21st Century higher education management: Networked educational management

Philip Uys
Charles Sturt University

Various questions arise when considering the interplay between digitally enhanced learning and conventional forms of learning, and the effects of this interaction on educational leadership and management. Is it practicable for conventional higher education to embrace digitally enhanced learning fully within its current management practices, or are new forms of educational management required? The writer’s PhD (2000) focussed on the implementation and management of digitally enhanced learning and in particular networked learning in higher education, during which he developed the networked educational management framework. This model addresses the distributed nature and human issues present in a digitally enhanced learning environment. This paper therefore presents a key aspect of the doctorate research of Uys (2000) since 1995 grounded in literature on educational management. It further uses a comparative analysis of three case studies over nine years that reaches beyond the doctorate research. These case studies are the eLearning implementation on the Wellington campus of Massey University, New Zealand from September 1995 to December 2000, a five-month consultancy in 2000 at the Cape Technikon, South Africa to lead the enterprise-wide wide implementation of eLearning, and four years of implementing eLearning at the University of Botswana up to January 2005.

Keywords: higher education, management, networked educational management, organisational change