Reflection on Technology in Higher Education

   A Tale of Two Cultures: Technological Advances in U.S.  Higher Education

By Elizabeth Joy Cox   

         As an information-privileged society, we stand at a crossroads where technological innovations are radically shifting the paradigm of higher education delivery. Higher education administrators are tasked with leading the move into an exciting new pedagogical architecture. In decades past, institutional change has flowed slowly as the bureaucratic river wound languidly toward the future. Siloed information and duplication of effort in university management have been considered an acceptable norm for generations. University administrators have been routinely focused on day-to-day problems that arise in the context of campus operations. Technology leadership has been placed in an adjunct position (Shark, 2015).

          Once upon a time, the primary function of technology was to automate previously manual tasks such as accounting, payroll, admissions, and data storage. Now, IT is the circulatory system of campus information flow. Bandwith is the carotid. Every part of the university system must now be connected to the whole.

          Traditionally, senior faculty members were the most likely candidates to move into administrative positions at universities – that was the established frame of the hierarchical ladder. This worked well in the not-for-profit model of classic higher education operations. Enter: for-profit schools utilizing every technological tool available to brand their organizations as cutting-edge tech-savvy learning destinations. Managing college operations via the for-profit model involves evaluating and reducing costs through application of a quantitative praxis (Shark, 2015).

           Added to the ensuing complexities and financial pressures borne by universities, current higher education laws and regulations encompass a new world view. In the legacy context of brick-and-mortar campus life, the in loco parentis model guided court decisions relevant to higher education. Now, risk management has taken on a life of its own. Universities strive to decrease overhead costs by hiring assistant instructors and lecturers, even as state financial support has declined and student debt has risen dramatically. Tuition fees rise to counter the economic adjustment (Shark, 2015).

          Today’s university leadership is compartmentalized to accommodate both the culture of business and the culture of academics (Shark, 2015) – two completely different ideological approaches attempting to effect cultural pluralism. Who will captain the ship? What will happen when Amazon enters the higher education delivery market? How swiftly will the remodeled/patched framework that has evolved into university technology management be swept away by competitive higher education entities riding the technology wave? Advances in technology have rendered many professions nearly obsolete in the last two decades. Will college instructors evolve to become free-lance workers focused on their personal branding and developing skills to deliver engaging video that entertains students?

                                                          References

Shark, A. R. (2015). The digital revolution in higher education : How and why the internet of everything is changing everything. Alexandria, VA: Public Technology Institute.