Putting graduate education at the heart of an ecosystem

Eoin Costello BBS MSc student at University of Ulster

TRENDS - Considerable innovation and potential disruption to education business models driven by open source technologies, mobile and smart devices, e-books,

CLOUD and Software as a Service, along with the new style and demand of learners living almost all of their lives on-line in an environment of rapidly rising course

fees and increasing time pressures.

Strategic inflection point (Grove 1996) is being reached in tertiary education and that the limits to

an entrepreneurial response imposed by “the traditional nature of university structures” (Brennan and McGowan) will have to be dismantled rapidly to

deal with change.

Models for Tertiary Education’s Future

• The boundaryless institution Walton and Galea’s observation of the “growing awareness that universities

cannot continue to isolate themselves from the community in which they are embedded.” Indeed the shift from the ‘traditional’ university to the ‘porous’ university is key to financier Dermot Desmond’s recent Odyssey University

proposal.• Collaborative open source education, Liburd and Hjalager

refer to the declining role of universities as knowledge monopolies and their emerging role as open knowledge

mediators.

The logic of open innovation is relevant to tertiary education institutions, a need to open up teaching and research processes, and search widely outside

their boundaries and work towards managing a rich set of network connections and relationships

across the board (Tidd and Bessant (2009)).

Ecosystem model - a new operating theory of the world based on connectedness between,

across, above, below and through pre-existing political, social, economic, thematic, geographic and security

boundaries.

What are the components of a post graduate educational eco-system

The current students: Motivation and involvement depend on the degree to which our voice is heard by the academic staff in creating a truly student-centred

and learning-oriented experience (as opposed to teacher-centred and content-oriented (Race 2001))

The tutors/academic staff: In order to enhance student’s motivation to learn the academic system should reward tutors for outreach/network enhancement programmes that engage the highly experienced post-grad students in the local community.

The alumni: An active alumni that is promoted and intertwined with the MSc would add to the motivation

through our exposure to role models. The lack of a network detracts somewhat from the ability to fully exploit our MScs therefore I established an Alumni

group for our class in LinkedIn in March.

The coursework assignments: An emphasis on ‘learning by doing’ and helping students achieve their

career goals/employability through involvement in the business community (without compromising on

academic content) is the objective here.

The external speakers: Tie-ups with external events (such as the Business School Business

Excellence talks) are excellent due to exposure to role models and practical opportunities to ask

them about opportunities developed in the class.

The business community: Another motivation for learners is the degree of usefulness their activity possesses, the degree to which they can connect

with the local business community. Generating closer ties with the business community through KTPs, case

studies, course work is key.

Enterprise Support Agencies and Incubation Centres/Innovation Offices: Generating vibrant ties

between these organisations and the students provides feedback for these organisations, greater

participation in entrepreneurship and the development of networks.

ConclusionRather than transmitting knowledge the future role for educators will be one of

guiders of learning resources and facilitators of learning experiences.

ReferencesGrove Only the Paranoid Survive (1996)

Brennan and McGowan Academic entrepreneurship: an exploratory case study (2006)

Walton and Galea Some considerations for applying business sustainability practices to campus

environmental challenges (2005) Liburd and Hjalager Changing Approaches Towards Open Education, Innovation and Research in Tourism (2010),

Tidd and Bessant Managing Innovation: Integrating Technological, Market and Organizational Change

(2009)Race The lecturer's toolkit : a practical guide to learning,

teaching & assessment (2001)

www.eoincostello.ieeoincostello@gmail.com

Currently a MSc student at University of Ulster – Business Development & Innovation