Silos or system? The impact of converging technologies on public post-secondary education in British Columbia, 1995-2000
Date
2018-11-26
Authors
Martin, Robert Russell
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This dissertation is an account of a multi-site, qualitative case study. The research was undertaken to examine change in British Columbia's public postsecondary education system, brought on by converging technologies in the latter half of the 1990s.
Three educational institutions, a government ministry and a government funded central agency were studied. Thirty-four subjects were interviewed, and transcripts of their interviews analyzed with the QSR-NUD *IST software program for key thematic content. Ten subjects requested anonymity in the dissertation, and twenty-four agreed to have their identities revealed. All subjects were assigned numbers, which are used referentially in quotes throughout the dissertation to assist with thematic development within and across organizations.
In Section I the rationale for the study is provided, along with an overview of key issues, and the methods used. An overview of five public policy initiatives which included technology-focused change agendas is provided. Overarching variables included the impacts of a spiraling national debt; economic transition from a resource/industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy; and the convergence of technological advances in telecommunications, networked computer workstations, and multimedia. Sub-themes which are interwoven across the policy initiatives and the case sites include diffusion of innovation, the impact of leadership, and organizational issues arising from planned change in adopting technology-enabled learning models.
In Section II, an overview of the five case sites is provided, along with an individual analysis of each site. For each organization, the impacts of the five policy initiatives are reviewed. Themes are constructed from cross-referenced data sources and relevant artifacts using triangulation, based on multiple instances within and across subjects' interview transcripts and interpretive association of meaning. The Change Order Model is used to explore a particular theme in detail. The three overarching case study variables of diffusion of innovation, leadership, and planned change adoption are then examined in the context of cultural transformation for each site.
In Section III, the final two chapters of the dissertation provide a systemic, meta-level analysis of data across case sites, and consider the implications of this analysis. Lessons learned from the study are posited, and a series of associated “options for change” offered which reflect upon potential future directions for post-secondary education in British Columbia, based on the study's findings. This section of the dissertation also further clarifies the contribution the study makes to academic literature and public policy development in the areas of planned change, leadership, and the innovative applications of technologies.
A comprehensive bibliography developed during an in-depth review of the literature, a list of subjects interviewed, and the questionnaire used to carry out the study complete the document.
Description
Keywords
Education, Higher, British Columbia, Case studies, Effect of tecnological innovations on