Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Digitalised higher education: key developments, questions, and concerns

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The intent of this article "is to take a step back and reflect on how HE as a sector is digitalising." It describes something called 'assetisation' as "an emergent mode of governance linked to the digitalisation of HE." Assetisation isn't as clearly defined as I would like, but in general refers to governance that results from the accumulation of assets, for example, the set of licenses, patents and copyrights held by external agents that exert control (aka 'governance') over the institution. This creates "a problematic perspective in which financial value and metrics (e.g. return on investment) may take precedence over other evaluation metrics and measures (e.g. educational or pedagogical relevance)." I see the point, but don't see this as a consequence of digital technologies per se, but rather, of the contracts institutions sign, which are variations of the more broadly conceived 'public-private partnerships', a staple of many governments granting private entities control over public assets (and therefore, governance), often at the expense of the public being served. Via Thomas Ekman Jorgensen. See also, First Monday, Governance by Infrastructure, Part 1, Part 2.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Oct 12, 2024 01:32 a.m.

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