As post-secondary education budgets are tightened, increasingly neo-liberal policy directions strengthen the links between industry, education, and government. Williamson and Hogan (2020) illustrate how the EdTech industry capitalized on the “opportunity” of the pandemic to re-invent education, taking a blatantly technology-deterministic view, considering they are in the business of selling technology solutions to the education sector.
Plewa et al. (2015) point out several positive outcomes of university-business collaboration (UBC) in higher education, with the “creation of value” being the primary outcome. However, the measure being used for that “value” appears to be defined only as the development of a curriculum that can produce the required skilled workers. This is clearly creating value for the businesses involved, but where is the value for the higher education institutions? Is it the subsidizing of the platforms needed for the creation and delivery of learning content at little or no cost? Is it jobs being available to students upon graduation? A curious omission in Plewa et al.’s study is the apparent lack of consideration of any ethical considerations regarding the bias, influence, privilege and values of the sponsoring business finding their way into the co-created curriculum.
Can business and higher education work cooperatively to create and deliver positive learning experiences and outcomes for learners while also working to resolve bias, indigenize learning, and create equitable digital learning environments?
Plewa, C., Galán-Muros, V., & Davey, T. (2015). Engaging business in curriculum design and delivery: a higher education institution perspective. Higher Education, 70(1), 35–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10734-014-9822-1/TABLES/3
Williamson, B., & Hogan, A. (2020, July 14). The evolution of the global education industry during the pandemic. Code Acts in Education. https://codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2020/07/14/evolution-global-education-industry-during-pandemic/