Towards the Virtual Class: Key Management Issues in Tertiary Education

Abstract

This study set out to identify what the key management issues are when implementing the virtual class within conventional tertiary education in New Zealand. It endeavoured to do this by establishing how the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure as well as the operations of the virtual class within conventional tertiary education are to be managed. The expression "virtual class" as used in this study refers to the phenomenon of a class based on Internet and Intranet technologies, called networked education. The action research approach that was followed, used the implementation of networked education at Wellington Polytechnic as its primary case study. The outcome of this study is embodied in a set of heuristics as a tentative model for managing the implementation of the virtual class infrastructure in conventional tertiary education as well as in a description of a new tentative educational management paradigm for the virtual class, called networked educational management. In this research it will further be suggested that the diffusion of innovation theory of Everett Rogers (1983), which proposes a bottom-up approach when the innovation emerges from outside senior management, needs to be augmented by a top-down component, which includes both senior and middle management for effective diffusion of the virtual class in conventional tertiary education. This research questions whether conventional tertiary education is capable of adapting its management approaches and processes to the extent that is required for the effective and widespread use of the virtual class.