Education is changing fast, often classed as undergoing ‘digital transformation’. This is not an easy process, not least because it means very different things to different people and organisations. Aims, values, and technologies of digital transformation in education are not always shared among education stakeholders. If digital transformation is to be successful, it needs to be supported with sound policies and supported strategies.
This course explores the intricate relationship between government policies, organisational strategies, and digital education practices. It equips educators and policymakers with the skills to navigate the complexities of digital transformation in education. The course focuses on the development and implementation of digital education and learning policies and strategies in post-compulsory education and training, critically examining key influences at both national and organizational levels.
Students will explore various approaches to conceptualising and analysing digital education policies at local, national, and supranational levels. A significant portion of the course is dedicated to examining the digital transformation of education, with a particular emphasis on its implications for pedagogies, people, and practices within educational organisations. Participants will also engage with theories, models and frameworks related to policy, strategy-making, and digital transformation, applying these concepts to their own organizational contexts. Through case studies, students will have the opportunity to investigate practical instances of digital education and learning transformations.
Keywords: digital transformation, digital strategy, policy, power relations, management.
The course consists of two key themes: the study of digital education policies; and the analysis of transformative digital education strategies in organisations. In studying education policies, students will have the opportunity to examine a public policy of your choice to surface the hidden and not so hidden assumptions about digital education contained in these policies. This section of the course looks to surface and challenge the techno-instrumentalism, techno-determinism and techno-optimism that dominates policy discourses by looking to theory-informed AND empirical research and polices that provide counterpoint to such perspectives.
The remainder of the course grapples with how education institutions and organisations can develop and execute strategic approaches to digital education. This section of the course focuses on approaches to the digital transformation of teaching and learning and from an organisational
perspective. Digital transformation is understood as a process of organisational learning that involves understanding the entanglements of technology choices and pedagogical practices and building the capabilities and capacities of both staff and students in engaging with digital teaching and learning. In the course, you will have the opportunity to explore the technological infrastructures required for digital transformation and analyse emerging trends in educational technologies that are relevant to your local context. Students will also explore how to identify the key strategic issues for your organisation in seeking a digital transformation and examine leadership and management requirements to successfully address such issues
“I view this course as critical for digital education practitioners and leaders at all levels of an organisation. The course is designed around structured activities to support students to translate the theory, frameworks and models from the course to their specific working context. Only this way can students grasp the complexities and struggles of crafting, implementing, and updating policies and strategies in the fluid context of digital education.”
- Pete Evans, Course Organiser
Course teaching approaches include directed readings, pre-recorded audio mini-lectures and structured activities to critically explore key concepts, theories and frameworks in policy and organisational analysis. Many of these activities will involve you in using theory to analyse public policies of your choice and the digital education strategies of your organisation. The structured activities of the course act as formative feedback opportunities that feed directly into the two course assessments.
These structured activities are complemented by live video sessions as opportunities to further discuss and make sense of the concepts & literature to help you think through your own developing policy and strategy analysis. Sessions are held at different times to allow attendance from different time zones, and all are recorded if you cannot attend
You will engage with the world of practice and concrete material. There are two assignments in this course.
Policy analysis (30%):
You will choose an education policy of interest, which may be from your professional context, your learning environment, or other area of interest related to education. You will use tools and skills from the course to thoroughly engage with the chosen policy and conduct a thematic critical analysis. This will be 1,200 words.
Case analysis (70%):
You will choose a digital transformation strategy for education relevant to your organisation or an organisation with which you are familiar. You will apply frameworks, knowledge and tools from the course to conduct a case analysis.
This analysis will be based on a synthesis of the exercises conducted throughout the course. The analysis may be presented through a medium of your choice, such as a recorded presentation, film, blog, or other multimodal artefact or a traditional assignment. The assignment is equivalent to 2,800 words.
These assessments are intended to evaluate your understanding of digital education policy and strategy. It is an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you can transform theoretical knowledge into a practical and coherent analysis that accounts for local context and needs.
On completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Critically analyse local, sectoral, national and supra-national policy contexts relevant to your own institutional setting and role.
- Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of a range of alternative models for the development and implementation of digital education.
- Critically assess and evaluate the impact of the multiple factors affecting the successful implementation of digital education.
- Identify and apply the knowledge and theoretical frameworks needed in order to formulate an effective digital education strategy for your own organisation.
Key readings:
Bayne, S. & Gallagher, M. (2021), Near Future Teaching: practice, policy and digital education futures. Policy Futures in Education, 19(5), 607-625.
Fan, G. (2020) Handbook of Education Policy Studies : Values, Governance, Globalization, and Methodology, Volume 1. 1st ed. 2020. Guorui. Fan & Thomas S. Popkewitz (eds.). Singapore: Springer Nature.
OECD. (2019). Trends shaping education 2019. Paris: OECD Publishing. 25, https://doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2019-en
Something to watch:
Bristol Research: the Digital Fireside Talks #5: The Digital Transformation of Higher Education. https://youtu.be/U5mP1UAk8bE?si=A9caUyAObsYiLPAt
World Bank. Digital Pathways for Education: Enabling Greater Impact for All, seminar 29 January 2025. https://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2025/01/29/digital-pathways-for-education-enabling-greater-impact-for-all
Something to listen to:
Beyond the Technology: The education 4.0 podcast https://jiscpodcast.libsyn.com/webpage which is focused on tertiary education in the UK.