1st Edition
The New Learning Economy Thriving Beyond Higher Education
With a focus on action, this book offers inspiration and pragmatic guidelines to higher education leaders and organisations that want to meet the demands of the changing landscape of knowledge, experience, and learning.
Offering a practical toolkit and methodology, this book describes the fast-changing higher education sector as a new learning economy. It explains how this new economy evolved and three major problems that make the current higher education model unfit for purpose. Through six case studies from other contexts, the book presents key lessons for the higher education sector and six strategic principles for growth in this changing environment. The book includes a strategic planning methodology which guides the reader on how to make an assessment of their own institution and identify a strategy for how adaptation and change can realistically be achieved.
This book is a must-read for all higher education professionals looking to drive their institution towards an innovative and sustainable future.
Part A - The Emergence of a New Learning Economy 1. The Current Learning Economy 2. Educational Well-Being 3. Three Learning Disorders of the Current Learning Economy 4. Amplifiers of Learning Disorders 5. Economic Disorders of the Current Learning Economy 6. Growth in the Learning Economy 7. A Sense of Change 8. Summary Part B: Strategic Principles in the New Learning Economy 1. Scalability 2. Personalisation 3. Continuity 4. Community 5. Innovation 6. Trust 7. Six Distinct Value Propositions in the New Learning Economy Part C – Strategic Planning for the New Learning Economy 1. The Strategic Dashboard 2. Five Participants Types in the New Learning Economy 3. The Four Generic Strategies for the New Learning Economy 4. Choosing a Generic Strategy 5. Which Strategic Principles Will Be Pursued? 6. What to Stop Doing as Part of Implementation 7. How to Implement the Strategy? 8. What Do Leaders in the New Learning Economy Do Next? 9. Epilogue: The Future for Adam, Julianne, Saki, Dann and Gabriella
Biography
Martin Betts is Emeritus Professor at Griffith University having served as Deputy Vice Chancellor of Engagement until 2020. He leads the higher education sector with experience from seven universities in three continents. He is co-founder of HEDx, impacting higher education through a podcast, advisory services, and live events.
Michael Rosemann is Professor for Information Systems and Director of the Centre for Future Enterprise at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). His areas of research are the management of innovation, business process, and trust. He published more than 350 referred papers and nine books available in five languages.
‘We heartily commend the book by Betts and Rosemann to anyone who wants to understand and improve the new learning economy. In conducting this detailed analysis, Betts and Rosemann generate a framework that can guide the future strategies of global universities. The book is a forceful, bold, and pragmatic contribution that will prove invaluable for leaders of universities as well as leaders of corporations and investors who are contemplating entering the higher education sector.’
Professor Michael Crow, President, and Research Professor William Dabars, Arizona State University, USA.
‘As we head into a period of unprecedented disruption in higher education, the need for new ways of thinking has become increasingly urgent. Drawing insights from contemporary tech giants, Betts and Rosemann articulate a framework for a new order learning economy and provide a methodology to achieve this. An important, insightful and practical read for leaders interested in the future of higher education.’
Sue Kokonis, Academic Director, Online Education Services, Australia.
‘Betts and Rosemann provide us with the single best map for navigating the terrain of the global learning economy, driven by the values of "educational wellbeing." Everyone from university presidents and vice-chancellors, to EdTech entrepreneurs, policy makers and scholars of higher education will be required to consider The New Learning Economy in order to understand the changes and opportunities that are arriving.’
Associate Professor David J. Staley, author of Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education.
‘A "university of enterprise" leadership team visibly and actively seeks to incorporate the views of its customers in plans for the future – and is not afraid of the word "customer". In this book, Betts and Rosemann apply new ideas of enterprising universities seeking to differentiate through technology. The need for universities to explore business models and global opportunities is universal. This book provides an agenda for that to happen.’
Professor David Lloyd, Vice Chancellor and President, University of South Australia, Australia.
‘Betts and Roseman argue new online education technologies enable qualified students, regardless of their life situation, to acquire the necessary knowledge, experience and consciousness to be lifelong learners and thrive. Driven by attention to the educational wellbeing of students, they provide practical strategies to inform education leaders to reimagine higher education. This book is provocative, providing a hopeful, human-centered vision for the future of higher education.’
Professor Lynn Bosetti, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of British Columbia, Canada.
‘Betts’ and Rosemann’s analysis focuses on key drivers and opportunities that academics, administrators and business leaders must understand when addressing contemporary learner evolution. Illustrating key tenets through a range of contemporary disruptors and iconoclastic game-changers, they present strategies and potential directions that anyone involved in education would be wise to review. The interrogative questions they pose are thought-provoking and timely.’
Dr Kevin Bell, AWS Head of Higher Education and Research, Australia.
‘An inspirational and timely read for all those in higher education wishing to move from survive to thrive, disruption to creation, disorder to impactful transformation. This book provides a guide to the underpinning trends and drivers in education, revisited for the new uncertainties in the learning economy. Of interest to leaders, future runners and strategic influencers willing to create rather than stand by as new futures unfold.’
Professor Gilly Salmon, CEO at Education Alchemists Ltd, UK.
‘The pandemic causes us to revisit how we deliver a multi-dimensional student experience. Our students are wanting more personalised learning and consistency of experience. How universities respond to these expectations and opportunities is the agenda in evolving beyond higher education. Betts and Rosemann crystalise the issues, draw inspiring lessons from other sectors, and offer practical steps for how we can all embrace these opportunities. The authors provide a significant addition to our understanding of how to focus on what matters in the great readjustment ahead.’
Professor Anthony Forster, Vice Chancellor of University of Essex, UK.
‘This an extremely timely book given the massive disruptions occurring in education as a result of the fourth industrial revolution, and then accelerated due to the pandemic. The concepts of a learning economy and educational wellbeing are important new tools to help not only manage these disruptions but leverage them to drive true innovation in order to reach a new paradigm for education.’
Phil Ventimiglia, Chief Innovation Officer, Georgia State University, USA.
‘Higher education needs to change. But resistance – active and passive – within universities can make adaptation difficult. This book should be a wake-up call for leaders across higher education to learn from the disruption in many sectors of the economy and society. With practical frameworks and recommendations, this book will also empower leaders to take action and respond to the changes around them.’
Dr Ant Bagshaw, Senior Advisor, Global Education Practice, LEK Consulting, Australia.
‘Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann bring 30 years of experience inside the academy to bear on their critique of the state of higher education. Using a range of readily identifiable personas and examples from the commercial world, they make a compelling case that it's past time for universities to reengineer their own offerings or face the painful consequences of competition from surprising quarters.’
Jack Goodman, Founder and Executive Chair at Studiosity, Australia.
‘With sensitivity, diligence and acumen, this book triages enduring higher education dysfunctions and weaves together eclectic ideas in cogent ways which will ricochet for decades to come. People who think and care about higher education will enjoy this book's depth, clarity and foresight.
Professor Hamish Coates, Director of Higher Education Research Division, Institute of Education, Tsinghua University, China.
