Disrupting and Democratising Higher Education Provision or Entrenching Academic Elitism: Towards a Model of MOOCs Adoption at African Universities

Autor/inn/en	Rambe, Patient; Moeti, Mamello
Titel	Disrupting and Democratising Higher Education Provision or Entrenching Academic Elitism: Towards a Model of MOOCs Adoption at African Universities
Quelle	In: Educational Technology Research and Development, 65 (2017) 3, S.631-651 (21 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1042-1629
DOI	10.1007/s11423-016-9500-3
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Universities; Online Courses; Models; Adoption (Ideas); Higher Education; Delivery Systems; Educational Change; Developing Nations; Educational Innovation; Reputation; Equal Education; Literature Reviews; Rhetoric; Discourse Analysis; Marketing; Inclusion; Democracy; Educational Practices; Access to Education; Selective Admission; Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; University; Universität; Online course; Online-Kurs; Analogiemodell; Ideas; Ideenfindung; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Auslieferung; Bildungsreform; Developing country; Developing countries; Entwicklungsland; Instructional innovation; Bildungsinnovation; Rhetorik; Diskursanalyse; Inklusion; Demokratie; Bildungspraxis; Education; Access; Bildung; Zugang; Bildungszugang; Bildungsselektion; Afrika
Abstract	Challenges of broadening access, escalating cost, maintaining desirable quality and enhancing meaningful learning experiences in African higher education (HE) have spurred debates on how to restructure higher education delivery to meet the diverse needs of heterogeneous learners and adapt pedagogical models to the educational realities of low-income African countries. In view of these complexities, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been advanced by Western Consortia, universities and online platform providers as panaceas for disrupting/transforming existing education models African universities. MOOCs have been touted as disruptive innovations with the potential to create new niche markets for HE courses, disrupt traditional models of instruction and content delivery and create new revenue streams for higher education. Yet academic elitism which manifests in the exclusive selection of top American universities to develop, host and deliver MOOCs, MOOC providers' use of university brand and reputation as benchmarks for charging recruitment fees on headhunters recruiting MOOC graduates and their complex business models involving the sale of students' big data (e.g. learning analytics) for profit seem to be inconsistent with claims about philanthropic and egalitarian drive of MOOCs. Drawing on disruptive innovation theory and a review of mainstream literature on MOOCs adoption in American and African tertiary sectors, this study argues that behind the MOOC rhetoric of disrupting and democratizing higher education lies the projection of top academic brands on the marketing pedestal, financial piggybacking on the hype and politics of academic exclusion. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01