University of Twente Student Theses
First steps towards identifying the ''business model of the future'' for Higher Educational Institutions : rethinking university teaching : a paradigm shift?
Oude Luttikhuis, Malou (2016) First steps towards identifying the ''business model of the future'' for Higher Educational Institutions : rethinking university teaching : a paradigm shift?
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| Abstract: | In today's technology-driven economy, our personal, social, cultural and professional lives are affected by a computer networking revolution. A new age has started in which knowledge creation is impacted by networking technologies. This has an enormous effect on the role of HEIs and their current traditional transmission model of teaching. The time has come that educational institutions must embrace these emerging technologies, which on its turn will affect the current teaching methodology. In the literature we find evidence that the online learning concept brings along pro's (flexibility in time and place, greater accessibility, increased student participation) and con's (lack of instruction, decreased learning effectiveness) and will also significantly change the current operating field of HEIs. We also found additional support that online learning allows participants to easily get access to information online, enables them to conduct lessons from their situated locations and to combine education with work and personal life. Biggest barriers to online learning are faculty resistance, lack of training in teaching and failures towards developing appropriate methods for costing online learning. The availability of technology, cost perspective and maintenance determines to which degree synchronous or asynchronous activities are carried out in the learning process. Implementation of blended learning (online learning) seems to be the best of both worlds. These changes will affect the HEIs ecosystem and business model. Main aim of this paper was to investigate how the business model of the 'University of the Future'' would look like. By analyzing the value network of the current ecosystem, we established roles and activities which show us a blueprint for exploiting educational services. To gain a good overview of which changes are likely to occur in the landscape, we conducted 15 interviews with actors of the value network and asked them several related questions to the research subject. Approximately 81,8% of the respondents are not completely satisfied with the current educational system in which class-room based teaching is still the dominant teaching approach. They prefer a more flexible approach by which they can enter their course of preference at any time. Statements of our participants correspond with the pro's which we addressed in our theoretical framework. A large amount of our participants are ready to make the change (72.2%) and the overall preference goes out to a learning style which replaces the focus to instructor-led trainings sessions, conferences and debates during class while also retrieving the general information via an online platform. These findings show comparisons with a flipped classroom setting, in which traditional lectures will be completed outside the classroom walls (onine) and the classroom itselfs is transforming into a more dynamic environment in which the instructor fulfills the position of ''coach''; providing immediate feedback, raise discussions and discussing practical applications. The ''new'' business model affects 7 building blocks of the Canvas in particularly based on our results, which indicates that the University of Twente must re-think their current educational strategy. Biggest barrier - which we also analyzed during our study- are the costs involved with implementing an e-Learning strategy. The business model we developed for the ''University of the Future'' has a mediating effect between the technology of online learning and end users. It shows the ''University of the Future'' how they can capture and deliver value to their students. Our model shows the overall architecture of what the University of Twente might be doing in the future and with whom they can build relationships with. Future research must be performed in order to assess whether the costs weighs up against the benefits it brings along. Based on our study we can conclude that the actors within the value network are ready to ''make the change''. Also the fact that our research shows that the concept of online learning is high on the agenda of our national government, must give the University of the Future enough reason to believe that online learning technologies will take over in a few years from now. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 81 education, teaching, 85 business administration, organizational science |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71125 |
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