James O’Meara’s Blog

Universities are collective of individual learners all working towards generating a new theory or concept that will help other in their field better understand a problem or challenge within their discipline.  While generating new learning at an individual level may influence the observations or actions of colleagues within that field how does such knowledge help shape the world views or routines of colleagues who work at your university. There is a need for a culture shift among academics that involves the introduction of an expectation that academics spend some time generalising their learnings for the benefit of their university’s community. Moving beyond the collection of publication through ERA to include collections of how an academic has contributed to knowledge generalisation at his or her university may help transform an academic from someone who works at a university to someone who works for a university  

In a recent survey of  American Provosts ( a.k.a. DVC’s) leading and fostering innovation ranked third in the most important aspects of their job. As leaders rush to introduce and implement change how often to revert to what we know rather than take time to explore what could be ? Is it time time for leaders to slow down to the speed of life so they have the time to see the light?

Earlier this year Inside Higher Ed published an story about a book advising academics about how to use Facebook and other social networking tools with students . Does such a book exist for social networking with academics. Given the push for internationalisation, the time is right to explore how academic can network and collaborate socially in a sustainable way. Considering this important point before we focus on the output (publication or grant)  could be a good place to start.

Professor Andrew Oswald suggests that it is possible for less-celebrated departments to be involved in world-class research. As funding for HE institutions decreases, the thought of attracting external funds for conducting world class research is attractive. However, it appears to me that this type of research often requires collaborative rather than individual projects. Is there a way to efficiently identify suitable collaborative partners apart from viewing research track records? What strategies do we employ to prompt the changes necessary for facilitating the collaboration? What can we do to enhance the sustainability of such collaborations so they continue beyond the life of a single project ? These are the things that occupied my mind today. Working on the answers begins tomorrow.

This week an international seminar hosted by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation discussed challenges in regulating diverse higher education systems through the introduction of new definitions of academic standards  transparency, compatibility and comparability. Included in the wish list was a call for sustainability. If we accept that sustainability can be defined as continuation a system over a period of time, and, that these systems will be governed by the principles of  standards transparency, compatibility and comparability, then who will decide on the attributes of this system. Rather than discussing internationalisation, a process that may allow some to dominate while others are silenced, should we be talking of Global perspectives on Higher Education, where multiple views are valued over a standard view? 

Blackboard 9 was launched this week amidst claims of providing a CMS that provides complementary technologies they for supporting individual approaches to teaching and learning. If part of our approaches include lifelong learning , should learners be able to access their learning and the learnings of the current students once they have left UB. If the answer is yes,  then maybe the solution is to allow students the opportunity to store their learnings outside the University in a place that is accessible to staff and potential employers.  If security is an issue and we wish social learning at UB to extend across and outside the campus environment then maybe it is time to build up relationships with IT companies that have a strong relationship with UB and have the capacity to provide learning and knowledge management spaces for our digital alumni ( who may wish to continue contributing to the learning ) and present students so the collective understandings of these groups can add to the quality of the experiences of  members in the UB learning communities.

Where would some go if they want to find out the efforts and outcomes of previous reform or transition efforts completed at UB? Currently as we begin plans to review the evaluation of teaching practices and units, I am finding it hard to easily locate what has been tried before and what were the outcomes of these trials. Today I read that in the US several  prestigious law schools have moved away from traditional letter grades, citing a sense that grades were squelching intellectual curiosity. This is an interesting idea that may or maynot have been tried at UB . This approach appeared even more relevant to our setting after I read about students at Fairhaven University (typically older, non-traditional students) who were both attracted by the university’s commitment to meeting the needs of these types of learners and valued the alternative approach to grading used by this institution. While I have been working at the University since 2001 across two different Schools, I am unaware if such an approach has been used. Some would say that the use of Learning histories could assist with addressing this issue. This is a research and reflection tool developed at the Centre for Organizational Learning at MIT, to help organizations learn from their own learning and change efforts. Who knows someone maybe already using this approach  but at this time I really cannot be sure.  

How will the economic crisis impact on Universities? While a New York-based Trends Research Institute suggests the economy will lead to the  collapsing US university system in 2009,   the Australian newspaper reports that that the slowing economy has boosted demand for degrees and diplomas and there may be issues meeting student demand. As questions are raised in  the US about the value of education, benefits for TAFE and Higher Education qualifications are being reported in Australian newspapers.   The advice being given to US institutions is to offer the right types of degrees and distance learning options. Is it time for UB to revisit Program offerings and develop a coordinated  approach to alternative learning options, or can we assume that this strategy only applies to the US?

What is the purpose of this blog?

My blog seeks to create an open community of members interested in contributing to the development of Higher Education at UB or any other Higher Education Institution around the globe.

Jan 19, 2009

A new year and a new format. My aim is to post three comments per week. As with any tool , its’ usefuleness is only as good as the person who is using it. Over the next week I will be transforming the site by introducing a series of feeds to provide people with the oppourtunity to track Higher Education Issues around the globe at one site. If you have any suggestions about sites please leave them as a comment below.