It is a gross misrepresentation to state that higher education has not adopted new information and communication technologies as a means to improve a great many aspects of teaching, learning, research, administration, service delivery to internal and external stakeholders and in many ways to better fulfil their current role in society. The change is not uniform and we can all point to those places where such change has been resisted or those places where the changes have been remarkable, however, neither of these factors are the source or reason for the pending disruption to higher education that is often mooted.
While technological innovation is frequently a component of disruptive innovation, new technologies are not of themselves the source of disruption to a business nor are they a requirement. Businesses are disrupted because of changes to business models not due to improvements in the way business is currently done (sustaining innovation). Similarly, the business and revenue models of higher education will not be challenged by improvements in teaching and learning but by new business models from new entrants into a business domain from which they have previously been excluded.
The role of various Open Education models is significant in relation to the potential changes that are likely to occur in the transition to new models for higher education and the role of alternative credentials.
This presentation will discuss the current evidence that points to disruption, the nature of the new competitive models, and the role of Open Education.