Keynote address to ANZSSA Annual Conference 2015, Hobart, Australia, 7 December.

1. The democratisation of education:
Will technology live up to the promise?
© flickr.com/photos/irex/7421138946
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Hobart, Tasmania, 7 Dec 15

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3. The next 40 mins or so …
①The promise of technology
①The economics of higher education
①The emerging mobile economy and new digital
ecosystem
①The new world of international higher education
①The impact on student services

4. ① The promise of technology

5. A 19th century vision of the year 2000

7. Norwich City Council takes delivery of its first
computer (circa 1957)

8. The History of the Future of Education
– Audrey Watters, hackeducation.com (Feb 2015)
‘The Push-Button School of Tomorrow’ (from 1958)

9. Popular Science
(1961)

10. Early visions from Silicon Valley of the personal
computer in the classroom (1982)

11. Isn’t there an app for that?

14. Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs

15. Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs

16. Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs

18. In the United States:

19. So technology has had a transformative effect in higher education, right?

20. Or is it old
wine in new
bottles?

21. Tweaking the
old paradigm?

22. Are learners more engaged?

25. 25

27. ① In summary
• Predictions about future technologies have tended to focus
on the machine, rather than the human
• Huge advances in ICTs have yet to fully impact upon the
education sector
• Technology is a means not an end in itself. The conversation
needs to be about how technology can enhance pedagogy
• A parallel conversation needs to focus on how technology
can expand access to high quality, affordable education.

28. ② The economics of higher
education

30. 10-04-14
UK student debt

31. Pressure on higher education funding in Australia
Source: Doubtful debt: the rising cost of student loans, Grattan Institute, April 2014

34. Online Education in the Asian Century: The Australian Opportunity
Speech to the Online Education Forum Brisbane, 17 October 2012
Rt Hon
Andrew
Robb,
Minister for
Trade and
Investment
• Has argued Australia should have 10 million
international students in 10 years (from
<700,000)
• “The one-size-fits-all approach has held our
tertiary education sector back. The
emerging online technology and innovation
facilitates a progression to policies that
focus on competency and mastery, allowing
students to accelerate or consolidate,
making the most of their time.”
• “The future for Australia's university and
vocational education sector is rich with
opportunity, if only we have the courage
and freedom to grasp it.”

35. "The higher education sector
in India faces numerous
challenges today.
On the one hand, there is need
for increasing access and
making education affordable.
On the other, there is need to
ensure quality and pursue
excellence.”
Pranab Mukherjee
President of India
2 December 2015

36. ② In summary
• Reduced public funding, rising private debt
• Consumers more discerning based on ROI
• Downward pressure on price
• Tipping point looming for some institutions
• ‘Retrofit’ and search for new market
opportunities are critical

37. ③ The emerging mobile economy
and new digital ecosystem

38. The global story
Source: Global Mobile Economy Report 2015

39. Source: Global Mobile Economy Report 2015

41. Low cost ‘phablets’

44. • 2nd highest ownership globally
• Fastest growing in Asia-Pac
• Most addicted users globally

45. ③ In summary
• Developing countries like India can ‘leap-frog’ stages of
economic development
• 4G mobile networks and phablets negate the need for
expensive IT infrastructure
• The mobile economy is expanding rapidly
• The education sector can take advantage of this
• Requires new pedagogical and business models.

46. ④ The new world of international
higher education

47. Mainstream
the

48. Staton, M. (2012)
Unbundling education:
An updated framework.
Edumorphology.com
• On campus
delivery provides
more value the
lighter the colour
blue
• Universities can
continue to
provide all 12
services but
some rethinking
of the business
model is required

49. Whither the branch campus?

51. www.busybeesasia.com
Case study: Preschool teacher
education in India

52. Bachelor’s degree in Early Years Education
International Certificate in Education for Pre-school
Professionals
AA British
university

53. Uttar Pradesh
Bihar
Maharastra
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Andhra Pradesh
Tamil Nadu
Rajasthan
Karnataka
Gujarat
Orissa
Kerala
Assam
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Iran
Vietnam
Philippines
Ethiopia
Zaire
Thailand
Myanmar
Tanzania
Sudan
Canada
Iraq
Child population in
millions
Population: 1.21 billion Children 0-6 yrs:158.8 million (13.1%)
0-18 yrs: 380 million (37%)
Child populations in Indian states cf. nation states
Source: Census, 2011
20 20 40 604060 0

54. Source: flickr.com/photos/photojon/483113931
There are 300,000 standalone private pre-schools in
India employing around 1,500,000 teachers and
enrolling 15,000,000 students
There are 16,000,000 anganwadis; state-run pre-
schools, primarily child care centres, attending to basic
nutrition and healthcare that employ 32,000,000
The demographic
dividend

55. Fully digitised curriculum: some physical learning
centres, but predominantly online delivery
Learner centric: student as consumer
and producer of knowledge
Assessment of learning grounded in reality:
outcome driven learning; learning that lasts
The pedagogical model
Low cost  affordable price point  scalable

57. ④ In summary
• Disruption of traditional higher education models put a
different spin on international student recruitment
• The ‘unbundling’ of higher education may lead to the
blurring of the distinction between domestic and
international students  ESOS regulations?
• Blended delivery offshore/ onshore  maybe more
attractive for prospective students
• Incentives for innovative collaborations with overseas
institutions; e.g. Pakistan

58. ⑤ The impact on student services

59. Can universities be positive
deviants for change?

63. www.stanford2025.com

64. For example:

67. ⑤ In summary
• Embracing disruptive innovation in the higher education
sector will invariably mean radical change
• The student demographic would be fundamentally different
if access were broadened significantly
• Communication would be far more challenging: particularly
comprehension of cross-cultural and socioeconomic factors
• Job satisfaction likely far higher – servicing people
previously poorly served, or not served at all.

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