.
-
Facilitate access to alternative sources of funding, including using public funds to
leverage private and other public investment (through match-funding, for example).
12 -
Support the development of strategic and professional higher education leaders, and
ensure that higher education institutions have the autonomy to set strategic direction,
manage income streams, reward performance to attract the best teaching and research
staff, set admissions policies and introduce new curricula.
-
Encourage institutions to modernise their human resource management and obtain the HR
Excellence in Research logo and to implement the recommendations of the Helsinki
Group on Women in Science.
The landscape of Universities and the international e-learning dimension of higher
education systems
European universities are characterised by a high degree of heterogeneity, which is reflected in
organisation, structure, governance and operating conditions, including the status and conditions
of employment and recruitment of teaching staff and researchers. There are some 3300 higher
education establishments in the European Union and approximately 4000 in Europe as a whole,
including the other countries of western Europe and the candidate countries. They take in an
increasing number of students, over 12.5 million in 2000, compared with fewer than 9 million ten
years previously. They employ 34 % of the total number of researchers in Europe, with significant
variations from one Member State to another (26 % in Germany, 55 % in Spain and over 70 % in
Greece).
The European Union produces slightly more science and technology graduates than the USA,
while having fewer researchers than the other major technological powers. This apparent paradox
is explained by the fact that fewer research posts are open to science graduates in Europe,
particularly in the private sector: only 50% of European researchers work in the business sector,
compared with 83% of American researchers and 66% of Japanese researchers. Despite this, the
universities are responsible for 80 % of the fundamental research carried out in Europe.
Universities are essentially organised at national and regional levels and seem to have difficulty in
finding a truly European dimension. Student mobility, for instance, is still marginal in Europe. In
2000, a mere 2.3 % of European students were pursuing their studies in another European
country. However, the EU funds a variety of initiatives to promote research, education and
training at both European and international levels. In the area of research, European universities
receive around one third of the funding available under the fifth (1998-2002) and sixth (20022006) framework programmes for technological research and development, and particularly the
support actions for research training and mobility (Marie Curie actions). As far as education and
training are concerned, universities are very much involved in all the actions of the SOCRATES
13 programme, particularly the ERASMUS action. The LEONARDO programme supports projects
on mobility between universities and the business sector, involving 40 000 people between 1995
and 2000. Universities are also involved in the eEurope initiative and its «eEurope 2005 Action
Plan», which encourages all universities to develop online access (“virtual campus”) for teachers,
students and researchers.
This cooperation also extends to other regions of the world. Most of the Community Research
Framework Programme is open to every country in the world and in particular provides support
for cooperation with the countries in the Mediterranean region, Russia, China and the newly
Independent States, as well as developing countries. Through the TEMPUS programme the EU
supports university cooperation with the countries of the former Soviet Union, south-east Europe
and, since its extension in 2002, the Mediterranean region. There are also initiatives covering
relations with other geographical areas, e.g. ALFA and Asia-Link.
How to modernise the structure of higher education systems
Following all these considerations, Universities and higher education institutions are facing an
imperative need to adapt and adjust to a whole series of profound changes:
-
Increased demand for higher education. The low birth rate in Europe coincides with an
increased demand for higher education, which is expected to continue in the years ahead,
mainly because of the policy adopted by certain governments for increasing the number
of students in higher education and also because new needs are emerging in relation to
lifelong learning.
-
The internationalisation of education and research. European universities are attracting
fewer students and in particular fewer researchers from other countries than their
American counterparts. The former in 2000 attracted some 450 000 students from other
countries, while the latter attracted over 540 000, mostly from Asia. However, the USA in
proportion attracts many more students from other countries at advanced levels in
engineering, mathematics and informatics, and are successful in keeping more people
with doctorate qualifications: some 50 % of Europeans who obtained their qualifications
in the USA stay there for several years, and many of them remain permanently. European
universities in fact offer researchers and students a less attractive environment. This is
partly due to the fact that they often do not have the necessary critical mass, which
prompts them to opt for collaborative approaches, e.g. creation of networks, joint courses
or diplomas. But other factors, outside the university, also play an important role, e.g. the
14 rigidities of the labour market or a lower level of entrepreneurship entailing fewer
employment opportunities in innovative sectors.
-
To develop effective and close cooperation between universities and industry.
Cooperation between universities and industry needs to be intensified by gearing it more
effectively towards innovation, new business start-ups and, more generally, the transfer
and dissemination of knowledge.
-
The proliferation of places where knowledge is produced. The increasing tendency of the
business sector to subcontract research activities to the best universities mean that
universities have to operate in an increasingly competitive environment.
-
The reorganisation of knowledge. This is to be seen in the increasing diversification and
specialisation of knowledge, and the emergence of research and teaching specialities
which are increasingly specific and cutting edge. It is also seen in the fact that the
academic world has an urgent need to adapt to the interdisciplinary character of the fields
opened up by society’s major problems, such as sustainable development, the new
medical scourges and risk management. Yet the activities of the universities, particularly
when it comes to teaching, tend to remain organised within the traditional disciplinary
framework.
-
The emergence of new expectations. Universities must cater to new needs in education
and training which stem from the knowledge-based economy and society. These include
an increasing need for scientific and technical education, horizontal skills, and
opportunities for lifelong learning, which require greater permeability between the
components and the levels of the education and training systems.
Universities and new challenges in financial-economic resources
Excellence in human resources depends largely on available financial resources, but is also
affected by working conditions and career prospects. Generally speaking, career prospects in
European universities, characterised by the multiplicity of configurations, are limited and
shrouded in uncertainty. Traditionally, public funding is the main source of funding for research
and education in European universities. Possible alternative financial sources are:
-
private donations, as in the case of the United States;
-
the sale of services (including research services and flexible lifelong learning
possibilities), particularly to the business sector;
-
contributions from students, in the form of tuition and enrolment fees. In Europe, these
contributions are generally limited or even prohibited, in order to allow democratic access
to higher education;
15 -
application of the results of research and the creation of spin-off companies. Since the
mid-1990s, the number of young technological (“spin-off”) companies created by
universities has been on the rise in Europe. Their average density nevertheless is far
smaller than it is around the American campuses. A major obstacle to better application of
university research results is the way intellectual property issues are handled in Europe. In
addition, European universities do not have well-developed structures for managing
research results. They are less well developed, for instance, than those of public research
bodies. Another contributory factor is the lack of familiarity of many university staff with
the economic realities of research, particularly the managerial aspects and issues
regarding intellectual property.
-
Increasing universities’ excellence in research and teaching. This Communication calls on
European universities to identify the areas in which different universities have attained, or
can reasonably be expected to attain, the excellence judged to be essential at European or
at international level, in order to concentrate funding on them to support academic
research. The concentration of research funding on a smaller number of areas and
institutions will lead to increased specialisation of the universities, which will make it
possible to obtain appropriate quality at national level in certain areas, while ensuring
excellence at European level.
-
In addition, to counter the current trend among European universities of recruiting people
from the country or region in which they are established, or even within the institution
itself, the Communication proposes to strengthen not only intra-European academic
mobility, but also mobility between universities and industry, thus opening up new career
opportunities for young researchers.
-
Promote distance learning and opening up universities to the outside world and increasing
their international attractiveness. For European universities, a broader international
perspective means greater competition with universities on the other continents,
particularly American universities, when it comes to attracting and retaining the best
talent from all over the world. While European universities host almost as many foreign
students as American universities, in proportion they attract fewer top-level students and a
smaller proportion of researchers. All in all, the environment offered by the European
universities is less attractive. Financial, material and working conditions are not as good,
and arrangements with regard to visas and residence permits for students, teachers and
researchers are inappropriate and poorly harmonised.
-
The regions of the EU are therefore called upon to play an important part in strengthening
European cohesion through the development of technology centres and science parks, the
proliferation of regional cooperation structures between the business sector and the
16 universities, the expansion of university regional development strategies and the regional
networking of universities.
Modernising universities and new technological-scientific innovation
In order for European universities to play a key role in achieving the strategic goal set at the
Lisbon European Council, i.e. to make the European Union (EU) the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, we have to point out the specific role of
European universities in the knowledge society and economy. While the birth and growth of the
knowledge economy and society rely on the combination of four interdependent elements, i.e. the
production of new knowledge, its transmission through education and training, its dissemination
through the information and communication technologies and its use through new services or
industrial processes, it is Europe’s universities which are the key players in this new process.
In this perspective, it is necessary to realise a stronger action at European level to implement the
necessary reforms to modernise European universities. As key actors in a knowledge economy
and knowledge society, universities face many challenges and have to make the necessary reforms
to fully participate in the global market place in the fields of teaching, research and new
technological-scientific innovation.
These reforms, which seek to restructure universities, concern in particular mobility, recognition
of qualifications, autonomy, skills, funding, excellence and partnership with business. With
4 000 establishments, over 17 million students and some 1.5 million staff – of whom 435 000 are
researchers – European universities have enormous potential. At the same time, higher
education institutions too often seek to compete in too many areas, while comparatively few
have the capacity to excel across the board. As a consequence, too few European Higher
education institutions are recognised as world in the current, research oriented global university
rankings. the potential of European higher education institutions to fulfil their role in
society and contribute to Europe’s prosperity remains underexploited. Europe is no longer
setting the pace in the global race for knowledge and talent, while emerging economies are
rapidly increasing their investment in higher education institutions. In this perspective, we can
identify certain challenges which the Member States and universities must face in order to
modernise and restructure higher education and research and compete in the global competition:
-
the standardisation of national university systems and their fragmentation into small
structures, which make national, European and international cooperation more difficult
and form an obstacle to their diversification and impede their quality;
17 -
identical courses offered to similar types of student. Other types of training and other
target groups tend to be neglected (conversion courses for adults or transition courses for
those who have not followed traditional educational pathways);
-
inflexible administrative regulations and long-winded academic recognition procedures.
The problem of the transferability of scholarships or loans and pension rights is another
obstacle to mobility, training, research or employment in another country;
-
the development of the research environment into one which is open, interactive and
competitive, transcending traditional structures;
-
universities and business still underestimate the benefits of exchanging knowledge with
each other or are not adapted to do so; lack of resources to ensure that the quality of
higher education and research in Europe is comparable to that at American universities.
In this context, European universities are lagging behind in an increasingly competitive market to
attract the best researchers and students. However, they need to develop their own potential fully
and be able to do so. Even if they share certain values and objectives, it is not necessary to follow
an identical model in terms of the balance between education and research, have a similar
approach to research or research training or offer similar academic services and subjects.
Research must remain a fundamental mission of every education system, but it must be restricted
to a limited number of establishments so as to better mobilise resources.
Changes and reforms to develop a new model of higher education systems
Removing obstacles faced by universities is vital to encourage and speed up mobility, both
geographically and between sectors. This relates in particular to researchers. Advantage should be
taken of the opportunities offered by mobility, a source of enrichment for study and work, but it
must be made simpler by way of student grants and loans which are portable throughout the EU.
The full transferability of pension rights and the elimination of all types of obstacles to
occupational mobility between countries or between sectors, will also facilitate the mobility of
staff and researchers, thus stimulating innovation. Essential reforms for the implementation of the
Bologna Process are needed by 2010 throughout the EU. The main aspects are comparable
qualifications (short cycle, Bachelor or equivalent, Master, Doctorate); flexible curricula which
meet the needs of the labour market; and trustworthy quality assurance systems. These reforms
should not only be based on best practices but also be launched by the national authorities to
guarantee their implementation. In parallel, the recognition of academic qualifications should be
simplified to ensure rapid procedures, following the example of the system for the recognition of
vocational qualifications, which has recently been modernised and simplified.
18 Universities must be autonomous and responsible in order to encourage innovation and resist
change. This calls for a division of tasks between the Member States and universities. The
Member States should establish the general framework (rules, policy objectives, funding,
incentives). The universities should establish new governance systems based on strategic
priorities and on the professional management of human resources, investment and administrative
procedures. They should also reduce the fragmentation of their services and entities and assume
responsibility for their results.
Incentives to encourage structured partnerships with enterprises will be needed to bring
universities closer to the world of business. Beyond their original mission, universities must
realise their role as economic actors and be better equipped to meet demand from the market in
order to increase the impact of their research. These structured partnerships must strengthen
interactions between universities and enterprises (funding, opportunities for researchers, etc.).
Incentives will therefore be essential to establish the necessary structures in universities, develop
entrepreneurial spirit and management, business and innovation skills.
Universities must also provide knowledge and skills geared to the needs of the labour market. In
other words, graduates’ qualifications must meet the needs of the labour market. All levels of
education are concerned, including adult education. This approach must be in line with the agenda
on lifelong learning. Innovative curricula, teaching methods and continuing or refresher training
courses combining general and specific skills will help to meet these needs. Universities must also
embrace an enterprise culture, and placements in industry must be recognised so that they can be
fully integrated into courses. In this context, access to the labour market should serve as an
indicator of the quality and performance of universities. This means, for example, that doctoral
candidates wishing to work in research must acquire, in addition to their research training, skills
relating to the management of intellectual property rights, communication, working in a network,
entrepreneurship and team working.
University funding must be reformed so that a level of teaching and research excellence can be
achieved in accordance with the Lisbon Strategy, the aim of which is to commit 2% of gross
domestic product (GDP) to a modernised higher education system by 2010. Moreover,
universities should fully assume their role in European research by way of more investment (the
objective is to invest 3% of GDP in research and development by 2010). In parallel, the funding
of students should be amended to ensure greater fairness between students, in particular those
coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, as regards university admittance and chances of
success.
For this reason, the funding should be results-oriented, rather than resources-oriented. It should
also be more diverse and include more private funding, especially for research. A good balance
19 between basic funding and funding resulting from calls for tender or linked to results will
therefore be necessary. Moreover, this second category of funding must be based on performance
indicators in order to clearly measure the relationship between resources invested (inputs) and
results obtained, both economic and social (outputs). In this way, universities will be more
responsible for their own financial viability.
Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity are vital for universities, which have to adapt to new
opportunities and new issues arising from trends in each field. Universities will therefore have to
redefine their education and research priorities by focusing more on research fields than scientific
disciplines. They must also encourage student, researcher and research team mobility in order to
generate more interactions between them. To this end, universities will have to revise their
structures and organisations (staff management, evaluation, funding, teaching, etc.).
Universities must promote knowledge by achieving greater involvement of all parts of society. In
a knowledge-based society, it is vital for universities to step up communication and dialogue with
those affected by their activities and with the whole of society, by way of conferences, open days
or forums. They will thus gain credibility and attract more investment. They must also offer
lifelong learning opportunities.
Universities must also concentrate on the development of excellence. The attractiveness of
universities will be enhanced by the concentration of resources, mobility and increased
competition. However, whilst attracting researchers and students, they must also establish flexible
and transparent recruitment procedures, ensure research independence and offer attractive career
prospects. Excellence also means favouring certain fields. Excellence encourages the
development of networks of postgraduate or doctoral institutions which must meet certain key
criteria, such as critical mass, transdisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, the European dimension,
the support of public authorities and enterprises, identified and recognised fields of excellence, a
range of post-doctoral studies and a reliable quality assurance system. The creation of the
European Institute of Technology and the European Research Council is in line with this strategy.
The visibility and international attractiveness of the European higher education area and the
European Research Area are essential to strengthen the role of universities and European research
in the world. However, to be competitive, their role, openness and quality have to be stepped up.
In this context, experience gained by universities in cooperation (consortia, agreements, double
degrees), networking and mobility deserve to be further developed beyond Europe. Cooperative
ventures should be better structured and supported by appropriate funding and bilateral or
multilateral agreements. Openness to the world also means attracting non-European students,
teachers and researchers and encouraging European student, teacher and researcher mobility
outside Europe.
20 In this context, it is vital to simplify and speed up the administrative and legal entry procedures
for students and researchers from outside the EU. The entry and residence of researchers from
third countries have already formed the subject of a package of measures for the issue of visas for
researchers in 2005. Recognising qualifications is another essential aspect of the global visibility
and attractiveness of European higher education and research. Following the example of the
recognition of vocational qualifications, the recognition of academic qualifications should also be
encouraged. The European qualifications framework and compatible quality assurance systems
mark the beginnings of this. Moreover, double degrees and joint degrees issued by consortia of
universities could also be extended and built upon.
In this perspective, the EU Commission’s proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework
2014-2020 wants to support a strategy with a significant increase in the budget devoted to
economic-financial investment in higher education systems, research and innovation. The EU
Commission is providing political backing with the open method of coordination which Member
States use. This allows the identification and dissemination of good practices and support for
Member States in the pursuit of more effective university systems. The Commission wants to
provide funding to step up the quality and performance of universities. This funding includes the
programmes for the period 2014-2020 (the 7th framework programme for research and
development, the lifelong learning programme, the Competitiveness and innovation programme),
the Structural Funds, focusing on the least developed regions, and loans from the European
Investment Bank. Moreover, the creation of the European Technology Institute will meet the
objectives set out in this communication, in particular because it will be focusing on excellence,
interdisciplinarity, networks and cooperation between the academic and business worlds. In this
perspective, the EU Commission also emphasises the importance of coordinating all those
concerned in the restructuring and modernisation of universities. The Member States must take
these challenges into account when they implement the Integrated guidelines for growth and jobs
and the national reform programmes. Universities must make strategy choices to respond to them.
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52 Universities: the twin challenges of fiscal austerity and technological change
Rainer Masera4
1. The traditional model of higher education
In the traditional world, university is regarded as a public good and university teaching represents
a public consumption/service.
To recall, pure public goods are non-rival and non-excludable (consumption of these goods does
not reduce the quantity available for others; nobody can be excluded from consumption,
irrespective of whether they pay for them or not). Put it differently, the cost of providing it to a
marginal individual is zero. Pure services are perishable and therefore they cannot be stored:
university lessons represent in principle a once and for all process.
It is already clear that higher education hardly conforms to the strict definition of public goods. In
theory, university education may be regarded as a mixed public good. Primary education, which is
in general compulsory, may instead be viewed fundamentally as a public good.
Other examples of pure public goods, which approximate the theoretical concepts outlined, can be
identified as: the democratic trias (Parliament, Government and Judiciary Power – Montesquieu,
1748), national defence, law enforcement, public expenditure on key capital infrastructures,
environment preservation (Fig. 1 and Masera, 2013).
Market failure justifies public solutions to prevent under allocation of resources and/or under
production of goods with respect to social optimum levels.
Pure public goods production (as defined above) can be estimated in a range of 5-10% of total
GDP in most advanced countries. Public expenditure (including higher education, but excluding
transfer payments) ranges between 15% and 25% of GDP (see Tab. 1); total public expenditure
ranges between 40% and over 50% (see Tab. 2).
4
Professor of Political Economy and Dean of the Business School, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome.
Email: [email protected]. 53 Fig. 1. Publlic goods: na
arrow definiition
54 Tab. 1. Final consumption expenditure of general government (percentage of GDP)
geo\time
EU (27 countries)
Euro area (changing composition)
Euro area (17 countries)
Belgium
Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Denmark
Germany
Estonia
Ireland
Greece
Spain
France
Croatia
Italy
Cyprus
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
Netherlands
Austria
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovenia
Slovakia
Finland
Sweden
United Kingdom
Iceland
Norway
Switzerland
Montenegro
Former Yugoslav Republic of Mace
Turkey
United States
Japan
2003
20.8
20.5
20.5
22.9
19.9
22.7
26.5
19.3
18.3
16.1
17.1
17.3
23.8
19.1
19.5
19.8
21.8
19.7
16.4
23.5
19.6
24.5
18.7
18.1
20
19.3
19
20.4
22.1
27.3
20.3
26
22.5
12
26.8
20.3
12.2
15.8
18.3
2004
20.7
20.4
20.4
22.5
19.4
21.5
26.5
18.9
17.6
16.4
17.2
17.8
23.8
19.2
19.7
17.9
19.8
19.3
16.9
22.4
20.1
24.2
18.4
17.6
20.3
16.3
18.8
19
22.2
26.5
20.8
25
21.2
11.8
26.3
19.6
11.9
15.7
18.2
2005
20.8
20.5
20.5
22.7
18.3
21.4
26
18.8
17.2
16.3
18.1
18
23.8
19
20.1
18
17.8
18.6
16.5
22.6
19.1
23.7
18.4
18.1
21.1
17.4
19
18.3
22.5
26.2
21
24.6
19.7
11.6
29.9
18.4
11.8
15.7
18.4
2006
20.7
20.3
20.3
22.4
18
20.7
25.9
18.4
16.2
16.5
17.1
18
23.5
18.8
20
18.4
16.8
19.1
15.4
23
19.4
25.1
18.3
18.3
20.5
16.7
18.8
18.8
22.2
26
21.2
24.4
18.9
11.1
27
18.1
12.3
15.6
18.2
2007
20.3
20
20
22.2
16.7
19.8
26
17.9
16.4
17.2
17.8
18.3
23.1
19.2
19.5
17.5
17.8
17.8
14.8
21.6
18.7
25.2
18
17.9
19.8
16
17.3
17.1
21.5
25.5
20.7
24.2
19.3
10.7
20.1
17.1
12.8
15.8
18.1
2008
20.9
20.6
20.5
23.1
16.6
19.7
26.5
18.3
19.3
19.2
18.1
19.5
23.3
18.8
20
18
20
19.2
15.5
21.8
20.5
25.7
18.7
18.5
20.1
16.9
18.1
17.5
22.5
26.1
21.6
24.8
19.1
10.4
22.6
18.2
12.8
16.7
18.6
2009
22.5
22.3
22.3
24.7
16.3
21.5
29.8
20
22.1
20.4
20.5
21.3
24.8
20.2
21.4
20.1
19.6
21.9
17.5
22.7
20.7
28.6
19.8
18.5
22.1
18.5
20.1
19.9
25.2
27.7
23.2
26.5
22.3
11.2
22.2
19.1
14.7
17.6
19.9
2010
22.2
22
22
24.2
16.2
21.3
28.9
19.5
20.9
19.2
18.3
21.4
24.9
20.1
21.1
20
18.4
20.4
16.7
21.9
20.4
28.4
19.4
18.9
21.6
16.3
20.7
19.3
24.7
26.7
22.7
26
22
11
23.4
19.1
14.3
17.6
19.7
2011
21.7
21.5
21.5
24.4
15.7
20.7
28.4
19.3
19.5
18.4
17.4
20.9
24.5
19.8
20.4
20.1
17.7
18.7
16.4
20.8
20.5
27.9
18.8
18
20
15
20.8
18
24.4
26.4
21.9
25.4
21.5
11.1
22.1
18.3
13.9
17.1
20.4
2012
2013 (f)
21.7
21.8
21.5
21.6
21.5
21.6
24.9
25.1
15.5
16
20.8
20.9
28.6
28.7
19.5
19.9
19.6
19.4
17.6
16.9
17.8
17.2
20.1
20
24.7
25
19.8
19.4
20.1
19.7
20.1
20.1
15.3
15.1
17.6
17.1
16.9
17
20.3
20.3
21.3
21.3
28.4
28.5
18.8
18.8
17.9
17.9
18.3
18.9
15.7
15.5
20.6
20.3
17.6
17.1
24.8
25.2
26.9
26.9
21.8
21.8
25.5
25.3
21.3
21.5
11.2
11.3
21.2
20.1
18.9
18.5
14.8
15.6
16.5
15.9
20.5
20.6
f=forecast
Source: Eurostat, data extracted on 2 July 2013.
55 Tab. 2 - Government expenditure, EU 27, 2012 (percentage of GDP)
Data ranked in descending order
Total general government expenditure
according to the average of total
EU-27
45.4
revenue and expenditure.
Euro area
46.2
Source: Eurostat, data extracted on 29
Denmark
55.5
Finland
53.7
France
51.7
Belgium
50.8
Sweden
51.3
Austria
48.7
Greece
44.7
Italy
47.7
Netherlands
46.4
Hungary
46.5
Slovenia
45.0
United Kingdom
42.2
Germany
45.2
Portugal
41.0
Cyprus
40.0
Luxembourg
42.1
Czech Republic
40.1
Malta
40.5
Spain
36.4
Estonia
40.2
Poland
38.4
Ireland
34.6
April 2013.
56 Latvia
35.2
Bulgaria
34.9
Slovakia
33.1
Romania
33.5
Lithuania
32.9
Norway
57.0
Iceland
43.1
Switzerland (2)
34.3
Total public spending on education in advanced countries represents between 5% and 8% of
GDP. But, this includes primary education and capital expenditure. University spending in OECD
countries amounts therefore to some 1.1% of GDP; private spending is equal to 0.5% (but, in the
US, the percentage is 2.8%, compared to 1.5 in the EU). The average conceals significant
differences notably in respect of private funding, which is as high as 1.8% in the US compared to
0.3% in EU countries (Table 3). The high proportion of private finance in the US is largely due to
student debt financing. Outstanding student loans are over $1 trillion (more that all the credit card
debt). The combination of record unemployment of recent college graduates and very high tuition
fees led in 2013 default rate on students loans to reach a high of 17% (and this form of debt is not
liable to bankruptcy). All this helps explain the acute difficulties of high level education in the US
and the interest in open online education (Uvalić-Trumbić and Daniel, 2013).
57 Tab. 3. Expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, by source of fund
and level of education (2010)
Pre-primary education
Notes
Public
(1)
1
Private 2
(2)
Total
(3)
Primary, secondary and
post-secondary non-tertiary
education
Public
(4)
1
Private 2
(5)
Total
(6)
Tertiary education
Public
(7)
1
Private 2
(8)
Total all levels of education
Total
(9)
Public 1 Private 2
(10)
(11)
Total
(12)
OECD
Australia
0.06
0.05
0.11
3.7
0.6
4.3
0.8
0.9
1.6
4.6
1.5
6.1
Austria
0.60
n.
0.61
3.5
0.1
3.6
1.5
0.1
1.5
5.6
0.2
5.8
Belgium
0.62
0.02
0.64
4.3
0.1
4.4
1.4
0.1
1.4
6.4
0.2
6.6
x(4)
x(5)
x(6)
3.4
0.4
3.9
1.5
1.2
2.7
5.0
1.6
6.6
Canada
3, 4
Chile
5
0.53
0.11
0.64
2.7
0.7
3.4
0.7
1.7
2.4
3.9
2.5
6.4
0.47
0.04
0.51
2.6
0.3
2.8
1.0
0.2
1.2
4.1
0.6
4.7
0.93
0.14
1.08
4.7
0.1
4.8
1.8
0.1
1.9
7.6
0.4
8.0
Estonia
0.45
0.01
0.45
3.9
0.1
3.9
1.3
0.3
1.6
5.6
0.4
6.0
Finland
0.40
0.04
0.44
4.1
n
4.1
1.9
0.1
1.9
6.4
0.1
6.5
France
0.68
0.05
0.72
3.8
0.3
4.1
1.3
0.2
1.5
5.8
0.5
6.3
Germany
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
Greece
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
Hungary
0.70
m
m
2.8
m
m
0.8
m
m
4.6
m
m
Iceland
0.73
0.23
0.96
4.7
0.2
4.9
1.1
0.1
1.2
7.0
0.7
7.7
Czech Republic
Denmark
4
Ireland
m
m
m
4.6
0.2
4.8
1.3
0.3
1.6
6.0
0.5
6.4
Israel
0.66
0.18
0.84
4.0
0.3
4.3
1.0
0.7
1.7
5.9
1.5
7.4
Italy
0.44
0.04
0.47
3.1
0.1
3.2
0.8
0.2
1.0
4.3
0.4
4.7
0.10
0.12
0.22
2.8
0.2
3.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
3.6
1.5
5.1
Korea
0.15
0.12
0.27
3.4
0.9
4.2
0.7
1.9
2.6
4.8
2.8
7.6
Luxembourg
0.75
0.01
0.76
3.4
0.1
3.5
m
m
m
m
m
Mexico
0.54
0.10
0.64
3.4
0.6
4.0
1.0
0.4
1.4
5.1
1.1
6.2
Netherlands
0.41
0.01
0.42
3.7
0.4
4.1
1.3
0.5
1.7
5.4
0.9
6.3
New Zealand
0.53
0.09
0.62
4.4
0.6
5.1
1.0
0.5
1.6
6.0
1.3
7.3
Norw ay
0.43
0.08
0.51
5.1
m
m
1.6
0.1
1.7
7.5
m
Poland
0.52
0.14
0.66
3.4
0.2
3.7
1.0
0.4
1.5
5.0
0.8
Japan
4
Portugal
m
m
5.8
0.41
n
0.41
3.9
n
3.9
1.0
0.4
1.5
5.4
0.4
5.8
0.40
0.08
0.48
2.8
0.3
3.1
0.7
0.3
0.9
4.0
0.6
4.6
Slovenia
0.58
0.15
0.74
3.6
0.3
3.9
1.1
0.2
1.3
5.2
0.7
5.9
Spain
0.69
0.25
0.94
3.0
0.3
3.3
1.1
0.3
1.3
4.8
0.8
5.6
Sw eden
0.71
n
0.71
4.0
n
4.0
1.6
0.2
1.8
6.3
0.2
6.5
Sw itzerland
0.19
m
m
3.6
0.5
4.0
1.3
m
m
5.2
m
Turkey
0.04
m
m
2.5
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
United Kingdom
0.32
n
0.32
4.8
n
4.8
0.7
0.6
1.4
5.9
0.6
6.5
United States
0.36
0.15
0.50
3.7
0.3
4.0
1.0
1.8
2.8
5.1
2.2
7.3
OECD average
0.47
0.08
0.58
3.7
0.3
4.0
1.1
0.5
1.7
5.4
0.9
6.3
OECD total
0.37
0.11
0.49
3.5
0.3
3.9
1.0
1.1
2.1
5.0
1.5
6.5
EU21 average
0.56
0.06
0.61
3.7
0.2
3.9
1.2
0.3
1.5
5.5
0.5
6.0
Argentina
0.43
0.19
0.62
4.2
0.5
4.7
1.1
0.3
1.5
5.8
1.0
6.8
Brazil
0.44
m
m
4.3
m
m
0.9
m
m
5.6
m
m
China
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
India
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
Indonesia
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
Slovak Republic
4
m
m
Other G20
Russian Federation
0.71
0.10
0.81
2.0
0.1
2.1
1.0
0.6
1.6
4.1
0.8
Saudi Arabia
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
South Africa
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
G20 average
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
58 4.9
m
m
m
1. Including public subsidies to households attributable for educational institutions, and direct expenditure
on educational institutions from international sources.
2. Net of public subsidies attributable for educational institutions.
3. Year of reference 2009.
4. Some levels of education are included with others. Refer to “x” code in Table B1.1a for details.
5. Year of reference 2011.
Source: OECD (2013).
2. Public spending: current and capital
A relevant distinction in the analysis of public spending is the acquisition of goods and services
for current consumption and government acquisition of capital assets (fixed capital formation),
such as infrastructure spending and investment in universities of non-recurrent nature. Spending
on intangibles (such as education and research facilities) can also be included, provided that the
assets acquired have a life of more than 1 year.
A distinction the two types of expenditures would require dual budgetary accounting (as adopted
in many European countries during the 30’s. In practice, this analytical and accounting separation
has been abandoned: recurrent and capital budgets are in general integrated. Accordingly, the
statistics to which reference must be made blur the two concepts.
A fundamental reason why separate analysis of government expenditures has been abandoned lies
in the difficulty of appropriate accounting of the “value” of investment outlays. This is due to
inefficiencies, waste, corruption, … (Arslanalp et al., 2011 and Masera, 2013).
In spite of these difficulties, the theoretical distinction is of paramount importance and cannot be
neglected. Reference can be made to the simple representation of the production possibility
frontier.
59 Fiig. 2 - The p
production possibility
p
frrontier
P 0, two alteernatives (A and B) are depicted. In
n case A, coonsumption today is
Starrting from PP
privvileged at thee cost of lesss economicc growth tom
morrow. Und
der B, insteaad, investmeent today
becoomes more economic gro
owth in the fuuture (an upw
ward shift off the PP curve
ve).
In oorder to achhieve the grrowth potent
ntial, it is fu
undamental to insure thhe quality of
o public
inveestment andd hence thee effective (tangible/in
ntangible) capital
c
accum
umulation. Available
A
interrnational eviidence for ph
hysical infrasstructure investment show
ws that up too 50% of gov
vernment
outlaays defined as
a investmen
nt may repressent pure waaste (Arslanalp et al., 20111 and Bancaa d’Italia,
2011).
On the other hand,
h
good capital exppenditures on
n education (human caapital), reseaarch and
dge triangle””) and innov
vation play a crucial rolee not only in
i capital
deveelopment (thhe “knowled
accuumulation, buut also in raising total facctor productiivity (TFP) (H
Hulten et al.., 2001).
University teaching and fiscal austerrity in “deveeloped” countries
3. U
As w
was indicatedd above, edu
ucation at unniversity doees not fulfil the requireme
ments of publiic goods.
How
wever, in thee post-war peeriod, in all aadvanced cou
untries, univ
versities becaame social goods and
weree largely funnded through the budget.
The pressure onn public fin
nances, and notably on public debtt sustainabiliity, has led in most
n
in Eu
urope) to graadual, but siignificant cu
uts in universsity spending
g. At the
counntries (and notably
sam
me time, the social justificcation for uniiversities hass come underr growing sccrutiny. The emphasis
e
who should therefore
has shifted towaards university educationn as a privatee benefit to individuals, w
largeely fund theiir high level training.
60 Our societies are therefore facing an important dilemma which requires the solution to a trade-off
problem. If the emphasis becomes suddenly and exclusively on reducing cost for university
teaching, basic research and support to research and development, there is an evident risk of
depriving the system from its ability to achieve sustainable growth. This would ultimately
undermine the very objective of debt to income sustainability. The choice between the appropriate
level of public spending and an effective process of expenditure reduction becomes crucial.
These issues affect also emerging economies. This is not due to unsustainable debt to income
ratios, but to the need to contain increases in total government expenditure. Demographic and
social forces swell the number of potential university students beyond what are generally regarded
as acceptable levels in the short-term. An interesting reference is to the Nigerian experience,
where some 2 million prospective students compete for about 200.000 places domestically
available5.
The competitive environment of university education is also under pressure because of the
growing relevance of “excellent” high level training/research centres on a worldwide basis. In this
scenario, government expenditure too is increasingly focused on support for world class domestic
university/research centres to foster human capital accumulation, and the competitive advantage
of the national economy (Capano and Meloni, 2013). These trends – which are common to
advanced and top emerging economies – clearly exacerbate funding and cost constraints for
“average” universities.
4. University models: ICT and regulation
As was argued, total productivity growth fundamentally depends on efficient investment in high
level teaching, research, innovation and technological advance. The university models are at the
centre of this process of change with the development of online learning.
The application of ICT technologies to universities has created new challenges and opportunities
and, therefore, new business models for higher education. What must be emphasised is that virtual
campuses (see, for example http://www.marconiuniversity.org/) and teaching are a revolution in
terms of traditional services and, therefore, university teaching. As indicated in neoclassical
economics: “Services pass out of existence in the same instant that they come into it and are of
course not part of the stock of wealth” (Marshall, 1920). The essence of e-teaching is instead that
the lesson is electronically stored and can therefore be made available to the consumer endlessly
and everywhere. The lessons are also subject to a constant critical assessment and review and,
5
The largest number of graduate students belongs to China and India. The total university population of
these two countries is expected over the next 5 years to increase to some 60 million (i.e. the total Italian
population).
61 therefore, become in some ways part of the stock of knowledge. The change in the mode of
transmission creates a new type of non-perishable good.
The true issue becomes that of combining the cost/funding pressure and the use of technology to
foster efficient models of online and blended learning. Inevitably, the mix between private and
public in the provision of university teaching/learning will change. It is not yet completely clear
which will be the winning business models.
In any event, the public good approach will have to accept the challenges from private profit and
from the need to attract increased financial resources from the private sector itself, as is evidenced
by the investments already made in tertiary education by private equity funds in the US and the
UK. The era of PPP (Private-Public Partnership)6 has begun also in university education (joint
public and private partnership, notably in funding)7.
As in many other sectors, if the public pulls back from direct provision of certain activities, it is
fundamental that it will play a role as intelligent forward looking “regulator” of the system. The
rules should be, in so far as possible, simple and should lay the background for a sound
competition between the emerging business models. Higher education experiences significant
changes, which will be shaped by associated regulatory drivers, with a view to
ensuring/preserving the quality of the services provided.
As has been correctly underlined: “The regulatory framework impacting e-learning can be viewed
as a complex of attempts to balance the promotion of perceived benefits of the new technology
with the protection of established forms, provisions, and institutional norms. Regulation is
generally driven by public policy goals; in e-learning, as in other fields, these goals frequently
collide. For example:”
6
See for instance http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/ppp-in-research_en.html.
See Table B2.3., OECD (2013).
7
62 Source: Harley and Lawrence (2007).
It must be underlined that the need for new efficient regulation meets with considerable
difficulties. “Traditional” public sector university professors and government officials in
University Ministries often resist the revolution from online higher education systems. This is not
necessarily due to the desire to preserve positions and roles. Bayesian (a priori) probability
approaches
help
explain
that
subjective
probabilities
may
hinder
an
objective
assessment/evaluation of the new models, their implications and possible developments.
5. Is e-learning a low cost/low quality proposition?
Many observers/researchers tend to attribute to e-learning a “low cost, low quality” character. In
particular, it is often argued that online teaching/learning models are intrinsically different and
necessarily inferior compared to the traditional high quality systems.
“Online institutions (…) are best suited to meet the needs of self-directed and adult learners. They
do not address the value propositions that meet the needs of younger students or those without
substantial educational preparation, and they do not meet any of the research-oriented value
propositions of traditional universities” (Rubin, 2013). The corollary of this approach is that good
traditional universities are best suited for research and developing new knowledge.
In the perspective of an increased importance of online universities, the argument has been
advanced that teaching and research should be separated. E-universities should focus on
standardised courses aimed at those who want to enter the workforce with quality professional
training. Face to face instruction would be instead best suited for students who want to enter
63 universities and research centres (Christensen and Eyring, 2011). The university model would
thus be differentiated: relatively few “research” universities would coexist with a large number of
“teaching” universities, which would increasingly adopt e-teaching systems.
These arguments carry some weight, but they must be carefully assessed before endorsement.
First of all, in the new university scenarios blended models may represent a “superior” approach
taking into account effectiveness and cost efficiency: the cost structure of efficient e-teaching
processes should be fully acknowledged. As to research, the potential of network building is very
large in bringing together, in new forms and environments, researchers on a www basis. The
current emphasis on promoting and improving research ranking on a university/department basis
may well be challenged by an active interplay of researchers in an international/worldwide
network. An interesting example in this respect is offered by the European Research Area (ERA)
model. ERA represents a unified research area open to the world based on the European single
market, in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely. Through ERA,
the Union and its Member States should strengthen their scientific and technological bases, their
competitiveness and their capacity to collectively address important research challenges8.
6. Conclusions
To sum up, cost pressures in advanced economies and demographic factors in the emerging
world, together with the quest for excellent research centres, concur in shaping new models (and
business models) for universities and colleges. There is an evident need for a redefinition of the
roles between the private and the public sector.
While “compulsory” education at primary and secondary levels will in general continue to be
offered as a public good, university education is increasingly subject to a different combination of
fees and public support. Overall, government intervention will decline, but within a process
characterised by a shift from direct funding of universities to tax relief, family allowances, grants
and low finance cost for students, scholarships. The government sector and/or independent
authorities will in any event have an enhanced role in quality preservation. The reduction of the
cost of current face-to-face modes of tertiary education is inevitable. The issue becomes that of
delivering optimal e-learning solutions by avoiding the dangers of massification. ICTechnology is
a crucial enabling factor to shape innovative, effective and efficient responses to the new
challenges and to emerging university models. Account must be taken that tertiary education is
faced with new complex functions/missions to be performed. For instance, at EU level, the socalled European High Education AREA (EHEA) identifies the following main functions: (i)
8
http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/index_en.htm.
64 formation of human capital; (ii) requalification of existing human capital (permanent training);
(iii) production of knowledge through scientific research; (iv) exchange of new knowledge and
transfer of research results to the economic system; (v) contribution to the international
exchange/accumulation of human capital; (vi) contribution to local development (Education,
Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, The European Higher Education Area in 2012:
Bologna Process Implementation Report).
The task of this conference in Athens is to offer ideas and guidelines, looking back at the
extraordinary initial models of high level training developed in ancient Greece. The reference to
classical Greek civilisation is highly relevant also in the perspective of online college teaching.
A well-known, often cited, early example of MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in the US
is the course on the Ancient Greek Hero by a senior Professor of Harvard University, Gregory
Nagy (Director of the Center for Hellenic Studies). Professor Nagy has taught his course (which
includes references to Plato’s Dialogues) at Harvard for over 35 years. In 2013, he decided to
launch a pioneering e-learning initiative, Harvardx, through this MOOC platform. His lessons are
offered freely to online students. Enrolment exceeded over 30.000 (www.edx.org).
Nathan Heller (2013), in a recent paper in The New Yorker, makes another interesting reference
to ancient Greek higher education, indeed to Socrates himself, in analysing online college
education. Professor Fisher of the Harvard Law Schools runs in parallel his course on a traditional
basis and online: “Each week, the law-school class has two Socratic sessions on campus. The
online students, meanwhile, have “sections” on the Web, taught by the teaching assistants. Every
other week, the whole group convenes, in person or remotely, for an evening session at the law
school. Artists, writers, and other copyright holders visit and speak about their legal concerns. The
teaching assistants are in the room, but also online with their Web students, who are watching the
event through a Webcast. The teaching fellow is monitoring this discussion, participating in it,
and then forwarding questions into the room… So in the room there are two screens: one
screening questions from the Harvard Law School students, and the other featuring the questions
that are curated by the teaching fellows”.
As these examples demonstrate, new technologies can bring about a Schumpeterian process of
“creative destruction” (Schumpeter, 1942) and revolutionise the existing university models, to
create new diversified paradigms of higher education, which extend to society as a whole, as is
argued in a companion paper also presented at this GUIDE conference by Gigante (2013).
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sfida Europa 2020. AREL, Bologna: Il Mulino
Christensen, C.M. and Eyring, H. (2011), The innovative university: Changing the DNA of higher
education from the inside out. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
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66 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2013), Education at a
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67 ICT-based higher education as a tool for economic crisis management
Carlo Pelanda9
A crisis - though not all the possible crises - can be defined as an event based on a
“cognitive gap”. An economic crisis is a situation exceeding a given (cognitive,
communicative, operational, etc.) capacity, i.e. an imbalance between the needed and
available knowledge and/or know-how that can be called “cognitive vulnerability”. For
instance, in 2007 the international system of financial control was not able to separate a
“few” impaired financial products from the good ones for the lack of know-how on how
to do it (identification of structured bonds and derivatives containing low quality
mortgage-backed securities). The contagion reached the whole global financial system,
blocking its processes and igniting the 2008 global crisis. Greedy banks or very
vulnerable governance of the financial system? Moralists prefer to blame the first, realists
tend to focus on the latter. In general, any disaster happens because a cognitive
vulnerability is at work: houses built in earthquake prone areas without knowing it;
environmental catastrophes based on the lack of ecological-systemic knowledge;
monetary policy failures, e.g. the deflationary reaction to the fall of the stock market in
1929 which generated a depression, etc. Many disasters are unavoidable? Yes, of course,
but they are such because there is a cognitive vulnerability. Would it be possible in an
ideal world to reduce the cognitive vulnerability to zero? Very unlikely, because the
variety of the possible disaster agents is always bigger than the variety of the prevention
countermeasures that a system can develop in its internal control devices. In other words,
and more in general, the variety of possible stress factors is infinite while a system (and
the variety of its internal controls) is finite. On the one hand, it looks pretty sad to identify
an absolute limit to the possibility of reducing the vulnerability of a system, with the
complication that this limit fits the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy) which
entails a bad destiny for all the things. On the other hand, much can be done in order to
reduce (systemic, social, organizational, etc.) vulnerability by increasing knowledge and
its diffusion. Let me apply here this “Negative-Entropy” approach.
9
Professor of Applied Economics & Head of the Ph.D. Program on Geopolitics and Geopolitical Economy
at G. Marconi Un., Rome, Italy; Adj. Prof. of Global Studies & Co-Director of The Centre for the Study of
Global Issues (GLOBIS) at the University of Georgia, Athens, USA; Member of the Academic and Policy
Board of the Oxford Institute for Political Economy (OXONIA), Oxford, UK. See: www.carlopelanda.com
68 Preliminary research has found a differentiated impact of the 2008 – 2013 crisis on the
economic actors, based on their access to crisis management instruments and/or
information. For instance, many Italian companies have not been able to sell their bad
credit and had to write the loss on the balance sheet, failing. Other companies in similar
conditions found someone being able to securitize their bad credit, i.e. to sell it to a
securitization fund by getting in exchange shares (or bonds) of the fund itself, and to free
in this way their balance sheet without the need of using cash. They survived. The
difference between the two sets of companies is based on the access to this very special,
and other, corporate finance device. This is a case where the disaster for a company and
its workers has been caused by the ignorance of the managers and/or their advisors and of
the financial institutions in the territory. Similar situations have been observed both in
America and in Europe: thousands of companies went bankrupt for the lack of financial,
commercial, technical skills and not because the systemic situation was so bad. In relation
to these observations we can hypothesize that the dissemination of the proper information
and the diffusion of know-how would have been able to reduce that quantity of victims.
The paradox is as follows: the market offered/offers solutions that few actors knew/know
existed/exist. One the one hand this phenomenon seems to be more frequent in areas with
a high density of small business and small companies without the size for putting on the
payroll an appropriate skilled management or sound advisors (Southern Europe, small
business in America). On the other, the small company & business sectors are relevant
parts of the overall economic system.
This hypothesis – where the impact of the crisis has been amplified by ignorance or lack
of informational access and basic knowledge - leads to the search for more diffusion of
both emergency management information and skills and general knowledge for the small
companies and business. In other words, the informational asymmetry for the small
economic entities is not reduced by market processes, i.e. by the normal advertising of
resources activated from the supply side. Probably this happens because many emergency
financial tools are part of the operations of big entities and because the normal actors and
local banks which offer advice to the small entities are not used to extraordinary or
sophisticated solutions, though the access to them has not impossible costs. In general, the
lack of a general cognitive background in corporate finance and management tends to be
a precursor of specific cognitive vulnerability in case of a crisis. This specific cognitive
vulnerability transforms a sudden change in the market conditions into a crisis.
69 In non-war situations the responsibility of failure tends to be more on the side of the
economic actor in trouble than on the side of the systemic situation. This truth is hard to
communicate because the failed economic actors do not like to take responsibility for
their failure and they tend to blame the system. The political actors follow this wave in
order not to lose consensus and for this reason the analysis of the causes of a crisis tends
to forget the cognitive vulnerability as the main factor (not necessarily of the problem, but
certainly of the solution or the lack of it). But this phenomenon cannot be modified by
rationality, i.e. by telling a business actor that he/she went south because of his/her
ignorance. For that reason the “information” referring to the already existing solutions in
the market has to be conveyed through instruments that are part of an education system,
i.e. something which can be accepted with more consensus. But the main reason for
exposing the economic actors to continuing education and special systems is that to run a
business in the present and in the future requires more and more advanced skills, among
which the capacity of handling more abstraction.
The idea is simple: To use the already developing ICT-Based Education System for
improving the know-how and the capacity of handling abstractions of a wide number of
economic actors. With an addition: the same connectivity, in case of a crisis, should be
used to disseminate information on the crisis management solutions. The new system, not
far from what is already possible and acceptable by the users, should pursue the following
objectives: (a) to provide economic actors with a special online Master, not necessarily
based on previous education levels, organized through modules offered in reference to the
capacity of the user, after a test; (b) the special Master, that can be called “Professional
Master”, should imply a continuing update and a periodical testing of the users; (c) the
same system offering a variety of “Professional Masters” should be organized also for
disseminating (pre-competitive) information about crisis management resources.
On the demand side I do not see many problems as long as the cost for accessing the
online Professional Master is kept low and the perceived quality of the cognitive offer
remains high. I see more problems on the supply side, in particular the capacity of the
sources of know-how for packaging a good product fitting the cognitive needs of millions
of economic actors, billions in the future. But only a pre-feasibility study on how to reorganize the ICT-Based Higher Education for the new mission, at a global level, will be
70 able to allow an assessment of this problem and the identification of the possible
solutions.
Let me conclude by recommending that some audacious university should pave the
future way, and play a pivotal role, by activating an innovative Professional Master in
which academic quality and effective know-how are combined. It will be a revolution. It
has been a honor for me to be part of its ignition phase, here in the “cognitive friendly”
Athens.
71 Global crisis and higher education worldwide: a synthetic review
Lisa Reggiani10
At no time in history has it been more important to
invest in Higher Education as a major force in building
an inclusive and diverse knowledge society and to
advance research, innovation and creativity.(UNESCO
World Conference on Higher Education, July 2009)
Global crisis and education: widespread effects and some operational proposals
The outstanding progresses made in the field of education in the last few decades in all the
countries, both developed and developing ones, are seriously threatened by global economic
crisis, which has burst in 2008 and is still on going.
To this day, the most palpable widespread effect - by now stable -, which can be noticed in the
majority of the countries, is represented by families and governments decreasing power of
investing in education.
Moreover, a survey conducted in forty-three countries between 2008 and 2009 – which means
right after the outbreak of the crisis – “on the impact of the Global Economic Crisis on
education”, hinged on “education funding, infrastructure, human resources and official
development assistance” (EI, 2009), shows that:
-
the most serious effects of the largest proportions can be seen in those countries that
mainly depend on international aids;
-
also the countries that have experienced an extremely fast economic development in the
last decade have suffered from the crisis, because their development immediately and
severely sustained the effects of the system financial collapse;
-
on the contrary, the most prosperous countries, whose economic system is built on more
solid foundations, not only better resist to the impact of the crisis, but they also succeed in
keeping targeted and wide-ranging education policies and in achieving the greatest benefit
throughout large-scale initiatives aimed at boasting the sector. Nevertheless, also their
education and training systems suffer from the negative effects of the crisis, especially
from the general decrease of the tax revenues and from the corresponding increase of the
welfare spending.
10
National Research Council, Rome, Italy
72 In 2010 UNESCO’s Education for All. Global monitoring report, highlighting how much the
current crisis emphasizes its global nature and the mutual interdependence between the economies
of different countries, worriedly states that the achievement of 2015 education goals is more and
more remote, under the weight of a widespread poverty, economic stagnation and the severe
budgets shrinkage adopted by governments, called to face the growing needs of the welfare.
In the poorest countries and more indigent classes the education level is in danger and the school
desertion rate grows at a hectic pace: among the main causes, family poverty, decline in state
support and lack of good schools have to be underlined.
Many international studies agree that letting education and learning decline in time of crisis,
especially in the developing countries, could jeopardize in an irreversible way a country’s ability
to be competitive again or to become so when the economic recovery starts in an
In the past, indeed, the countries that reacted more actively to the crisis, with sharp programs of
development and enhancement of the skills focused on the unemployed and young people, are
those which quickly gained the greatest benefits from the following recovery.
Moreover, in previous crises it became evident worldwide - without any important differences
between the several countries - that the better educated workers can better react to crisis
repercussions for what concerns both the employment rate and the annual income, “because they
are generally more able to adapt to the changing demands of the labour market and to the use of
new technologies, and they are more able to use information to find jobs or other source of
income during the recovery”. On the contrary, less educated workers turned out to be weaker,
because their skills are unsuitable, in addition to the fact that their reconversion and professional
requalification is really very hard to put into practice (Barrera et al., 2009).
In order to optimize the commitment in the field of education during recession, which always
means a lack of resources, a close cooperation is needed between all the moving forces, both at
national and international level – especially between developing and donor countries – aimed at
coordinating and combining efforts and investments, defining a rigorous scale of priorities.
Therefore, the attention to the effectiveness and the efficiency of actions and investments
becomes a priority. The crisis could even represent an opportunity in order to improve education
and training systems performance, reducing the dispersion and cutting the waste of resources,
increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of aid, by making all the involved institutions feel
responsible, as schools, political and administrative organizations.
In the past, some social policies already proved to be exceptionally effective when put to the
test, on both the demand side and the supply side.
73 Among the first, conditional cash transfer programs (CCT), scholarships and academic insertion
programs have to be pointed out.
The second ones, aimed at protecting and increasing the quality of education and schooling as
much as possible, include non-repayable grants directed to schools and interventions aimed at
assuring the teachers not only the ordinary payment of their wages, but also considerable
incentives so that they actively devote themselves to teaching .
Therefore, while the recession goes on, it seems essential to keep investing in human resources
development, just considering the crisis as a chance to carry out some key reforms, as:
-
improving education sector mid- and long-term performance;
-
improving teacher performance and teaching/learning quality;
-
increasing systems efficiency and effectiveness;
-
promoting and supporting the updating, enhancement and improvement of the labour
force skills;
-
giving a constant support to policy makers, so that their action can be based on quality
data and information, always up-to-date, reliable and deriving from tangible reality
(Barrera et al., 2009).
Global crisis and higher education: an overview
In the last twenty years HE has experienced a fast and unbroken expansion, playing a crucial role
in globalization, at the same time acting both as a cause and an effect: sure enough it has
remarkably contributed to the integration in the global picture of developing and emerging
countries.
The economic crisis, therefore, befell on a sector that was experiencing a steady growth for a long
time prior and was going through an advanced stage of strengthening at international level. In
such a way it:
-
cast doubt on working and career prospects of graduated people, which were more
favourable and steady compared to other social clusters with a lower education level;
-
sensibly reduced the available resources intended for the HE, since both governments and
private funds had been drastically cut down, as well as the wealth of the families that, due
to a general decrease of their incomes and due to unemployment, less invest in education
and training;
-
caused the impoverishment of many universities, which lost their investments due to the
bank collapse, often riskily running into debts;
74 -
jeopardized and, sometimes, even compromised the means of helping the students (loans,
scholarships, grants) due to providers bankrupt;
-
caused significant cuts to international aid, especially made by bilateral and multilateral
agencies, together with a clampdown on programs and personnel recruitment.
Furthermore, in the most severely affected countries, radical wage cuts, programs closing
and merging were witnessed, till the entire restoration of the HE system.
From a brief evaluation of the researches done specifically on the impact of the crisis on HE,
besides some persistent criticalities, everywhere concrete indications showing the dynamism and
the vitality of the sector emerge. Two reports of the 2009 - both written under the aegis of the
UNESCO - are enlightening.
The Quick Survey on education underlines how the crisis has favoured the birth of new models of
university financial autonomy, based on a marked diversification (cost sharing, cost recovery,
tuition fees, loans for students, fund raising, etc.), able to make university less dependent on
government budgets.
In Varghese’s opinion (2009) its fast growth in the wider context of globalization just made the
HE desert the traditional government monopoly, becoming “a market-determined process” in an
irreversible way.
Indeed, a widespread awareness still persists and even strengthens theconvictions of all institutions, civilized society, families and individuals - that HE and research represent a keybulwark against the crisis, giving their crucial contribution to the growth and to the economic
competitiveness. In this way “higher education is now seen as part of the solution and is being
included as an element in recovery plans and stimulus packages” (Varghese, 2010).
Nevertheless, the global crisis didn’t alterthe main current changes and trends, but only
accelerated them.
In the global market, the increase of employment opportunities for the tertiary educated and the
general demand for highly skilled labour forces caused the HE standardization, characterized by
private sector success and transnational scale achievement, both expressed by four different
elements: e-learning, institutional mobility, studentmobility and teacher mobility.
Today in university, most of all, who produces skills that are useful in the global labour market is
generally recognised and, for this reason, almost everywhere, a reorientation of HE systems is
ongoing, aimed at adapting them to the market’s new requirements, focusing now on more usable
branches of learning, such as engineering, ICTs and English.
In this way, especially in an international scenario of long lasting crisis, the competition between
education providers, both public and private, both national and international, has become violent.
75 The public sector stepping back is understandable, not only because of the massive slashing of
governments funds, but also because it is reluctant to focus on industry and economy needs.
So, financing is increasingly guided by demand. This trend in practice means that, on the one
hand, students’ freedom to choose study programs is growing and, on the other hand, the role
played by the private and industrial sector in financing is becoming more and more crucial.
Therefore, the private sector rise and the growing role played by transnational HE must be
considered critical and deeply interlaced phenomena, which, on the one hand, are intensified by
the ongoing crisis, but, on the other hand, greatly suffer the consequences of it.
So the urgent need is felt for vigorous action on HE taken by the State, that has to plan and
regulate the sector no longer as a simple financer - prevalent or exclusive - or as a controller, but
as a facilitator or supervisor.
Just so, on many sides the need for the governments to establish roles and set up a regulatory
framework at a national, local, and international level is felt, in order to guarantee a suitable
reshaping of the whole sector during the standardization process, as well as a harmonious
development of private and transnational segments, HE quality and fairness, by expanding the
access from a structural point of view and by preventing the risk of an exacerbation of imbalances
and inequalities.
As a consequence, just in conjunction with the crisis, the State, as a financer, should concentrate
its limited resources on the support of the most underprivileged groups and on definite critical
areas, making greater efforts to regulate the whole sector, without dangerously leaving it at the
mercy of market law.
Public responsibility has indeed increased since HE became the greatest driver of growth and
innovation in the knowledge economy.
Many studies on the subject all agree in stating that considerable investments in human resources,
which especially means in education and HE, still produce remarkable benefits both at individual
and social level, even during a great recession time.
On a personal basis, they assure higher profits and better professional prospects for life.
From both an individual and a social point of view, on a whole, among those who received a
better education, a higher welfare can be noticed, as well as greater savings and consumption,
together with a better health, and lower expenses for the sanitary assistance.
At last, at a social level, a long-term connection between HE and social and economic
development can be found, with a significant rise of competition.
76 Symmetrically, university dropout costs turned out to be fairly high, both on a personal and
family base and on a society as a whole base.
Main trends
Standardization, privatization and the problem of financial support
Generally, despite the current crisis, the demand for HE is going to further increase: the
enrolments at university keep on rising everywhere indeed, both in Europe and in Asia, because
the students and their families consider university education a safe investment in difficult times.
So, an outstanding increase of HE is expected, especially in Asian and Pacific regions, for several
reasons: the ceaseless demographic pressure and a continuous development of secondary
education; better job opportunities and a higher income for graduates.
But the expansion of the tertiary education will unavoidably mean higher costs. And, because of
the decreased availability of state resources, first of all this will imply a further rise of university
taxes. Already remarkably increased in Asia, these taxes are spreading and quickly establishing
themselves in all of Europe, also in public universities. At the same time, the private sector will
gain importance in HE services supply. Therefore, the impending danger is represented by an
extreme dependence on the market, which could produce and/or worsen problems of costs, quality
and equity, all exacerbated by government resources slenderness. So, there are two core issues in
the international discussion about HE: how should it be financed? Which role should the State and
private sector play?
Based on the experience made during the previous financial crisis in Asia (1997), some essential
advices stressing the main cruxes of the matter have been formulated: financing models
sustainability; diversification of income flows and, therefore, of financing sources; a suitable
allocation of costs; the support (subsidies, loans, etc.) to poor and more vulnerable students; the
strategies – national, regional, interregional – aimed at attract international students; a tighter
connection between academy and business.
In general terms, the rise of tuition fees for the most appealing courses - the most demanded by
the market - critically penalize all those disciplinary sectors that could be useful from a cultural
and social point of view (ex. liberal arts, anthropology), but that are totally outside the market
logic and the industry interests. Also here, therefore, the government is called to take part in order
to heal the greatest disciplinary imbalances.
77 Universities, for their part, have to adopt a new way of financing, based on an adequate and
reliable public financing and on a strong diversification of the income structure, in order to
mitigate the risks of sudden unilateral changes.
In the logic of financing sources diversification, the above mentioned options have become vital;
therefore, what grows is the importance of private financing (especially fund raising) and of the
services that represent valid complementary sources of financing, that is to say lifelong learning
(LLL) and vocational education and training (VET), both pillars of the future and contemporary
knowledge society.
In the modern pervading learning dimension, indeed, HE tends, on the one hand, to pass
uninterruptedly to LLL, creating and strengthening a long-lasting relationship with students, and,
on the other hand, to merge with VET, becoming an economic growth main instrument and
establishing a privileged relationship with the world of production.
In order to protect the weak segments, the introduction and/or the increase of tuition fees have to
become part and parcel of the general restoration of the system, ensuring the support to students
through a full range of solutions (loans, grants and scholarships), shaped according to the type of
study and social backgrounds.
In all the countries, concerning the students’ loans, the toughest problems are those related to cost
recovery. Australian model represents a good practice; on the contrary, the “graduate tax”
proposal – a lifelong surtax on graduates’ income – is a great matter of discussion, because the
“repayment black hole” risks causing emigration and brain drain.
In order to be successful, new kinds, methods and organizational financial structures anyway need
universities to benefit from a greater governance and decision-making autonomy, which let them
manage fixed costs, still high, without being too strict, and remodulate funds allocation in a
flexible and evolutionary way, together with the essential budget arrangements.
In fact, in front of the significant reduction of the state funds intended for universities and in front
of the traditional financing deficiency, some global trends can be noticed: the increasing
diversification of financing sources, together with research and development activities aimed at
generating earnings (counselling, patenting, entrepreneurial and commercial initiatives); the focus
on transparency and efficiency; the performance orientation; more accountability, hiving off and
autonomy needs; the entrepreneurship enhancement and the attention to the market.
Consequently, it is now clear why, among the main strategies adopted by HE institutions, we can
found, as already seen, the introduction of university taxes, a greater commercialization of
university services, policies deregulation, the search for alternative financing sources. The most
reliable new methods of financing all use more transparent financing models, product-oriented
78 processes and methods, based on performance indicators and on market led mechanisms.
Concerning financing tools, in the developed countries many reforms are in progress, and, besides
the traditional fees payment system, new ways based on performances are becoming popular.
In the developing countries the reforming process seems to be more turbulent, chaotic and
traumatic, going with a persistent worry for the quality of teaching and research.
In the first, therefore, either hybrid systems - where funds come at the same time from public and
private sector (UK) - are gaining ground, or systems consisting of many different components,
due to government-university agreement grants, together with university taxes; they are partially
based on performances and partially deriving from competition (Australia).
In the second, instead, governments keep on acting as the main financing source, if not the only
one, which is something that causes big troubles, especially in Africa: for example a great number
of enrolments, the lack of funds and the poor quality of education. Some extreme trends are
spreading, as an exaggerate politicization of the policies on HE (as in Malaysia) and an increasing
privatization of education.
In Asia, especially Eastern Asia, the number of students is rising at a hectic pace. In the Arab
countries great deficits are reported: lack of researching expertise, heavy genre discriminations
and an awful use of resources. In South Africa the drastic state funds cut corresponds to a large
scale introduction of university taxation (Ahmad et al., 2012).
Ultimately, market-friendly and customer-provider models, nowadays rising, represent key
challenges for the typical core features of traditional HE, which has a mainly public origin:
academic freedom and accountability, quality and access, certainty of funding streams and
sustainability (UCU, 2011).
In this framework, the State has to play the crucial role of guarantor, trying to balance the two HE
prevalent trends, standardization and privatization, paying a great attention to quality and to its
social facet, as public responsibility and equity.
Above all, broadly speaking, territorial, socio-economic and disciplinary equity - the most
penalized issue in the market - should be essential in public policies: governments, indeed, have
to guarantee the access to HE to underprivileged students from a socio-economic or territorial
point of view, helping study fields that are not supported by the market and monitoring the quality
and the efficiency of all HE institutions, both public and private (Varghese, 2009).
79 Transnational mobility
Concerning the impact of the crisis on transnational mobility, students’ international mobility
keeps on rising, a constant trend since the beginning of the millennium: USA and Western Europe
(UK, Germany, France e Holland) are still the favourite destinations, now together with Japan for
the Asian area.
China, the “giant”, still remaining the main sender of international students, today successfully
favours the return mobility and, thanks to Chinese and medicine, increasingly attracts foreign
students, setting itself up as a regional and global education hub.
Also Korea, thanks to its strategy aimed at internationalizing teachers at home, is successfully
increasing return mobility.
Nevertheless, student mobility flows are still quite unbalanced, from Asia to Europe and, more
generally, from the South to the North of the world: once again the crisis didn’t changed this
trend, but only strengthened it.
Students’ mobility worldwide gives rise to a real competition aimed at attracting the best students,
becoming part of that “global war for talent” that represents a fundamental constituent of
globalization. Moreover, the long since ongoing “battle for brains” has helped the large-scale
adoption of rules for visa concession and, more generally, of immigration policies that make the
skilled workers admission easy.
Student mobility also represents an excellent way of raising HE quality. In addition to students’
physical mobility, some competing kinds of transnational mobility are increasing and their
programs (with distance education) and institutions (thanks to the establishment of foreign
campuses branches)11 successfully cross the national borders.
The English-speaking countries of Asia and Pacific (Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong
Kong) set themselves up as regional hubs for HE. Moreover, in India new universities are opening
at a hectic pace, in order to keep young people within the country.
To the increase of students’ transnational mobility corresponds a predictable rise of scholarships
and government grants demand.
Symmetrically, university dependence on international students rises, both in order to meet the
need of an increasing internationalization and due to economic reasons, so to say, due to fee
payments. In order to ensure a well balanced transnational mobility in the long term, some
policies seems essential; on the one hand, policies meant to promote it by favouring visa
11
In Asian countries, for example, since many years ago several USA and UK branch campuses have been
establishing
80 concession and, on the other hand, the ones conceived to avoid the brain drain, guaranteeing the
sustainability of the aids destined to the students with a most disadvantaged backgrounds
(Varghese, 2009) (Asia-Europe Foundation, 2010).
HE worldwide: lessons learnt and experimental solutions
USA, the acknowledged leading country
As many other countries, due to the crisis, USA experienced an impressive fiscal contraction,
which led to a dramatic and long lasting decrease of public budgets, both at a single states level
and at a federal level. As a result, the funds devoted to HE have been radically cut down.
HE has been subjected to heavy cuts and still is, because universities anyway have the chance of
recovering funds, thanks to the introduction and the increase of their services fees, which is an
option that would be impossible for other public intervention areas.
Currently, since state incomes are experiencing a slight increase, the prospects seems improved,
even if only a little; however, it is going to take many years for the state financial availability to
reach pre-recession levels. The future HE horizon will always bear the marks of current
transformations, in an irreversible way, permanently taking a totally different shape compared to
the past.
Most likely, state allocations will not rise in the short and medium term. Sure enough, the harsh
competition for the meagre available resources, far-back already in progress, will not fail, because
social state most pressing needs are going to last for a long time, caused by the crisis going on: on
the one hand, there is an increasing sanitary and pension expense that will not be financed
anymore; on the other hand, we found the objective difficulty to further rise taxes, which have
been incessantly growing since 2008.
For this reason, the typical HE financing model seems unsustainable (Eckl & Pattison, 2010).
From USA comes a loud call to “combat the ‘Culture of can’t’”, addressed to all the people who
hold key positions in education and HE world, as principals, managers, reformers and policy
makers. Inaction, indeed, is often justified by “statutory, regulatory and contractual barriers”,
which would not allow really incisive reforms.
In fact, the real enemy is a mindset that hinders the change; on the contrary, the education
leadership power is remarkable and could be effectively enhanced by two different means:
adopting a successful legal strategy, thanks to a steady collaboration with lawyers, and
establishing a tight cooperation and partnership with wide sectors of the most active and dynamic
81 part of the civilized society: national networks, local business communities, philanthropic
organizations, etc. (Hess & Downs, 2013).
Asian and Pacific countries, the emergent leaders
While local contexts are very different, in Asian and Pacific countries the impact of the global
economic crisis on HE has generally been much less heavy compared to other countries.
The reasons of their greater resistance are manifold.
First, lessons learnt during the Asian financial crisis of the late 90s have been successfully
exploited. In fact, the past Asian crisis favoured radical reforms within national HE systems, so
that as from 2000 their structures and organizations have been gradually adapted to the
globalization process, based on:
-
the reduction of State role in HE and the increasing resource diversification;
-
a market-friendly approach and a considerable stress on private sector’s growing
importance.
Therefore, these policies made HE systems less dependent on government budgets, emphasizing
their autonomy.
Second, since 2008, among the three options for financing HE public systems in time of crisis –
reducing public funds, raising them, keeping them unchanged – Asian and Pacific countries for
the most part have chosen to increase government funding through stimulus packages, in order to
powerfully enhance education, HE, research and innovation; or, more rarely, they have chosen to
maintain their previous levels of funding.
In fact, it is thought that only in this way the most inauspicious consequences of the economic
crisis can be avoided. “Thus… higher education is now seen as part of the solution and is being
included as an element in recovery plans and stimulus packages” (Varghese, 2010).
The amount of the fiscal stimulus packages for 2009 is (in US dollars): Australia 26 billion, China
795 billion, Indonesia 6.1 billion, Japan 125 billion, Malaysia 1.9 billion, New Zealand 290
million, Philippines 6.5 billion, Singapore 13.7 billion, Thailand 3.3 billion, Vietnam 1 billion
(UNESCO Bangkok, 2009; 2012).
Thereby, it was chosen to focus resolutely on investments in HE, as common strategy to
effectively combat the crisis, recognizing that HE is integral to economic competitiveness.
In 2009, in order to promote cooperation on tertiary education policy issues among eight countries
that widely share “trends and discontinuities, commonalities and diversity, challenges and
82 opportunities, successes and failures, as well as ongoing undertakings and experiments in various
systems of education”, the Educational Research Institutes Network in the Asia-Pacific (ERI-Net)
was established by UNESCO in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Philippines and Thailand (UNESCO - Bangkok, 2012).
The first research studies on the impact of global crisis on higher education of the region carried
out by ERI-Net confirm, both generally and in detail, the trends outlined above.
In China government financing has been and still is the most funding for HE, because this is
considered a key priority for the country. Here, the crisis at the same time has represented a
challenge and an opportunity for HE system: thanks to its pressures national education landscape
started to be modernized through a medium to long term reform program and a development plan
2010-2020. Public funding for HE will continue to grow, but it will be tried to give room to
private sector, encouraging private donations.
While Hong Kong and Malaysia present similar features, since within them repercussions of the
world recession on HE have been weak, Japan shows a characteristic dichotomy: the impact of the
international crisis is very severe on national economy, nevertheless HE seems to suffer very little
from it in the three essential areas (funding, enrolment and graduate employment).
The Korean HE policy is certainly the most paradigmatic in the whole region: in fact, the
beginning of the crisis immediately gave rise to an incisive government action to support HE, due
to the rise of scholarships and student loans, the massive introduction of job creation programs,
and a large scale fee reduction to meet lower household resources. In the face of a future oversupply of HE places, the Korean government continues to work on several front lines: a further
increase in public intervention, an effective organizational restructuring of universities (mergers),
quality improvement and access enlargement to marginalized people.
New Zealand has been characterized by high public funding to universities and polytechnics until
2008. The crisis has rapidly made HE more selective and expensive: as from 2010, the focus of
government financing has been concentrated not only on enrolments, but also on results; greater
selectivity in funding student support services has been introduced and enrolments of foreign
students have been actively promoted.
In the Philippines the recent exaggerated growth of private component – that lives for the most
part on university fees – is observed. A considerable drop of public funding, mainly addressed to
public HE institutions, has been noted since 2010. The Philippines still count substantially on
remittances; however, in order to produce high skilled workers, it is urgent to upgrade national
higher education offerings to international standards and to enable graduates to compete in the
83 global labour market. To that end, there’s the need to adequately finance HE, substantially
increasing public funding.
Finally, among the varied range of HE institutions in Thailand, the private sector clearly prevails.
In 2010 funding for HE significantly decreased: once again, the crisis has highlighted the
necessity of an overall structural reform of tertiary education, which considers both education
quality and administration efficiency issues.
Europe 2020 and the EHEA: the difficult way of European Union
The crisis has hit the European Union hard, right after the most audacious enlargement in its
history, condemning it to a decline which, up to the present, would seem unstoppable.
For a long time, within EU documents the key role which HE can play in the European
redemption has been stressed and the need to intervene in education and training – and in HE in
particular – redesigning and renewing them, and making a significant long-term financial
commitment to them, has been repeatedly underscored; in this respect, EUROPE 2020 - A
strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2010), an agenda aimed at achieving in the
Old Continent “a smart, sustainable and inclusive [social market] economy delivering high levels
of employment, productivity and social cohesion”, is exemplary. In order to provide a smart
growth, i.e. “strengthening knowledge and innovation as drivers of […] future growth” within the
wider global economy, it recommends to act promptly on education and training, through
measures coordinated at the European level. At the basis there is full awareness of the crisis
severity and the bitter realization that “a quarter of all pupils have poor reading competences, one
in seven young people leave education and training too early. Around 50% reach medium
qualifications level but this often fails to match labour market needs. Less than one person in
three aged 25-34 has a university degree compared to 40% in the US and over 50% in Japan.
According to the Shanghai index, only two European universities are in the world’s top 20.” More
in detail, within the “Flagship Initiative: Innovation Union” the critical importance of the
connection among education and training, research and entrepreneurial world is underlined,
together with a commitment, stated by the European Commission, “to promote knowledge
partnerships and strengthen links between education, business, research and innovation”.
Moreover, within the “Flagship initiative: Youth on the move”, intended “to enhance the
performance and international attractiveness of Europe’s higher education institutions and raise
the overall quality of all levels of education and training in the EU”, Europe 2020 reaffirms the
urgency:
84 -
to promote the European dimension of HE and its internationalization;
-
to modernize the entire sector;
-
at last, to support and bolster the recognition and validation of non- formal and informal
learning, youth employment and business initiatives.
At national level, the member States are requested to ensure adequate investments in education
and training, to enhance their quality and the relationship between education, training and the
labour market, and to foster the entrance of young people into the world of work.
Although the current crisis has frustrated all the efforts and progresses made since the middle of
‘90s until 2007, cancelling them completely de facto, the Europe 2020 Strategy represents the last
stage of a long path, started in 1998, aimed at strengthening, qualitatively improving, and
homogenizing the varied universe of EU education and training in a European perspective.
The Recommendation on European cooperation in quality assurance in higher education(1998),
targeted “to enable higher education institutions to implement their plans for improving quality
and for integrating graduates into the labour market more effectively”, was the starting point,
preliminary to the Bologna Declaration, made in the following year. The Bologna Declaration set
off the Bologna Process, “designed to introduce a system of academic degrees that are easily
recognisable and comparable, promote the mobility of students, teachers and researchers, ensure
high quality teaching and incorporate the European dimension into higher education”, and thus
founded the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
In line with the Lisbon Strategy, aimed at making the European Union “the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world”, at the beginning of 2003 a Communication
from the Commission recommended to adequately invest in education and training, “an
imperative for Europe”, where States have to ensure sufficient resources for the whole sector,
substantially increasing funds and managing them in the most effective way.
In the same year another Communication from the Commission is focused on the heterogeneity of
the European university landscape and on the impelling urgency that it acquires a steady and
unitary character, coping with the new challenges: the growing demand for higher education and
training; the internationalization of knowledge, i.e. of education, research and innovation; a closer
and more proactive cooperation between academy and industry; the multiplication of places of
knowledge production; the two opposing and complementary current tendencies in scientific
knowledge, i.e. diversification and specialization on one side and disciplinary hybridization,
convergence and contamination on the other; the rise of new expectations in a knowledgeeconomy and -society.
85 In the wake of this document, the Communication from the Commission of 20 April 2005 stated
again the following needs:
-
to substantially raise the quality and the attractiveness of European universities,
overcoming the fragmentation of the academic system, its isolation from business and
then the gap which separates it from the labour market;
-
to guarantee to European universities autonomy in preparing programs, and in
administration and resource management, in order to carry out a real governance reform,
essential to their modernization beyond the excessive national regulations;
-
to provide the sector with sufficient long-term funds.
Therefore the development line of the European policies seems unitary. Also in the Old Continent
the crisis has only made more pressing the reform of HE and, more generally, of the education
and training universe, greatly heavy with rigidities and divisions inherited from the past.
OECD voice in the middle of the crisis
The outbreak of the crisis immediately produced, between 2008 and 2009, a dramatic increase of
unemployment rates within the OECD countries.
Nevertheless, in the OECD studies – relative to the previous years and published in 2009 – it was
already pointed out that among persons with tertiary education the employment rates held high
and their earnings generally remained much stronger, compared to people with lower levels of
education.
In fact, between 2008 and 2009, in just one year, in most OECD countries among individuals with
a poor educational background the risk of becoming unemployed – already high – rose on average
more than 2 percentage points, from 2.8% to 5%.
On the contrary, in 2009 across the OECD countries the average employment rate among the 2564 years-old graduates (83%) was higher by 27.6 percentage points compared to people without
an upper secondary education (56%) and by 9.5 compared to individuals with an upper secondary
or post-secondary education (74.2%).
Moreover, during the crisis the earnings advantage for tertiary educated people has steadily
remained high. Within 14 OECD countries with comparable data their average earnings had been
much higher compared to average earnings of persons with an upper secondary or post-secondary
education: in 2008 by 56% and in 2009 by 57%.
Conversely, the average earnings for people without an upper secondary education in 2008 and in
2009 had been constantly lower by 23%.
86 The OECD more recent (2012) data confirm these trends: the crisis even seems to have
aggravated the gap. That is to say the impact of the crisis on individuals’ living standards clearly
depends on their educational levels.
Thus HE seems to ensure a definite competitive advantage, to mostly provide a more stable
employment and a higher income, also and above all in the long-lasting economic uncertainty and
financial instability. Evidently, for persons with higher educational levels – especially tertiary
education – it is much easier to match their skills and competencies with the demands of an
increasingly liquid labour market: they are more protected compared to other weaker groups.
Simultaneously, in the last decade an extraordinary expansion of higher education can be noted,
especially in the rapidly-developing G20 countries.
The “global talent pool” has been radically changing, with a crucial shift in the distribution of
shares of young graduates: compared to the past decades – dominated by the United States and
developed countries – in 2010 China was the first with 18% of 25-34 years-olds with a tertiary
degree; in the second place there were the USA with 14%, in the third place the Russian
Federation and India each with 11%, and Japan followed with 7%.
Therefore, the share of graduates from Europe, USA and Japan has fallen consistently and the
fastest-growing countries have made the greatest gains.
Based on the most recent estimates, the number of HE/tertiary graduates will continue to grow
until 2020 across most OECD and G20 nations and the rapidly-developing countries will continue
to increase their shares. Besides, the role of these countries “will continue to expand over the next
two decades” (World Bank, 2013).
In fact, according to OECD, “China and India will account for 40% of all young people with a
tertiary education in G20 and OECD countries by the year 2020, while the United States and
European Union countries will account for just over a quarter” (OECD, 2012a).
The present and future growth of the “global talent pool” is motivated not only by the main HE
incentives for individuals and families mentioned above, i.e. the higher employment rates and the
larger earnings premiums; but also by the global knowledge economy, constantly expanding to
the detriment of traditional national economies built on mass production. In fact, the global labour
market, as dominated by the knowledge economy, probably will continue to absorb the increased
supply of higher educated workers, due to the strong and stable demand for human resources
highly skilled and educated in science and technology fields. This trend has been continuously
increasing for the last decades and it can be reasonably expected to increase also in the future
(OECD, 2012a; 2012b).
87 From e-learning to MOOCs: the technological answer to the crisis
The e-learning and, more generally, the massive use of ICT in education and in knowledge
spreading, on the one hand represent an extraordinary opportunity to guarantee to universities a
real internationalization and transnational mobility; on the other hand, by allowing great savings,
they also allow a real democratization of culture and education.
European Union, for example, in order to overcome the sector weaknesses, actively took part in elearning and ICT with E-learning 2004-2006 program, “for the effective integration of
information and communication technologies (ICT) in education and training systems in Europe”.
All the more, during a crisis, e-learning and ICT represent a versatile and effective solution to
deal with the increasing deficiencies and structural difficulties, first of all financial ones.
Starting from the Eighties, the development guiding principle goes from virtual to networked
university to open one: “for all, and for the whole life, without discriminations, without walls,
integrated, technologically advanced, cooperating with several different society economic actors,
public and private, as a consortium and in network” (Baldazzi, 2009).
Distance education universities represent the first stage of this extremely rapid transformation:
open universities able to offer HE, to train professional skills, to produce knowledge and to spread
digital culture in an aware perspective of international cooperation.
Then, thanks to Web 2.0, the wiki-ized university was born, “half encyclopaedia and half
cognitive platform”, an utopia at hand, open to all those people who want to learn thanks to an
informal learning without credits (Staley, 2009)
Last link in the evolutionary chain, in the open educational resources perspective, today seems to
be represented by MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), online courses of mass higher
education, free of charge and open to everybody. The current economic crisis predictably decreed
its success, first in USA and then in Europe.
Popular since 2011, they want to introduce a new teaching/learning model and, at the same time, a
revolutionary economic paradigm, rapidly rising in the world - alternative if compared to the
traditional one, residential and academic - able to exploit the internet resources, its universal and
equalitarian vocation, its open and flexible nature. Their diffusion seems to be irresistible; indeed,
they are adopted by universities of excellence all over the world: in USA, by Khan Academy of
Salman Khan in Coursera, connected to Stanford University, by Udacity, and by edX, created by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; talking about Europe, in 2013 a
88 Roman university, La Sapienza, joined Coursera12 network and a German start-up, Iversity, is
importing the model into community countries, by means of a competition that also has Siena
University among its protagonist competitors,.
European Commission, as far as it is concerned, supports the first pan-European MOOCs
initiative, OpenupEd13, which the EADTU (European Association of Distance Teaching
Universities) launched in 2013, together with 11 partners, mostly open universities: it offers a
wide range of MOOC, covering many subjects, in 12 languages.
This “silent revolution in HE”, exactly because connects many universities – often top universities
– to a very large demand by learners all around the world, builds a bridge from informal learning
to formal education systems14.
MOOCs allow the access to free online courses and prefigure a further decisive development: the
access to complete and free online curricula, that could allow to get a degree by recognised
institutions15. Most likely, the certification will keep on being with fee, but the way of getting it
could soon become totally free (Mazoue, 2013).
The MOOC model, for its no-limits scalability, tries to combine the low cost with an extremely
wide access opening.
Nonetheless, there is not only light.
Sure enough, despite recent progresses, teaching/learning quality still represents the real crux of
the model. And this seems to have an inextricable connection to other severe criticalities, still
unsolved. In the first place, there is the extremely high percentage of dispersion, so, against a
great number of enrolled students, about the 97% permanently leave the courses16; moreover,
learners have no obligations and no fixed middle steps are scheduled, which is something that
obviously raises quite important doubts on the assessment and consequently on the possible title
certification.
In the second place, poor relationships also count, and not only the lack of communication and
dialogue, so to say the “Socratic method” between teachers and learners, but also the lack of a
cultural exchange, as well as collaboration and sharing among the students. And some more, the
univocity of teaching relationship, which exacerbates the limits of the traditional frontal lesson,
12
http://www.lastampa.it/2013/02/26/cultura/scuola/la-sapienza-corsi-online-per-diffondere-nel-mondo-leeccellenze-dell-universita-italiana-kVDhCxbXslATJxBzbdkxxK/pagina.html
13
http://www.openuped.eu/
14
http://www.openuped.eu/
15
In spite of several criticisms and some public dissent, for a few months the California State has been
moving in this direction; it is carrying out a reform in order to extend to MOOCs the same credit
recognition granted for courses with fees.
16
http://www.repubblica.it/scuola/2013/04/22/news/universit_online_usa_contestate-57269429/?ref=search 89 often making the teacher a sort of star of the web, in practice jeopardizes the effectiveness and the
innovation approach of the courses: the educational contents – mostly videos – are one-way
supplied, by one single teacher to thousand or even million students. In such a way, learners and
virtual learning communities vanish from sight: what is totally missing is the web social
dimension, the involvement and the active participation of the learners to the learning process and
to contents creation, together with interaction, adaptivity, personalization and individualization of
educational paths (Jacobs, 2013).
In other words, socio-constructivism main achievements are totally missing, together with 2.0
didactics, that defines the e-learning of our time.
In prospect, MOOCs, once the initial enthusiasm has faded, could carve out a relevant, long
lasting niche and an important role in the knowledge democratization perspective, more than in
the field of HE and e-learning in the strict sense of the word, within the scientific and cultural
diffusion and outreach.
Probably, giving up extremisms and the easy euphoria towards technological innovations, at a
global level, a mixed solution will prevail, a solution that should integrate HE traditional model
with the galaxy of technology enhanced learning, in a well balanced way; a solution that, at the
same time, will be highly flexible, which means able to work at a local level in a plurality of ways
and practices, dynamically adapting to the needs and peculiarities of each single State, or of the
widest supranational region.
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94 PART II
PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION AND SOCIAL
NETWORKING IN OPEN ONLINE LEARNING
95 Creativity and transversal skills to raise fair European students in a digital era
Ilaria Reggiani17
Introduction
Thanks to the fast and overwhelming Innovation Progress in particular concerning the
telecommunication technologies and the widespread use of Internet and World Wide Web sources
of information, didactics, as well as the learning process and in-class dynamics have been widely
changed. The powerful mobile phones, the reduced costs of Internet services have allowed the
students to easily have plenty of information freely available on the WEB. The lack of
information about copyrights and different licences, as well as the high expectations of teachers or
parents, associated with a mounting lack of time, issues of low self-esteem and, in some cases,
laziness and carelessness, have caused the raise of Plagiarism Phenomenon in class. Education
environments such as schools are not separated and distinguished from the “adult world” such as
the labour market, the economic environments and their social dynamics. These young minds are
both the present, and the future, and they are the main actors for the development of a fair
progress.
GENIUS plagiarism or creativity: teaching innovation versus stealing18 is a two year project
funded by the European Commission, started in October 2011, aimed to foster the transversal
skills of students undermined by the unstoppable quick diffusion of digital devices, Internet large
use, online sources, social software and Social Networks.
GENIUS project thus meets the priorities of European Commission concerning Education
enhancing digital and language skills, developing sense of initiative, entrepreneurship,
intercultural dialogue, ethic behaviour, creativity and innovation.
GENIUS’s main goal is to fight against consolidated habits, which reflect on the “Copy and Paste
from the Web” technique. For this, it decided to spread a message, supporting the settlement of
key transversal skills to students, and all Education stakeholders.
Almost at its conclusion, it is proud to have provided interesting results, processed during the
Research and Analysis Phase, and to have had an unexpected success demonstrated by Teachers
and Students during the Experimentation Phase.
17
Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, Rome, Italy, [email protected]
GENIUS plagiarism or creativity: teaching innovation versus stealing website Available at www.geniusproject.eu
18
96 What do we know about plagiarism?
Most of the desk? physical research encompasses papers and articles, retrieved on internet and in
newspapers. European, in particular Italian, Scientific literature doesn’t have many examples
about plagiarism phenomenon in secondary schools, thus the Research Phase carried on by
GENIUS partners has represented an indisputable added value.
A Documentary, and a Field Work Research have been carried out in each country, in order to
build up an evidence of both teachers’ and students’ behaviours, learning needs, schools
dynamics, and actual backgrounds.
This kind of field research has been carried out to Italian secondary schools through two different
questionnaires; one for teachers and one for students. The questionnaire for students tried to
explore this phenomenon, its occurrence, the awareness about sanctions and its legal aspects, and
how to hinder it through creativity and reinforcement of transversal skills. The questionnaire for
teachers has explored their perception on this phenomenon, connected to their experiences and
their approaches to fight it.
GENIUS Research19 has finally involved over 170 Teachers and 334 Students. Research has
represented the basis to develop didactic material tailored on learning needs. The results
stemming from the Research, in fact, stress the most urgent lacks and needs of the situation. The
Italian Field Work Research carried out by Italian GENIUS partners has highlighted the relevance
of plagiarism among teachers and students, and the arising awareness about its illegality.
Plagiarism is not easy to detect and most sanctions linked to cheating are not well defined, often
hey result only in a warning . Internet and Information Technology (IT) devices foster plagiarism
since information is always easily accessible. Several innovative approaches or prizes contribute
to stimulate teachers’ and students’ involvement, so as to improve their creativity and their
entrepreneurial spirit. The Research has analysed the strategies to reduce plagiarism in schools,
underlining the importance of teachers’ ICT competences. In regards to school behaviours and
dynamics, the results have pointed out that plagiarism is a common action among students, and
they often act on it without any feelings or emotions. Cheating could be a relevant element that
reduces creativity and innovation, especially at high levels of secondary schools. Teachers, on the
other hand, often tolerate plagiarism, and are not able to prevent cheating phenomena or to
educate their pupils on a fair use on internet sources.
19
GENIUS partnership, 2012, GENIUS Comparative Report, Avaliable at www.genius-project.eu
97 We will introduce in depth the most interesting answers of the Italian Field Work Research’s
results20 taking into account both teachers and students’ perspectives.
When asked to give a definition of plagiarism, all teachers mentioned the students’ lack of selfconfidence, expressing their concern about the ‘diffused illegality’ that this practice entails.
Teachers completely share the argument that student plagiarizes because:
-
A lot of material is easily accessible through the internet and can be copied and pasted
(90%);
-
Students do not see plagiarism as a matter (reason for) of concern (100%);
-
(Extremely) Easy access to technologies that provide material that can be plagiarized e.g.
mobiles, computers (95%);
-
Students are lazy and not able to manage their time properly, and are not interested in the
subjects given to them to study (both 95%);
-
Students are not confident in their own opinions and arguments (95%).
In order to comply with the objective of preventing plagiarism, teachers believe that much can be
done by the students and their families, in particular if:
-
The pressure to get good grades could be reduced (42% agree + 58% completely agree);
-
The students would be more confident of their opinions and impressions (33% agree +
66% completely agree);
-
The students would be able to manage time more properly and effectively
(72%completely agree + 28 % agree).
As concerns the Students’ point of view, they admitted to plagiarize especially because:
-
They know they won’t be discovered (53% agree, 42% totally agree);
-
They feel pressure to obtain better marks (57% agree, 31% totally agree);
-
Most material is easily accessible through the internet, and can be copied and pasted (42%
agree, 48% totally agree);
-
They are lazy or not able to manage time properly (42% totally agree, 51% totally agree);
-
They do not see plagiarism as a concern (77% totally agree, 15% totally agree);
-
They do not feel confident of their own opinions (53% agree, 31% totally agree);
-
Heavy workloads assigned (33% agree, 48% completely agree).
In particular, when they come to gather information to do home/coursework, 62% of students
admit copying rarely a huge amount from books or Internet, but a relevant 46% admits to
20
Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, 2012, Italian Desk Research, Avaliable at www.geniusproject.eu
98 sometimes copying work from another student. In the same stage, they declare to never (24%) or
rarely (44%) download an essay from a website or essay bank on the Internet but to sometimes
(64%) work together with another student on essays that are meant to be individual.
A remarkable 93% of students thinks that plagiarism often goes undetected, a relevant percentage
believes that work is sometimes copied and pasted from internet (95%) or from a book (75%),
while 95% of students says that they have never been caught copying homework.
It stands to reason that Plagiarism is strictly connected either to technology progress, in relation to
the digital era, high pressure or expectations or to vulnerability such as a lack of self-esteem in
young students.
The art of copying is a learning and socialisation process that starts at primary schools, develops
during the overall school path and gets to its apex during the last year of secondary school. It
doesn’t involve only techniques, but also emotions and feelings are strictly linked to the
phenomenon.
In order to have a comprehensive overview, an Italian Documentary Research has been carried
out. Italian report mainly focuses on the study conducted by Prof. Marcello Dei, a sociologist at
Università di Urbino21, who recently published an interesting book about cheating in classrooms.
Plagiarism in Italian secondary schools is a widespread phenomenon and is often ignored by
school authorities, by pedagogues, sociologists, due to the fact that copying is not considered a
problem more significant than Bullying, or violence among students.
The attention of media usually focuses on the latter, regarding cheating at school as a minor
problem, not strictly linked with abnormal behaviours (deviant) whose consequences produce
more visible effects.
Besides, intellectuals, public opinion and policy-makers are realising that copying is a structural
weakness of the Italian school system, which goes together with the low level of learning,
integration, and socialization processes.
This Challenging plagiarism phenomenon could contribute to help young people to improve their
sense of citizenship, the respect of rules in society, and help them to feel more responsible.
According to research results obtained by the sociologist Prof. Marcello Dei of Università di
Urbino, copying in classroom is a behaviour encompassing the following features:
-
Firstly, it is a common kind of behaviour: 2 out of 3 students admit to copying often or
sometimes;
21
DEI, M. Ragazzi, si copia, Collana “Contemporanea”, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011
99 -
85% of students thinks that copying is not very condemnable;
-
Copying is a routine act, done without feelings.
Plagiarism phenomenon is very relevant in the University system as well. According to the survey
conducted at University of Pisa by COMPILATIO22, an Italian company for the detection of
plagiarism on internet, half of graduation thesis and dissertations contains 15% of web-contents,
and only 20% has less than 5%. “Copy-and-paste” is a common behaviour among University
students, but also among professors and their assistants.
During the drafting of the thesis dissertation, students are instructed by their professors on the
importance of proper use of sources, the meaning of quoting, on the difference between quoting
and paraphrasing, and the importance of notes as a tool for recognition of their intellectual debts.
Most universities are focusing on the importance of making students aware of plagiarism and a
fairer use of intellectual property. It must be clear that cheating and plagiarizing during exams and
are activities which damage themselves. These activities e don’t allow them to have an adequate
preparation for the goals they want to achieve. On the other hand, universities have a social
commitment towards society’s expectations to receive people which will be prepared to contribute
the cultural, economic and political life of the country.
Several universities in Italy provide students with relevant information about plagiarism and its
sanctions. Discovering plagiarism is becoming easier for professors due to several search engines
or softwares that allow to compare students’ production with books’ contents and web materials.
Other universities put some private companies in charge of discovering plagiarism in graduate
thesis. In case of plagiarism, one of the sanctions could be a suspension of many months from
academic activities.
Aware of all lessons learnt from GENIUS research, a specific learning path which focuses on
increasing awareness for a web fair use has been created.,
The main goals achieved by GENIUS, and its learning process, so far have been the fostering and
increasing of students’ self-esteem, their sense of initiative, and the importance of
communication.
Genius at the mirror
GENIUS plagiarism or creativity: teaching innovation versus stealing (www.genius-project.eu) is
a two year European project, started in October 2011 and funded by the Education, Audiovisual
and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). It belongs to Comenius sub-programme since the
22
Sorveglianza e rilevamento del Plagio su Internet, 2013, Available at http://www.compilatio.net/it/
100 activities and strategies are addressed to the Secondary Schools. The project aims at strengthening
the transversal skills of students undermined by the unstoppable quick diffusion of digital devices,
Internet’s large use, online sources, social software and Social Networks.
Fig.1. GENIUS project website www.genius-project.eu
Aware of students and teachers’ requirements coming up from the Research, the transnational
Consortium has developed an online course for Teachers of Secondary Schools and an online
course for Students available in English, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and
Turkish increasing the quality of communication, enlarging the Target Group base as well as the
project’s impact.
Teachers and Students of Secondary Schools, as core beneficiaries, have benefitted from a
personalised Multilingual online course on Copyrights, Plagiarism, WEB Fair use, Open Source
concepts, Pedagogical Methodologies to support creativity, and Creative writing tailored on their
specific learning needs.
As a second stage of the learning process, a transnational students’ competition, the “Battle of
Minds” has been launched in the online Platform.
All students coming from different partner organisations have been divided into different teams in
order to detect Plagiarism of the rival. Students have thus improved learning skills, social and
civic competences, sense of initiative, cultural awareness and expression, English and Digital
101 skills. Online course and Transnational Battle of Minds Competition have been carried on
GENIUS online Platform based on Chamilo open source model.
Fig.2. GENIUS online Platform http://project.unimarconi.it/genius_lms/index.php
Moreover, in order to increase the attractiveness of the GENIUS learning pathways, additional
outcomes have been developed in order to support teachers and students towards creativity against
plagiarism, personal and professional growth
-
“My Myths” collection, a database of the most popular biographies of people who work
hard to think up genius innovations;
-
“Code to be Genius” an ethic code addressed and shared by partners and beneficiaries, a
sort of reference model behaviour for fair European citizens;
-
“Open Educational Resources Database”, a repository with free educational resources
available on the web at a local and at an international level.
Particular attention goes to the “My Myth” Best Practice Database, which is a summary of the
most famous and popular people who have used or are still using their mind, their study and hard
work to think up great inventions. The Collection was aimed at encouraging Students in
understanding the value of ownership, the hard work behind the best ideas, importance of citing
without fear, the added value of recognizing, citing and re-phrasing. A truly cross cultural
selection of examples for young people will be able to inspire students to be creative and
innovative.
102 The Core strength of the project is represented by the Partnership, an extraordinary synergy of 7
partner institutions coming from Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Romania
and Turkey. GENIUS European project has in fact benefited from:
-
Deep experience in Secondary Education, students behaviours, learning methodologies
ensuring a direct impact on target groups through 3 Schools: EPAL AXIOUPOLIS,
Norwich City College and Technical College “Mihai Bacescu”;
-
Academic expertise, dissemination in Scientific Publications and Academic environments
through Università degli Studi “Guglielmo Marconi” and Faculdade de Filosofia da
Universidade Católica Portuguesa;
-
Powerful networks with high mainstreaming and multiplication effects in project impact
and exploitation of results through Confederación Española de Centros de Enseñanza and
Istanbul Milli Egitim Mudurlugu, a Local Turkish Public Authority.
-
Different kinds of organisations through their differences in expertise, experience,
networks and daily activities have deeply increased the quality of first project outcomes
and the efficiency of management.
Conclusions
Creativity, Self Esteem, Sense of Entrepreneurship as well as a web fair use will help students to
build up a great future full of opportunities and to become fair European citizens.
Students have to remember that building on others’ ideas is good! Students could be able to
develop future Innovations by understanding and building on the works created by breaking
through thinkers of the past. As Bernard of Chartres perfectly explains in a metaphor, in 12th
century “we are like dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more than they, and
things at a greater distance, not by virtue of any sharpness of sight on our part, or any physical
distinction, but because we are carried high and raised up by their giant size”23.
GENIUS project wants to support students to believe in their minds and talents, using the past to
create something unique, personal but always acknowledging the value of giants.
In order to effectively guide students, GENIUS asked for help from teachers of Schools involving
them in a specific learning pathway, tailored to share with them core aims of the project, its
mission and the key competencies regarding Plagiarism, copyrights, Web fair use and didactic
methodologies to support creativity in class.
23
The Metalogicon of John Salisbury. University of California Press. p. 167
103 Over 357 teachers and 381 students of secondary schools are attending the distance learning
pathways, increasing awareness of plagiarism, copyright, innovative methodologies to enhance
creativity in class, and new phenomenon such as cyber- bullism. Through GENIUS learning path,
teachers are increasing their awareness on Plagiarism Phenomenon, its typologies and features as
well as tools and methods on how to detect it. Most of all teachers will thus be able to confront
with “digital natives” students. Despite the generational gaps, they will be able to look beyond the
belief - Plagiarism is an always existed phenomenon, accepted as habit and part of the human
being nature. It is true that this habit has always existed, but society, economic scenarios,
dynamics, the entire world is deeply changed and the reasons beneath the phenomenon could be
definitely linked to the digital era.
References
DEI, M. (2011), Ragazzi, si copia, Collana “Contemporanea”, Bologna, Il Mulino
GENIUS
plagiarism
or
creativity:
teaching
innovation
versus
stealing
website
www.genius-project.eu
GENIUS partnership, GENIUS Comparative Report 2012, www.genius-project.eu
Salisbury John, Metalogicon, University of California Press. p. 167
Sorveglianza e rilevamento del Plagio su Internet, http://www.compilatio.net/it/
Università
degli
Studi
“Guglielmo
Marconi”
(2012),
Italian
Desk
Research,
www.genius-project.eu
104 Learning in virtual worlds for a sustainable learning society: ST.ART Project
Arturo Lavalle, Monica Fasciani24
Introduction
The relationship between theory and practice has been topic of discussion for many years. It’s
necessary to develop a new paradigm for education, that can grasp the complex processes of
learning. Most advanced education systems are focusing in an increasing way on flexibility, risktaking, creativity and problem solving, through modern methods of teaching, also through so
called “atypical” forms of learning, such as co-operative learning, and through the use of
multilateral clusters, community networks, and ICT in teaching. The breakthrough of cognitive
and constructivist approaches shifted the focus of education reforms from teaching to learning.
According to this paradigm, intended outcomes of schooling emphasize a greater conceptual
understanding, problem-solving, emotional and multiple intelligences and interpersonal skills,
rather than the memorization of facts.
Innovation is a process that can be characterized as a complex or even chaotic self-organisation25.
This means that knowledge and skills that are related to innovation are attained through active
construction, rather than direct instruction. Therefore, both teaching and learning (processes) in
schools should be viewed as systemic ones, that rely on principles of active participation, social
interaction, dialogue and reflection. Constructivism views each learner as a unique individual with
unique needs and backgrounds, and also as a complex and multidimensional individual. The
responsibility of learning needs resides increasingly with the learner26 who is actively involved in
the learning process, unlike in previous educational systems where the responsibility rested with
the instructor to teach and where the learner played a passive, receptive role. The teachers are
actually more like facilitators who help the learner to get to his/her own understanding of the
content. In this scenario the learner plays an active role in the learning process. The role of the
teachers is thus different, they should no more lecture form their desk but provide guidelines and
create the environment for the learner to arrive at his/her own conclusions, moreover they should
be in continuous dialogue with the learners27.
24
Università degli Studi “Guglielmo Marconi”, Italy, [email protected] and [email protected]
Hirooka, M. (2005). Nonlinear dynamism of innovation and business cycles. In U. Cantner, E.
Dinopoulos & R. Lanzillotti (Eds.), Entrepreneurships, the new economy and public policy (pp. 289–316),
New York, Springer. And Prigogine, I. (1997). End of certainty, New York, The Free Press.
26
Glasersfeld, E. (1989), Cognition, construction of knowledge, and teaching, Synthese, 80 (1), pp. 121140.
27
RHODES, L.K. (1999). Choices and consequences in the renewal of teacher education, Journal of
Teacher Education, 50(1), pp. 17-25.
25
105 Knowledge and innovation are, for these reasons, the main sources of progress in modern
knowledge-based economies. Indeed, knowledge plays a key role in increasing human capital,
which is one of the main drivers of economic progress and sustainable development in knowledge
societies. The new Lisbon objectives increase the focus on environmental technologies and
innovations that facilitate long term sustainability, such as in the areas of resource use, energy and
transport efficiency. The education area should be also taken into account since innovation and
new technologies are more and more used in this field also as a consequence of the new learningcentered approach.
Recent studies agree that ICT can play a significant role in the construction of a more sustainable
knowledge society. Nowadays, the development of technological infrastructure is an invitation to
build environments that are “more and more synchronous” for the mediated communication. The
use of new technology marks a trend, even in the teaching sphere, towards a more “complete”
communication through the sharing of writing tools – such as blogs and wikis – and working tools
– such as the multimedia whiteboard, a programme through which it is possible to share
multimedia files, working on them simultaneously.
Figure 1. Interrelation between new technologies and sustainable development
New technologies offer a great opportunity for dematerializing exchanges, and they are one of the
keys to a new form of empowerment, making it possible for society as a whole to be involved in
the choices of a more responsible world. Sustainable development requires that the web society is
broadly spread but at the same time remains accessible to everyone.
106 ST.ART project
Information and communication technologies have great potential for knowledge dissemination,
effective learning and the development of more efficient education services. The Information and
communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the
learning process28. The main aim of ST.ART project is to have students (16 to 18 year old
students in secondary school, especially in art schools) understand the difference between
aesthetics, street art forms and vandalism, and how different choices can lead to different
consequences. Its aim is also to produce innovative learning materials which deal with curricular
topics but exapnd more on details, merging together theoretical and practical aspects. The project
intends to develop pedagogical tools: attractive and fun contents delivered in virtual environments
(i.e. e-learning platform and 3D virtual world). The pedagogical tools are represented in a
different way from most of the exercises and pictures found in textbooks. It’s important to
accustom students to use acquired knowledge in less structured lectures.
Within this context the ST.ART project (Street Artists in a Virtual Space, a two year project
funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme) aims at providing an innovative learning platform
as a laboratory where contemporary art works can be carried out by young students of secondary
schools. The ST.ART project creates a Virtual Learning Environment that is the result of the
combination between the e-learning environment and the 3D virtual environment. The first one
uses the common tools of web 2.0 inside a modular learning platform to favour students’ content
sharing and learning. The second one allows to elaborate contents in a practical laboratory using
the competences acquired. ST.ART project focuses on a trans-disciplinary and inter-discursive
approach, an orientation towards self-organisation. Most of the time, teaching methods are
criticized as poorly matched with the dynamics of human cognition and school structures are said
to have failed to adapt to the increased diversities of the populations they serve and the mounting
dynamism of their contexts and ICT tools.
Training path
At methodological level, the objective of the ST.ART project is to put school teachers in a
position to pursue a flexible way of teaching, using appropriate resources and completely
(easy/simple) technology. The teaching is flexible if it is able to adjust better to the learning levels
of students, in order to allow them to activate a cognitive complexity appropriate to their actual
potential.
28
Tavangarian D., Leypold M., Nölting K., Röser M.,(2004), Is e-learning the Solution for Individual
Learning? Journal of e-learning, 2004
107 The educational objectives of ST.ART project are to improve students’ basic and transversal skills
as for example:
1. students’ basic life skills such as communication in English with their peers;
2. students’ transversal skills such as digital, social and civic competencies, sense of
initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness and expression;
3. students’ creativity thanks to the development of the art project work in Open sim.
4. In order to achieve these objectives the project develops two Virtual Learning
Environments:
5. an E-learning environment with a training area
6. A virtual 3D world (based on the Open Sim environment) where art works are performed
and a social area where students can have open discussions.
The learning process is implemented in three different and parallel sessions: the first one is the elearning environment where the students have access to the theoretical information about the
relevant topic, street art. The lectures are mediated by the teachers who can apply several methods
to keep the students actively involved in the course All learning objects (included audio lessons
and lecture notes) are in English and this makes these educational tools usable as interdisciplinary
material for English language and art teachers. Within the learning platform, a forum area is
foreseen, where teachers can access to exchange ideas, opinions or talk about different learning
methodologies with their peers in other European countries involved in the project.
In the 3D virtual world, which is the second session, students carry out a project artwork. As first
steps they have to create their own avatar and go around the city, Metropolis. The access to the
3D virtual world is autonomous but the students can also choose to work in small groups with
their classmates. They have to learn how to use all the tools that the 3D virtual world provides
them with, and start working on the practical art work project. The activities in the city foresee
some synchronous lectures to be held by the Mayor of the city. The lectures are mainly discussion
groups through which the Mayor gives students insights for discussion about correct behaviour in
the city, a draft legislation, how to perform street art legally. Based on the knowledge previously
acquired, and on their own experiences they undergo a process in which they build up and
improve their own knowledge thanks to the active and practical participation in the activities of
the virtual world. Open Sim is a 3D world that tries to reproduce the real one, including the
development of new rules. Students are represented by avatars and they communicate through
voice and written text. This virtual world has the potential to develop a simulation of “real life”
108 skillls and comppetencies. Itt can enhannce an expeeriential learning througgh activities such as
simuulations.
The third sessioon is represented by thhe social areea, within th
he 3D Virtuual world, where
w
the
nge ideas, oppinions, view
ws, teach
studdents can interact with peers, in a coollaborative way, exchan
eachh other and leearn from eaach other. In the social arrea and 3D virtual world training sesssions, the
studdents are enggaged in an active learniing process which is stu
udent-centereed, and guided by an
expeert of contennt (as moderrator/mentor)) who interaacts with thee students. T
This kind off learning
allow
ws an activee development of compeetencies baseed on eviden
nce as studennts actively construct
c
new
w knowledge as they interract with otheer people.
hnological model
m
Tech
Clarroline is the E-Learning
E
platform
p
thatt we use for the
t delivery of online couurse. This platform is
suitaable for the delivery off distance leearning, in particular
p
th
hrough Internnet. The plaatform is
distrributed underr the GPL liccense which is the standaard licence fo
or Open sourrce software.
As ffor the 3D Virtual
V
world
d, Open Sim
mulator, often
n referred to as Open Sim
m, is an opeen source
servver platform that hosts viirtual worldss. While it is most recog
gnized for coompatibility with the
Secoond Life clieent, it is also capable of hhosting alterrnative world
ds with differring feature sets with
multtiple protocools.
109 ows users to connect witth one another and to
The friendly inteerface of thee technologiccal tools allo
he skills
idenntify themseelves with their own aavatars, to increase mottivation, to reinforce th
prevviously acquuired, and to enhance thheir overall learning
l
experience. Thee use of gam
me-based
systeems format is
i more effecctive than traaditional learrning29 sincee it engages tthe young geeneration
mucch more and speak their own languaage. Position
ning students in the role of the main learning
charracter can strike
s
their interest,
i
andd at the sam
me time, caan lead them
m to have a deeper
engaagement witth the conten
nt. The schoool teachers play togeth
her with the students, siince it is
esseential for thhe teachers to engage themselves in the virttual worlds too. They need to
com
mmunicate wiith students through
t
a coommon langu
uage in orderr to be able tto still lead and
a shape
studdents’ learninng. As teacchers play, tthey help th
he narrative unfold, mootivate studeents with
apprropriate feeddback and hig
ghlight key cconcepts emb
bedded in thee virtual scennario.
29
W
Wood, N. T., Soolomon, M. R.,
R Marshall, G
G. W., Lincoln
n S. (2010), Co
orporate Traiining Goes Virrtual: A
Hybrrid Approach to Experientia
al Learning Inn Virtual Enviironments for Corporate Edducation, Emp
ployee
Learrning and Soluutions, pp. 284
4-301.
110 The collaborative environment of Virtual worlds30, provides synchronous communication and
interaction among students. This social interaction and the relationships that are thus developed,
in this immersive virtual reality, between students and among students and others, create a
community of learners31. Virtual worlds promote a greater in-depth knowledge of the content,
process, and applications, facilitating an authentic learning experience. The experiential learning
processes involve a higher level of interaction, which evolves as student and teacher participate in
discussions, collaborations, feedback, and shared content knowledge32. In addition to creating an
enjoyable experience, virtual worlds provide students with scaffolded spaces that can support
practical experimentation, critical thinking, and other information literacy skills.
Results
The main result of our project it to have produced an innovative learning and teaching
methodology that merges together theoretical and practical aspects i.e. the contents that integrates
the latest art trends with current art curricula, and an innovative technological system which
creates a new Virtual Learning Environment.
This new methodology can not only have a huge impact on curricula of High school of Art but
can also help creating a more sustainable knowledge society. Our main aim is to create teaching
and learning materials that can be used in High school and that can, at least, partially replace text
books. The functionalities of the technological system are designed to facilitate the pedagogical
model implementation in a wide range of educational settings both formal and informal. The
content can be updated without affecting the sustainability of the products. The range of
30
A virtual world is a genre of online community that often takes the form of a computer-based simulated
environment, through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. Virtual worlds
are intended for its users to inhabit and interact, and the term today has become largely synonymous with
interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of avatars visible to others graphically.
These avatars are usually depicted as textual, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional graphical
representations, although other forms are possible (auditory and touch sensations for example). Some, but
not all, virtual worlds allow for multiple users.
31
L. S. Vygotsky (1978), notes that learning is a social process: Mind in Society: The Development of
Higher Psychological Processes, ed. Michael Cole, Vera John-Steiner, Sylvia Scribner, and Ellen
Souberman (Cambridge, Harvard University Press); Thought and Language, trans. and ed. Alex Kozulin
(Cambridge, MIT Press, 1986). Karen Swan and Peter Shea believe (2005), this process is primarily found
in the interaction within groups: The Development of Virtual Learning Communities, in Starr Roxanne Hiltz
and Ricki Goldman, eds., Learning Together Online: Research on Asynchronous Learning Networks
(Mahwah, N.J., Lawrence Erlbaum), pp. 239-260.
32
Hilary Perraton (1983), A Theory for Distance Education, in David Sewart, Desmond Keegan, and Borje
Holmberg, eds., Distance Education: International Perspectives (1983, reprint, New York, Routledge
1988), pp. 95-113. According to Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (1991), the concept of learning is not
simply internalizing information and knowledge but is a personal transformation defined by participation in
a social community that fosters communication and interaction: Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral
Participation (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).
111 applications used to support these chosen topics demonstrate an interest to cross subject
boundaries and take learning beyond the classroom.
The didactic environments involve the users with user-generated contents, transforming people
from content readers into publishers, thus participating in the knowledge construction.
Furthermore, students are also involved in a deep interaction process within the 3D virtual worlds,
which implies a low level of travels and a high level of interaction.
Conclusions
In conclusion the ST.ART project embraces the best of the new possibilities offered by modern
technologies as a support to education, in order to break down the barriers between formal and
informal education, helping to create a more sustainable knowledge society. Allowing the users to
have a voice and to actively participate in the learning process is a very powerful way to keep
them engaged and to have them reflect upon what they are constructing, and eventually learning.
The educational model offered by the project is in fact based on synchronous as well as
asynchronous tools with a specific and dedicate focus on group activities. The latter offers a great
opportunity for social interaction, showing how cooperation can produce amazing results.
Discussions and brainstorming are also the easiest active training techniques to incorporate into
training models, and thanks to the use of highly innovative technologies, we can apply these
techniques and at the same time dematerialise exchanges.
The current global situation requires new ways of thinking and acting in order to find sustainable
solutions. From an educational point of view we have to consider two main possibilities. The first
is related to innovation, due to the new global challenges, only genuinely new ideas and
innovations will be sufficient in providing alternatives that lead to a more sustainable path of
development. This will require investing in development and innovation in the key areas of
technology, social organizations and ecology, especially related to the education field. The second
possibility is more related to relevant skills, the key competences needed in the future have to
reflect more than before, flexibility, risk-taking, creativity and innovation. This is a challenge for
formal education in general and lifelong learning in particular.
References
Hirooka, M. (2005). Nonlinear dynamism of innovation and business cycles. In U. Cantner, E.
Dinopoulos, R. Lanzillotti (Eds.), Entrepreneurships, the new economy and public policy (pp.
289–316), New York, Springer
112 Lave, J., Wenger, E., (1991), Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press
Perraton, H. (1983), A Theory for Distance Education, in Sewart, D., Keegan, D., and Holmberg,
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113 Advanced Technologies promise to generate opportunities to future distance learning
Gianluca Gigante33
Introduction
The complexity of today’s global educational system is subject to an evolving process with the
final objective to respond to current and future challenges of cultural, political, social and
technological changes as well as the emerging demand coming from developing countries and the
continuous evolution of the social behaviors in the way individuals collaborate and interact with
each other. “The pressure on public finances, and notably on public debt sustainability, has led in
most countries (and notably in Europe) to gradual, but significant cuts in university spending. At
the same time, the social justification for universities has come under growing scrutiny. The
emphasis has shifted towards university education as a private benefit to individuals, who should
therefore largely fund their high level training” (Masera, 2013).
Such scenario makes the actual education system inadequate and unsustainable, which requires
the implementation and use of appropriate learning models and supporting tools.
Many of the identified forces are making pressures to the same existence of traditional institutions
in the education space and opening, at the same time, to unprecedented innovating process which
brings new players and learning elements in the complex education scenario, like MOOCs
(Massive Open Online Courses) (Beldaglia, Adiguzela, 2010).
This paper addresses the continuous and rapid evolution and expansion of the boundaries and
interdependences of the global education system with the objective to provide useful indications
and contribution to the understanding and evaluation of the current and future context as well as
perspectives of the education system and how the actual technologies are an essential enabling
factor to future state. These challenges can be taken on by developing innovative and dynamic
learning models (adaptive learning) to be successfully implemented and delivered by using
appropriate enabling technologies (Lowendahl, Harris, 2013).
2. Technology as the enabling factor to future education
Adaptive learning is considered an alternative learning model to the traditional one - inspired by
the “one-size-fits-all” philosophy - which encourages the development of dynamic learning
models. This is characterized by the diversity where a formative content thought for some users
33
Collaborator of Marconi University, Italy 114 may not be appropriate for others and for the tool or the communication channel being used to
deliver it (interactivity). The learning process in adaptive learning requires that the customized
contents are accessed through an advanced web-based environment and where docents play a role
of mentorship when required (Wang, Huang, 2008).
The repository of Big datasets will be fed by data collection processes from disparate sources and
will be extended by data analytics solutions (Business Intelligence) which will allow for the
development of customized adaptive learning models with a more “learner-centric” approach.
The information about learners and other individuals who share similar personal attributes or live
in the same environment or have similar experiences will be gathered and analyzed and - based on
the outcome of such work - advanced distance learning models, making use of the “digitized
learning”, will be developed, allowing the technology to bring added value to the learning models.
The term “digitization” often refers to the conversion of analog processes to digital processes
while the term “digitalization” refers to the creation of a Business value from the digital assets.
The “digitization” is the first-order effect of technology while the “digitalization” is the second
and third-order effect.
The digitalizing processes will bring a real “disruption” to the traditional educational institutions
from both a learning model and organizational perspective:
-
We’ll assist to the creation of extended and open community in the education, thanks to
Social Media technologies.
-
New knowledge will be created about the student’s learning needs and expectations with
the support of Big datasets fed by diverse and new data sources.
-
New learning paths will be developed as the distance learning strategies are defined,
based on the new information generated (Big Data).
-
There will be new roles and skills defined for docents, where the approach will change
from a more didactic to a more pedagogical one, with a role of tutor, mentor and coach of
students. The docents will be the consumer of the information generated by the student
activities rather than the managers of such data.
-
More flexible and sustainable learning models will be developed through the use of
enabling technologies.
-
The institutions themselves will become more focused on the individual (learner-centric)
in order to meet the future learning needs by implementing adaptive learning models.
The institutions will have to understand that the competitive context will be reviewed in
consideration of the new learning models. They will have to be ready to consider new models of
distance learning where the education can be made outside of traditional places and constraints.
115 The institutions and organizations that will not have taken appropriate actions and sufficiently
realized the digitalization of contents and on-line education as well as properly used technologies
and data analytics solution which facilitate the development of such adaptive learning models,
will remain excluded from such transformation and from the future competition in the education
space. The public education system will leverage the distance learning through the adoption of
alternative models – pure e-learning or blended – customizing then the offer for the students and
enabling them to work in a collaborative way although individually evaluated (Lowendahl,
Harris, 2013).
Distance learning promises to resolve the problem of the scalability of education at a reasonable
cost. Considering the global scale to which distance learning models refer to, MOOCs can
become an additional and great opportunity of development and, at the same time, a competition
war. Few Universities like Harvard University, State University of New York, University of
Tennessee, Tennessee Board of Regents, University of Colorado system, University of Houston
system, University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska, University of New Mexico, University
System of Georgia, West Virginia University System or- on the opposite side of the globe National Taiwan University and Chinese University of Hong Kong have stated to have extended
their offering - or are in the process of – by adopting and integrating MOOCs within their courses
to better understand how students learn on-line. Marconi University too has recently added
MOOCs to their offering, recognizing the students with credits for the enrolment in a University
Degree course. Such an interesting approach allows potential students to try the e-leaning model
free-of-charge and familiarize themselves with it, getting rid of it in the case of further enrolment
(see: mooc.unimarconi.it).
Such new learning models will become even more dynamic as the institutions and players in the
education field will establish strategic alliances to develop a common knowledge which is
instrumental to support decision-making processes and take appropriate actions towards a more
effective and sustainable education. Organizations which deliver same learning content, in a
similar way and in different places, will be able to reach larger number of individuals, expanding
their presence and opportunities. The institutions that will implement a “standardized” learning
path, at least for the first year, will enable a higher mobility of students between different
Universities for instance, fostering, at the same time, the adoption and development of adaptive
learning models (Rust, Weiner, Harris, 2012).
By 2025, the demand of education will be much higher than current capacity and 8 million of
students are expected to move to other places, States, Countries to study, more than three times
today’s level (Davis, Mackintosh, 2012).
116 By 2016, 50% of K-12 learning paths won’t require the docents to assign specific activities to the
students.
By 2016, the governments will require the education institutions to completely review the
student’s curricula based on Big Data.
By 2015, more the 25% of the universities will introduce a “chief content officer” in their
organizations (Rust, Weiner, Harris, 2012).
The “disruption” process will impact the entire actual educational ecosystem.
The education industry is always more driven by global forces and the institutions, which have
historically been driven by independent internal forces, but is now becoming much more
dependent from external tools and services. The “education inflation” can be either the enabler or
disrupter to the institutions with the potential of generating an explosion in the business of the
education.
“First, a job that once required a secondary education now demands a bachelor’s degree, and what
required a bachelor’s degree now requires a master’s degree, and so on. Second, global demand
for higher education is exploding, up 68%, from 80 million students in 1995 to 135 million in
2005 and another 17% increase from 2005 to 2008 (a total of 158 million students). In the U.S.
alone, the demand went up by 34% from 1994 to 2008, and is projected to increase another 17%
by 2019 (and this in a mature market)” (Lowendahl, 2012).
The financial and economic pressures are creating a new normal condition. The cost containment
is in today’s agenda of every institution and organization because of the higher attention to the
ROI, even in the public sector, and the increasing regulations and level of transparency required.
The institutions are not exempt from that transformation, being in the process of understanding
and evaluating the impact on costs and revenue. They will have to look at generating significant
savings where, certainly, the budget for technology shouldn’t be reduced but rather preserved or
extended as it is an enabling element to other opportunities. Cloud Computing technologies will
be essential to the achievement of such objectives.
The constant and continuous reduction of public funds allocated and/or the increase of private
contribution to the public education highlights how the politicians, in different places in the
world, are passing the responsibility and future of the education to the market forces. However,
“as in many other sectors, if the public pulls back from direct provision of certain activities, it is
fundamental that it will play a role as intelligent forward looking regulator of the system”
(Masera, 2013). It should be clear by now that education –higher education particularly - is being
transformed in a new area of Business, globally. The future challenge will be around the
117 “consumerization” of education - which is based on the “anytime, anywhere” principles (on-line
education) and the predictive analysis of consumer needs (Big Data analytics) - and how the
institutions will deal with the problem of the scalability of the educational system in order to meet
the increasing demand generated by the education inflation.
The distance-death of on-line learning will give the institutions the opportunity to operate on a
much wider scale and – on the MOOC philosophy - to do it for hundreds of thousands of
participants.
The described evolutionary scenario will be made possible and real by the use of key enabling
technologies: Social Media, Big Data and Cloud. Technology will offer the opportunity to
successfully move from traditional learning to more scalable and sustainable models.
3. When social media meets distance learning: benefits and a few implementation cases
In order to develop a modern and agile learning environment, the institution should look at the
wide spectrum of Social Media technology options. Starting from their actual information system,
the institutions will need to select and add new technology elements and components to develop
new capabilities and functionalities as a response to students and docents needs. Incorporating
such new technologies within the current learning ecosystem will require a clear understanding of
main industry trends in the ICT and, at the same time, a progressive involvement of students and
docents in the development of the new learning environment (Harris, 2012).
In fact, through their involvement, it can be made a more pedagogical use of existing technologies
- like blogs or wikis – before adding any new technology. For many institutions this will be the
starting point. Unfortunately, most of the members of the actual institutions are too busy or
worried about the technology to fully understand the opportunity that the technology offers them.
The result has been a limited use of alternative learning environments where, rather, many of the
technology elements – which are available and paid already - were never used.
In the future, the institutions will have to make sure that students best use the available learning
environment even though the faculty itself does not. For example, as soon as a course is
published, a certain number functionalities or services such as virtual collaboration tools –forum,
blogs, chat, etc. – should immediately be made available to students without any intervention
from faculty members. For example the LMS platform of Marconi University makes immediately
available to students an internal forum and messaging as well as a virtual room tool to interact
with the docent and students in real-time (see: virtualcampus.unimarconi.it). In other words, if
and when the learning environments will replicate the characteristics of a Social platform – a
118 Social Network – students will feel comfortable with using such environment and limiting any
learning curve.
A good example of a learning environment fostering the involvement of students is the
implementation of Purdue University - Indiana, USA - of the Mixable platform which uses realtime collaboration tools leveraging Social Collaboration knowledge of students in the context of
their classrooms (see www.purdue.edu/mixable). The well-known Google Plus service also was
used in the education field. Kadir Has University - Istanbul – successfully used it for the
development and delivery of interactive courses and thanks to virtual collaboration capability of
Google Plus - a cross-course communication was effectively fostered (Rust, 2013). Another good
example is what the University of Limerick – Ireland – has made using the Social Network
(Facebook) to realize a 6-weeks welcome plan to new students, based on the fact that 73% of
Europeans between the ages of 18 and 24 use the Social Network to interact and communicate
and the student’s dependency on the Internet is 82% and rapidly increasing (Diggins, Dìsquez,
Murphy, 2011). Università di Genova – Italy – used a Social Network platform to support a
language course for a group of Erasmus students to teach the Italian language. In this course, in
addition to the traditional classroom activities, a Social Network platform (Ning) was used for
synchronous (chat) and asynchronous (form, email, blog) communication and content (pictures,
documents, video) sharing, fostering then the interaction and practice of the language, verbal and
written. The student’s feedback was absolutely positive where more than 80% of interviewed
stated they had significant benefit from the experiment in terms of learning progresses when
compared with traditional classroom learning activities (Cotroneo, 2011).
If the institutions will not provide such capabilities to students, the students will find them
themselves outside the learning environment, reducing the ability of institutions to interact with
students in a controlled and regulated way (Harris, 2012).
A group of students from the University of Barcelona Institute for Lifelong Learning – Spain –
realized an informal initiative of knowledge sharing using Social Network technology. The
mentioned university – which offers professional and post-graduated course in either pure elearning and blended models – focused on the course of “Community Management and Social
Media” where a group of students have autonomously and successfully applied acquired
knowledge on Social Media by using most popular Social Network platform – Facebook,
Linkedin and Twitter – to create an external collaboration environment where to share experience
and learn collaboratively. Students who used that environments stated what they exchanged and
learned on the Social Networks was helpful to integrate what they learned through the university’s
e-learning system (LMS) (Rubio Carbò, Serrat Antolì, 2011).
119 A final decision on which model to use as a reference will have to be evaluated by taking into
account additional elements. In fact, the existing experiences about use of Social Media and
Social Network platform to higher education are still far to support any absolute conclusion.
However, they indicate that an appropriate use of them – which will require a good strategy and
execution - can surely help creating a stimulating environment where students can interact openly
and spontaneously and learn better and more.
4. Opportunities and barriers to the integration of social media with distance learning
A significant trend in the IT industry is the increasing number of technology options available
today. Different technologies are combined together creating a second and third-order effect. A
good example is the public network infrastructure – Internet - which can be considered as the
first-order effect of the technology and on which a Social Network platform is based, for instance,
as the second-order effect and which provides digital contents, services and other functionalities
as the third-order effect (Lowendahl, Rust, 2012).
The “consumerization” of the technology and the penetration of mobile devices in the consumer
market have significantly contributed to the creation and diffusion of large-scale Social Media
applications and services and the Social presence on the Internet. Facebook alone grew of 250
million users – from 350 to 500 – during the 2012 only and reached 1 billion users at the end of
the 2012.
Collaborative tools are not new, rather they have been existing for a long time already. However,
Social Collaboration technologies like crowdsourcing, ideation, activity steams, wikis and blogs
are enabling technology on larger scale. They enable hundreds of thousands - even million – of
users to collaboratively create content, share experiences, build new relationships and knowledge.
Social technologies are different from other kinds of software in their intrinsic ability to create
mass participation facilitating a scalable collaboration. The capability to allow individuals to
participate - anytime, anywhere – in a project, content, discussion, sharing of experience is what
makes Social technologies unique. Social Networks – and more in general Social Collaboration –
count on the capitalization of the mass participation to generate Business value (Wilson, Bradley,
2013). Facebook, the most popular Social Media platform as of today, is representative of the
characteristics that other platforms have; Facebook, just like others such as Linkedin, Twitter,
Youtube and more, should be taken as an example rather than as the absolute reference.
Each of them, in fact, may offer some opportunities of same or different target of individuals,
even the education field like students and docents. In other words, these platform should be
120 considered for what they do and as a real case of what can be done rather than as the absolute
target point.
The strategy should be to understand, list and apply a series of Social Media general principles
which make sense for the education initiative, using the terminology and characteristics acquired
from the Social Network platforms that are already making use of them and considering such
platforms as an instance of the general principals.
What are then the major benefits coming from the integration of the Social Network and Distance
Learning?
-
The opportunity to leverage the magnitude and widespread diffusion of the phenomenon.
The Web offers unique opportunities of expansion and build of social networks in terms
of new type of relationships established among individuals. This offers a privileged
channel to convey communications and facilitate interactions to build new knowledge.
-
The opportunity to consolidate information about individuals and their social network and
knowledge through unique profiles, avoiding the fragmentation and dispersion of
information in different sources and the inability to build relationships on them.
-
The ability to share and build knowledge, openly, with students and docents of the single
courses. This allows them get in touch each other and create new communities where
communicate and collaborate.
-
The ability to make it happen quickly, in real-time potentially. Such advanced
environment will expand the communication, collaboration and knowledge over the
traditional boundaries of Universities or other institution, becoming available and
accessible everywhere.
-
The capability of customizing contents, tools and the learning environment to set-up a
personal and customized environment for the individual, improving his/her personal
experience.
Also, Social Media technologies and the Social Network platforms can be leveraged to develop
diverse innovative learning models and which might be applied to specific situation or context;
examples are the Learning by doing, Learning by problem, Learning by project and in general the
Cooperative Learning where the individuals learn by doing different activities related to a job,
problem or project.
The “gamification” is a new frontier of the Social Media technologies - and the Social Network
which implement it – when applied to on-line education. With the term “gamification” one
intends the application of videogame characteristics and design for the development of on-line
games to be used in non-game contexts. It has been used successfully in many web based
121 businesses to increase user engagement and it seems to have high potential when applied to
students in the context of on-line education as well. “[...] gamification can have a great emotional
and social impact on students, as reward systems and competitive social mechanisms seem to be
motivating for them. Reward systems suppose an innovative, fun and encouraging way to
represent progress within an online educative experience.” (Domínguez, Saenz-de-Navarrete et
al., 2013).
Depending from the final objectives and the community of users being targeted, there are different
categories of enabling Social Media technologies or platforms:
-
Enterprise collaboration tools, to be used internally the organization or institution to
facilitate the collaboration. The limitation is often their ability to build mixed social
networks where external contributors can join, interact and collaborate.
-
Social Media technologies, to be openly used from the individuals like blogs, wikis, idea
generation tools and more. Such tools, although usable without any specific constraint,
remain under the control of the organization or institution, ensuring the effective and
appropriate use for the original purposes.
-
Access to public Social Networks like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and others, mainly as
a public channel to communicate with stakeholders or institutions which have presence on
them. Appropriate policies, terms and conditions may be developed and applied to this
cases.
The strategy will not be to prescribe the use of a particular technology or platform to a specific
target of users - like the students – but rather to support docents and administrators to build a
Social environment which is compatible with their roles and activities (Harris, 2012b).
As described, the potential offered from the application of Social Media or Social Network to
distance learning becomes interesting. But, undoubtedly, it’s not sufficient. Just like any big
transformation, it requires the right people at the right place to understand it and support it to
become part of it. In short, the technology alone is not sufficient to innovate, rather the human
factor is crucial. The path to get there is not easy and the adoption of such technologies is exposed
to many resistances.
A Gartner research highlights the significant lack of understanding of the opportunities offered by
the Social Media and Collaboration tools while confirms the readiness of technology and
technical competencies to make it.
122 The main barrier to adopting Social Collaboration tools in higher education is then the lack of a
clear strategy. The institutions will have to understand the generated value from such initiatives
with respect to the traditional business and that Social Media shouldn’t be seen as the objective
but rather as the means to expand the collaboration within the education ecosystem (Harris,
2012b).
The advancing of mobile technologies represent an additional engine and opportunity to develop
innovative learning models. “Mobile learning” leverages mobile technology for a facilitated
“everywhere learning” (Herrington & Herrington, 2007). The use of mobile devices in distance
learning enables better integration of contents in the context of where it’s used and where the
student is located, which is usually outside the traditional environment in mobility. Also, by
accessing the learning platform in mobility and using the Social Media technologies specifically
adapted for mobile devices, students can efficiently and effectively communicate and interact by
sharing experiences and knowledge in a Collaborative Learning environment. Using such
technologies, that interaction can be enriched with the power of the Instant Messaging tools – like
short messages, pictures and video, micro-blog – and the integration with Social Network
platforms that students and docents can use to extend learning opportunities (Gikas, Grant, 2013).
5. Big data analytics and Cloud Computing as an essential technological support for the
success of future education
Big datasets and analytics are based on our lifestyle, behaviors, preferences and the activities we
perform daily - using Facebook or a Learning Management System for instance - and how any
related information is tracked and stored. The analysis of the aggregation of such a large amount
of correlated data, “Big datasets”, allows for the generating of new knowledge and statistic
123 meaning. As an example, a CRM system can provide strategic information on where and when to
start a specific education project for a particular target of individuals. The Big Data trend will
bring interesting dynamics in the education ecosystem globally; in fact, in order to be effective, it
will require a huge amount of data to be managed and stored, much more any institution can do
alone (Lowendahl, Rust, 2012). The data about students and docents activities managed by elearning platforms will be collected and analyzed by Big Data analytics; the outcomes will
support the definition of algorithms to be used with innovative adaptive learning models.
The most promising adaptive learning uses meta-data associated to contents, learning activities
and the information related to their use and effectiveness in the context of the on-line learning
path. This “empiric” adaptive learning offers an alternative approach to the one where adaptive
learning algorithms and data analysis outcomes are used instead. The adaptive learning models
will adopt them in the appropriate proportions as the number of participants grow. Adaptive
learning will become then a strategic asset in education. The mentioned meta-data – qualitative
data – and the statistics on the use of the learning environment components – quantitative data –
will be strategic data for the institutions that will want to expand their presence and activities on a
large-scale o just optimize their internal costs. Also, Big Data analytics can contribute to higher
education problem of “student retention”, generating valuable information to develop
personalized learning paths and giving the students useful information to make right choices at
right time for their educational career.
“By 2016, adaptive learning data will be hard currency, creating open online education wars (and
coalitions)” (Rust, Weiner, Harris, Lowendahl, 2012). A good case is the WICHE Cooperative for
Educational Technologies’ (WCET’s) - a USA based institution – which has made alliances with
many Universities in the USA with the common objective of developing effective e-learning
programs, openly and collaboratively.
The nationalization of student’s data for Big Data analysis will most likely start with primary and
secondary education because of their public nature in most of the Countries. However, in the
places where the Public institutions control the entire education system, the demand will come
from the Governments directly (Rust, Weiner, Harris, Lowendahl, 2012). Producing evidence of
an increase or decrease in interest of a specific content, service, capability or course is a way to
weigh the effectiveness of using Social Media and to support decision-making processes on
further investment. For the “bottom-up” nature of the Social Network, it’s quite hard today to
establish clear and accurate quantitative objectives and create appropriate metrics. Therefore, it
will be necessary to get metrics to evolve overtime and once accomplished there will be a much
clearer correlation between the use of Social Media and the learning and Business impact (Harris,
2012b).
124 In order to successfully create a flexible, scalable and sustainable future education system, the
institutions will need to embrace and implement required enabling technologies by switching
from the “tools” approach to the “services” approach which is often generalized with the term
“Cloud”. The Cloud Computing is the set of technologies used to offer application in the form of
flexible, scalable and sustainable services.
There are a few interesting applications in the market already which promise to effectively and
efficiently help institutions and students to take better decisions. “Civitas Leaning” is an
interesting option of a Cloud-based Big Data analytics tools which promises to support students,
faculty and administrator to take better decisions by generated statically-valid outcome from the
analysis of large datasets. The fully Cloud service model ensures no on-premises system to
manage and reasonable cost of use (Lowendahl, Weiner, Harris, Rust, 2013).
The Cloud can dramatically contribute to the reduction of investments and recurring cost of
technology used for distance learning and offering, at the same time, the opportunity to dimension
the investments and costs to real needs of the organization. Implementing a “services” approach
also means adding external service providers into the education ecosystem. This can happen by
outsourcing the internal information systems – passing from internal managed “tools” to external
managed “services” – or by doing something more articulated like Moodlerooms does (see:
www.moodlerooms.com), which uses Opensource application components in a Dell Cloud all
offered with SaaS model – Software as a Service – hence a Business model where application
services are provided to customers based on customers need and where customers pay for what
they get, without making any capital investment upfront – and with the flexibility to get more as
soon as they need more (scalability). Other “disruptive” model comes from 2U Inc. which offers
all-in-one educational services, including Cloud on-line learning platform, to transform a
traditional education institution in a distance learning model (see: www.2U.com).
Then, the Cloud defines a new industry paradigm, the “flexible and scalable consumerization of
the technology”. This can happen through the purchasing of managed technology services – and
not of hardware and tools – in the form of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a
Service) or SaaS (Software as a Service) where systems are hosted outside in distributed data
centers data and applications are available in the Public Cloud, Private Cloud or Hybrid Cloud,
ensuring the proper level of services and security of data according to the Institution needs.
The new paradigm will allow the Institutions to make focused and better dimensioned
investments to actual needs as well as reduce fixed and recurring costs of the technology
infrastructures while keeping the ability to easily scale up the technology as the Business grows.
In the mature markets the Cloud business is reporting a double digit growth. The School of
Management of the Politecnico di Milano – Italy – predicted that, although the huge contraction
125 of investments in Italy – the 2013 allocated budget by Companies and Institutions for Cloud
projects has increased of 11% on average at least, and will much higher – up to three times – in
developing Countries. Cloud Computing will be then the enabling technology to make Big Data,
Social Media as well as basic ICT services – like email – sustainable and scalable to future needs.
“In the 2011 CIO agenda, 64% of higher education CIOs expected to move more than 50% of
their infrastructures into the cloud before year-end 2015. The corresponding number for software
as a service (SaaS) was 49%. In this year’s higher education sourcing survey, we find that 49% of
institutions are already involved in some type of cloud sourcing, and 67% expect to be by yearend 2012” (Lowendahl, 2012). Although the result is not statistically significant because of the
small sample - 1% only of the entire education institutions - it represents anyway an indicator of
the increasing attention and understanding of Cloud technologies applied to the education fields.
However, the institution will have to approach the Cloud within their sourcing strategy instead of
taking uncontrolled actions in order to plan for getting bigger benefits and savings from its
implementation. Also, legal and regulatory aspects will have to be sorted out, especially in the
domain of the data privacy. Cloud services are today truly flexible in that sense and will have to
gain trust from the institution before they can really been seen a big opportunity.
6. Conclusions and recommendations
The expanding education ecosystem is creating the condition for the disruption of traditional
learning models and a substantial switch of the instructional role from a didactic support to a more
facilitation, mentoring and coaching role. Some institutions will embrace the changes, other will
resist and fail (Oberer, Erkollar, 2012). Resistance to change is certainly not a new thing.
Anticipating them will surely cut down on surprises and prepare the institution to move forward
more quickly and efficiently. In order to make it happen, the institution will have to embrace
enabling technologies as well, as a strategic partner for them to shape and implement future state
of education. Technologies will be an essential enabling element for the effective and efficient
implementation of innovative and sustainable qualitative-alternative learning models which are
based on the distance-death principal. Thus, distance learning models, together with blended
models, will give the traditional education institution the opportunity to establish a more
sustainable, open, effective and on larger-scale education programs through the adoption of
adaptive - student-centric – learning models. Governance, budgets and campus polices as well as
National governments and education institutions are, in most cases, not ready nor aligned yet to
consider the future learning environment. Despite this it may be concluded that the Public must
keep a central role in the future education environment as a “regulator” in order to ensure fear
competition and qualitative education services delivery to students (Masera, 2013). In other
126 words, although it will be a crucial ingredient of future education, the technology alone won’t
surely generate any positive impact without the firm belief of Public in such “disruption”. The
same MOOC phenomenon will require at a certain point a regulatory function in order to
incorporate them into the student learning path.
Major enabling technologies will be Social Media, Big Data analytics and Cloud Computing, with
the support of Mobile technologies. These technologies will give the institutions the opportunity
to develop efficient and effective customized learning models on the specifications of the students
through adaptive learning models by making largely use of predictive analytics software tools and
service-based technologies. Although some interesting real-case example of implementation of
such technologies, substantial use of them are foreseen to happen in the very near future. It will
not come by itself but rather will require the institution to deeply analyze technology trends and
lean from other applications around their effective use before making any significant investment
on it. In other hand, the institution will have to define a clear vision and strategy around designing
and implementing sustainable and innovative alternative – distance learning – models, ensuring
proper investment in the enabling technologies will be required for the specific case. This may
also mean starting experimenting with adaptive learning now to gain experience with the
strategies and processes, and to determine where it is applicable. Establishing strategic alliances
among institutions - where it will make sense – will help them to leverage the experience and
contributions of each partner with minimal competitive risk – just like the GUIDE association
promoted by the Marconi University does effectively - and make experiments to understand the
feasibility, sustainability and effectiveness of such technologies when applied to innovative
learning models (Rubio Carbò, Serrat Antolì, 2011).
As the depicted future scenario as well as the real-cases examples described in the paper
demonstrate, considering the mentioned technologies as essential ingredients of a sounding
strategy for the future of the education will not be an option. There will be no scalability and no
personal learning at reasonable cost without them.
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