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Is Higher Education value for money?

By on May 16, 2013 in Academic Libraries, Public Policy, Research, Society, Trends and Statistics

The UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and the consumer organisation Which? has published the 2013 survey of the student academic experience at English universities.

The first survey, in 2006, coincided with the introduction of HE fees and the surveys aim to discover whether students are getting a ‘better’ academic experience in the light of increased fees.  The report concludes that there is “no apparent relationship between the fees students are being charged and what they receive”.

Background

  • Although students are paying more, universities themselves are not receiving additional money – student fees are simply filling the gap left by reduced centralised government funding.
  • Student fees trebled in 2012.  The average fee charged is now £8500+
  • Contact with academic staff has hardly increased, despite higher fees
  • Diverse student experience in terms of teaching format and contact hours and the perceived gap in helpful upfront information to help students choose the appropriate course

Key findings – choosing the right university

  • 32% of students might have chosen a different course if they had known what they know now
  • 21% of students thought information provided by their institutions was ‘vague’; 9% thought it was ‘misleading’
  • 29% of first year students think their course is ‘poor value for money’

Student workload

  • The average weekly workload is 30 hours per week
  • Women and mature students study more than men
  • 14% of the 10,000 students who said their course was worse than they expected said the course had not been challenging enough

Contact time

  • No significant change in the amount of contact time or proportion of small group teaching
  • Students paying less than £8000 received same amount of contact time as those paying more
  • Other factors important to students include their satisfaction with the quality of teaching as well as they amount of face-to-face time
  • Significant differences in contact time between subject areas and institutions
  • Students recognise the importance of small group teaching and the amount they receive contributes to their satisfaction levels
  • Contact time has risen by just 20 minutes per week since 2006

The report is available for free download from the HEPI website.

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New teaching and new learning – universities in 2020

By on August 22, 2012 in Academic Libraries, Mobile Devices, Post, Public Policy

Higher education is as susceptible to technology disruption as any other information-centric business.  Communications technologies mean that knowledge transfer need no longer be tethered to a physical university campus.  Simultaneously steadily increasing fees mean that customers are questioning the value for money and quality of higher education while the current economic climate means that a college degree is no longer a guarantee of future employability.  New competitors are entering the market – and not just in the US.

The Pew Research Center has released a report on technology disruption and higher education.  The research presented two future (2020) scenarios to which selected invited experts and members of their trusted networks responded.

Scenario one presented a future in which higher education was not significantly different to today, although some new technologies such as teleconferencing, personal wireless smart devices were more widely adopted (39% broadly agreed with this scenario).

Scenario two presented a future in which higher education was transformed.  This transformed landscape includes a significant move to individualised learning activities;  hybrid classes; mass adoption of teleconferencing to leverage expert resources (60% of respondents broadly agreed with this scenario).

Several key themes are discussed in the report including the need for universities to be highly adaptive and innovative if they are to thrive. Several respondents referred to the slow rate of change in the current system.

New teaching

  • less demand for traditional lecture based courses
  • increased demand for individualised learning
  • increasingly connected student body
  • more hybrid education – a blending of online and offline
  • improved virtual environments
  • face to face for ‘the privileged few’
  • increased focus on employability
  • a move to competency based education

Technological innovation

  • web based delivery to meet growing global demands and provide value for money
  • more ‘tele-education’
  • distance learning integrated with social networking

New business models

  • structural changes to coincide with retirement of baby boomers
  • increasing corporate involvement
  • open research
  • push for value for money by consumers

New learning

  • collaborative education and peer to peer learning
  • a focus on how to learn and lifelong learning and self education
  • and, of particular interest to information professionals, an examination of how tools can enhance students critical thinking and information skills acquisition skills

The report is available, free of charge, from the Pew website.

 

UK government – agile and digital by default

By on April 25, 2012 in Digital Publishing, Public Policy, Web Technology & The Cloud

The UK has a tradition of excellence in public services.  However, this has not always translated into excellent online services.  The UK government is now pursuing a ‘digital first’ and ‘digital by default’ agenda which aims to design and deliver world class digital public services.

Mike Bracken is the Executive Director for the UK Government’s Digital Service, responsible for delivering ‘customer first’ digital services.  Speaking at the ‘Agenda Setters’ stream of seminars at this year’s Internet World event, he described how a transformed, agile approach to design and development is opening up online government services.

Gov.uk is the new single site for government services (replacing Direct.gov).  Currently in beta, the site provides simple, clear and fast answers and is designed with external users in mind.  An example of this customer focus can be seen in the contrasting treatment of the same information – in this case about public holidays in the UK.

On Direct.gov, this information is displayed in a table – the information is correct, it is simply not easy on the eye.  The new site answers the key question that most people searching for bank holiday information want answered – When is the next bank holiday?  It is a simple, yet revolutionary approach to delivering truly customer first information.

Key elements and principles of UK.gov

  • Digital first and digital by design
  • Users first!  The users ‘trump’ the government department(s) in all decisions
  • Digital services NOT websites
  • Less information – much of the ‘marginal’ information currently available on Direct.gov will not be transferred onto Gov.UK
  • Quick tasks and answers – for example, by answering four simple questions you can discover your maternity entitlements
  • Understand the user journey – 90% of users will come into the site via search engines, not via expensive ‘home pages’
  • Devices and mobile  - the content is designed for mobile delivery
  • Agile development – small teams are involved in iterative development.  These are not massive, long term IT projects  This approach means you can ‘fail in increments’ and do something about it
  • Learn from experience
  • Build a trusted network of partners – a contrast with previously strained relationships with large external providers.  Work with world class digital businesses

Today, the government has announced a new advisory board to help drive the next stage of Digital by Default.  Leading figures from academia, industry and retail will help the government deliver its digital transformation agenda.

 

Building Europe’s digital economy

By on November 8, 2010 in Public Policy

The European Commission’s Digital Agenda is one strand of its Europe 2020 Strategy.

Over the last 15 years, over half of Europe’s productivity growth has been ICT driven.  But if Europe is to fully exploit the benefits of the digital economy, it must address the seven key priority areas identified in the Commission’s Digital Agenda.

A new Single Market to deliver the benefits of the digital era

  • Simplification of copyright clearance, copyright management and cross border licensing. 
  • Better access to pan European telecoms and digital services and content.

 Improve ICT standard-setting and interoperability

  • Interoperability will encourage creation and innovation

Enhance trust and security

  • Coordinated approaches to both data security breaches and data projection legislation

Increase Europeans’ access to fast and ultra fast internet

  • Very fast internet is essential for the economic growth.  The Commission will explore how to attract investment in broadband

Boost cutting-edge research and innovation in ICT

  • Increased investment in ICT R&D to ensure our best ideas reach the market.

Empower all Europeans with digital skills and accessible online services

  • Everyone should be able to participate in the digital life

Unleash the potential of ICT to benefit society

  • Online access to medial records
  • Energy saving 
  • Support af aging populations

Making the digital agenda a reality is a key priority.  The documents and background information to the Digital Agenda can be found on the Commission’s website.

An information revolution

By on October 27, 2010 in Public Policy

If patients and others are to make informed decisions, they need access to appropriate and accurate information.  As part of the ‘putting patients first’ agenda, the UK’s coalition government has published a consultation document which emphasises the importance of information in delivering the health and social care agenda.   The ‘Information Revolution’ paper covers the way in which information is collected, analysed and shared.  Responses are invited until early 2011.

Challenges for Academic Libraries in Difficult Economic Times

By on April 29, 2010 in Academic Libraries, Information and Publishing Industry, Public Policy

A recently released guide from the Research Information Network reveals how academic librarians are experiencing and responding to financial cuts in the current economic climate. 

Using data which was gathered in the UK and internationally, and which was then explored further during late 2009 with focus groups of senior librarians, the guide examines the financial position of libraries, their strategies for dealing with challenging economic circumstances, and the value of libraries.

The report reveals that, after a decade of growth in budgets and services, academic librarians now expect a sustained period of cuts over the next three to five years. Directors from across the sector reported that they were being asked to model cumulative cuts of between 5% and 10% a year.

The scale of these cuts means that librarians are having to reconsider the kinds and levels of service they can provide in support of their universities’ missions.  The study reports that librarians across the sector are looking very closely at the costs of the ‘big deals’ and how they might be reduced. As a consequence, there is increased interested in national site licences covering the whole of the HE sector.

Other reductions being considered include opening hours, subject support for academic staff and students, and information skills training.

The report acknowledges that, in the very long term, it is possible that open access may help to reduce the pressure on library budgets. However, for the next three to five years at least, open access initiatives will continue to represent additional burdens on libraries, while the costs of running repositories, or paying publication fees, are not being offset by any significant reductions in subscription costs for scholarly journals.

The guide stresses that library directors from across the sector are keen to use the current financial difficulties as an opportunity to rethink what the library does, and to do things differently. But as yet there are few concrete proposals that will transform services or yield large-scale savings. The report concludes that sustaining world-class information services is of fundamental importance to UK universities. Libraries and their directors have a critical role to play, but they cannot do it all themselves. Leadership and partnership with champions from across the HE and information sectors will be critical to sustaining the outstanding position of UK universities.

British Library Announces UK Web Archive

By on March 23, 2010 in Digital Publishing, Information and Publishing Industry, Public Policy, Search

The British Library recently announced the launch of the UK Web Archive, which will store and make accessible every site in the .uk top-level domain. The project will deploy an impressive array of text-mining and analysis software - Avi Rappoport reveals the details in Information Today’s Newsbreaks.

British Library and BBC Team Up to Integrate Access to Archives

By on December 17, 2009 in Information and Publishing Industry, Public Policy

The British Library and the BBC are to team up on a digital project designed to integrate access to nearly one million hours of BBC TV and radio content, and more than 150 million items from the BL.

BBC Director General Mark Thomson and Lynne Brindley, head of the British Library, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will seek to develop ‘new ways of integrating access.’ They will also work together on issues such as rights management, digitisation and storage. A joint steering committee will develop a uniform approach across the two institutions.

Mark Thompson said it is “vital we partner, harnessing the power of digital technology to give the public the access they deserve.” According to Brindley, the project aims to “create a model of best practice which will allow the library to develop similar opportunities with other public institutions.” The partnership demonstrates that “we are keen to share content for the benefit of today’s researchers and the knowledge economy”, she added.

The BBC has already made similar arrangements with the British Film Institute and the National Archives.

Google’s UK MD gives evidence to MPs: “Google is not a parasite”.

By on December 4, 2009 in Digital Publishing, Public Policy, Search

Matt Brittin, Google’s UK MD, gave evidence this week to the UK government inquiry into the future of local media and denied accusations that Google is a “parasite” on traditional newspapers.  The Department of Culture, Media and Sport inquiry is examining the impact of digital convergence, new media technology and changing consumer behaviour on the UK regional newspaper industry.

Brittin described Google as a “virtual newsagent”, and noted that publishers can choose not to have their content indexed if they wish. At the same time he acknowledged that the economics of newspaper publishing are now very different from the time when the only place to advertise was the local paper.  “Online everybody needs to experiment”, he commented, praising regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press’s recent decision to test paywalls on some of its local papers.

He also spent some time explaining the new restrictions which allow publishers to limit clickthroughs from Google News to their subscriber-only content.  

Brittin maintained a careful distinction between the revenue models of Google News compared to Google web search, the nuances of which might have been lost on the MPs who were grilling him. It’s a fine line, and it’s easy to paint Google as being responsible for the current woes of the newspaper industry. As Brittin point out, though, Google delivers 100,000 clicks per minute ­­— that’s 4 billion clicks per month — to news websites worldwide. Not quite the stuff of pantomime villains.

Video of the entire session is here.