Digital transformation towards sustainability in higher education: state-of-the-art and future research insights [Scholarly Article - Environment, Development and Sustainability, January 2023]

Title:

Digital transformation towards sustainability in higher education: state-of-the-art and future research insights

 

Authors:

Laís Viera Trevisan, João Henrique Paulino Pires Eustachio, Bárbara Galleli Dias, Walter Leal Filho & Eugênio Ávila Pedrozo

 

Published:

Environment, Development and Sustainability, 5 January 2023

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-022-02874-7

Abstract:

The technological revolution has contributed to environmental and social issues around the world. However, in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs) – key stakeholders for sustainable development - there is a theoretical gap regarding systematic reviews on the topic. In order to address this need, this study explores how digital transformation (DT) can contribute to sustainability in HEIs by identifying the general state of the art, the theoretical perspectives in the field, and future research insights. A multi-methods approach was adopted, which consisted of a quantitative bibliometric review and a qualitative content analysis. Consistent with this approach, the Scopus database was used for the bibliometric analysis of 672 publications, which was conducted with the support of VOSviewer software. Subsequently, a content analysis of 72 publications was carried out using the software ATLAS.ti and Zotero. The findings suggest three areas of current research: ensuring sustainability competencies through DT, smart and sustainable campus approaches, and theorisation of sustainability in higher education through DT. The theoretical perspectives of the field were divided and discussed into seven main clusters. Lastly, five research lines for further studies on DT towards sustainability were identified. This study has both theoretical and practical implications since it may be the first literature review on this subject, providing theoretical insights to the academic community, guiding sustainability and digital practices in HEIs - through the identification of tools, approaches, and strategies - and then supporting the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

 

SOUTH AFRICA - South Africa’s dysfunctional universities: the consequences of corrupt decisions [The Conversation, 2023]

Title:

South Africa’s dysfunctional universities: the consequences of corrupt decisions

 

Author:

Jonathan Jansen

Distinguished Professor, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

 

Published:

The Conversation, 31 January 2023

https://theconversation.com/south-africas-dysfunctional-universities-the-consequences-of-corrupt-decisions-198677

 

From the article:

What happens when those responsible for managing universities cannot trust each other to act with integrity? In a nutshell, as I discuss in my new book, Corrupted: A study of chronic dysfunction in South African universities, dysfunction is the consequence.

The role of institutional practice, non-educational actors and social networks in shaping refugee student lifeworlds in Ugandan higher education [Scholarly Article - Transformation in Higher Education, 2022]

Title:

The role of institutional practice, non-educational actors and social networks in shaping refugee student lifeworlds in Ugandan higher education

 

Authors:

Rovincer Najjuma, Department of Foundations and Curriculum Studies, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 

Michael Gallagher, Centre for Research in Digital Education, Moray House School of Education and Sport, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 

&

Rebecca Nambi, Department of Foundations and Curriculum Studies, College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

 

Published:

Transformation in Higher Education, 26 July 2022

https://thejournal.org.za/index.php/thejournal/article/view/184

 

Abstract:

Background: Participation in higher education can be empowering for refugees, yet this participation is contingent on a range of structures, practices and policies, many of which are not readily accessible.  

 

Aim: Informed by Habermas’ lifeworlds, this study examined higher education meso-level institutional practices and how non-higher education actors support access and participation of refugee students.  

 

Setting: This research was conducted with (1) refugee students in three private universities and one public university representing several regions in Uganda, (2) administrative staff from these same universities and (3) staff from non-higher education support organisations that help navigate universities for refugee students.  

 

Methods: Data were generated through desk research identifying policy language, a survey and 25 semi-structured interviews with students and staff at universities and staff at support organisations.  

 

Results: Institutional policy homogeneously frames refugee students as international students, which in turn has a cascading impact on the lifeworlds of these students. The first theme includes university policies and administrative practices which structure the lifeworlds of these students. The second is the role of non-higher education supporting organisations that focus on refugee support and education. The third theme describes how non-academic structures, such as clubs and social networks designed to meet the students’ social welfare, are contingent in structuring the lifeworlds of these students.  

 

Conclusion: These themes interoperate and have a structuring effect on the lifeworlds of these students. The cascading impact of classifying refugee students as international students deserves further scrutiny, particularly in its impact on institutional and individual student patterns of participation.

 

Ecuador universities close due to national strike [Prensa Latina, June 2022]

Title:

Ecuador universities close due to national strike

 

Author:

Ana Luisa Brown

 

Published:

Prensa Latina, 13 June 2022

https://www.plenglish.com/news/2022/06/13/ecuador-universities-close-due-to-national-strike/

 

From the article:

Several universities in Ecuador were closed today after the announcement of a day of national mobilization against the government's neoliberal policies.

Impacts of organisational culture on academic efficiency and productivity in selected private universities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria [Scholarly Article - Higher Education Quarterly, 2022]

Title:

Impacts of organisational culture on academic efficiency and productivity in selected private universities in the Niger delta region of Nigeria 

 

Author:

Dominic Uduakabasi Okure

 

Published:

Higher Education Quarterly, 10 May 2022 

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/hequ.12397

 

Abstract:

Organisational efficiency is a consistent quality that derives more from and thrives on strong internal culture than on isolated instances of timely and effortless accomplishments by corporate systems. This study sought to evaluate the relationship between organisational culture and enhanced productivity and efficiency among members of five universities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, which with its peculiarities provided a unique context for the study. The quantitative and qualitative methods were used for data collection among 104 respondents. Faculty were assessed on the direct impacts of their organisations' culture on their research and publication, creativity and innovativeness, among others, while students were assessed on learning, career prospects and others. The study suggested that most of the five universities had no well-articulated organisational culture. This significantly compromises their unique value addition to the educational system, implying that they risk losing their relative advantages unless they fortify their organisational cultural frontiers.

 

Goal Orientation and Learning Readiness: Evidence Among Freshmen in Selected Kenyan Universities [Scholarly Article - Alberta Journal of Education Research, 2022]

Title:

Goal Orientation and Learning Readiness: Evidence Among Freshmen in Selected Kenyan Universities

 

Authors:

Evelyne Kwamboka Mose 

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science & Technology Kenya 

 

Peter JO Aloka 

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

 

Benard Mwebi 

Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science & Technology Kenya

 

Published:

Alberta Journal of Education Research, 10 March 2022

https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/view/70594

Abstract:

This study, which adopted an ex post facto research design, investigated the relationship between goal orientation and learning readiness among first year students in three public universities in Kenya. A sample size of 372 first years from the three universities were obtained using both stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The Goal Questionnaire for Students (GQS) and the Learning Readiness Questionnaire (LRQ) were used to collect data. The findings reported Eta squared (.547) which implied that a fairly large proportion (54.7%) of variance in he learning readiness index among the first year students is explained by goal orientation of the students. Results from the study determined that universities should emphasize techniques of performance approach in their guidance programs. 

 

Greek Academics want Universities to revoke Putin Honorary Degrees [The National Herald, March 2022]

Title:

Greek Academics want Universities to revoke Putin Honorary Degrees 

Published:

The National Herald, 13 March 2022

https://www.thenationalherald.com/greek-academics-want-universities-to-revoke-putin-honorary-degrees/

 

From the article:

Russian President Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is reason for Greek universities to strip him of honorary degrees he was awarded, a group of academics have said in a petition as they seek more signatures.

 

HONG KONG - Academics raise fears over university leadership changes [University World News, November 2021]

Title:

Academics raise fears over university leadership changes 

 

Author:

Yojana Sharma  

 

Published:

University World News, 26 November 2021 

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20211126124757927

 

From the article:

An overhaul of the leadership of Hong Kong’s highly regarded universities is proceeding apace with a raft of unexpected departures that have left many academics concerned for future university governance and global openness.

 

UNITED KINGDOM - Universities demand clarity on ‘£1 billion research cut’ - by Brendan O’Malley

Title:

Universities demand clarity on ‘£1 billion research cut'

 

Author:

Brendan O’Malley  

 

Published:

University World News, 19 March 2021

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210319134242643

 

From the article:

Universities UK fears universities face an effective £1 billion (US$1.4 billion) cut in research funding because the Treasury has failed to clarify if it will allow funding of the United Kingdom’s association to Horizon Europe, the European Union’s science and innovation programme, to go ahead.  

 

Universities UK has written to the government seeking urgent clarity on the future of funding for UK science and research. 

The Shift to Online Education Paradigm due to COVID-19: A Study of Student’s Behavior in UAE Universities Environment [Scholarly Article - International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 2021]

Title:

The Shift to Online Education Paradigm due to COVID-19: A Study of Student’s Behavior in UAE Universities Environment

 

Author:

Liaqat Ali

Department of Information Technology, College of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Science and Technology of Fujairah, Fujairah, United Arab Emirates

 

Published:

International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Volume 11, Number 3, pp. 131-136, 2021

http://www.ijiet.org/show-151-1752-1.html

Abstract:

The shift to an online education paradigm has been dramatically seen in educational systems and universities due to COVID-19 across the world, especially in United Arab Emirates. The emergence of COVID-19 forced educational institutions to divert all strategies from physical to online platforms for the safety of students, instructors and all the other staff members. However, this is not the case in educational institutions only because other governmental and non-governmental institutions are affected in the same way around the world. The objective of this research is to understand the behavior of students due to a sudden shift towards an online education experience in university environment and gauge their preference either on physical or online education system for the future. The research collected data through an online questionnaire from 210 undergraduate university students which further helped the researcher to draw the discussion and conclusion. The research proves that a high majority of students are willing to change from physical education to an online platforms and they believe that they can perform well by the adoption of this new platform of online education system. The research recommendations are helpful for the educational policy developers.   

Student movements and politics in Latin America: a historical reconceptualization [Scholarly Article - Higher Education, 4 February 2021]

Title:

Student movements and politics in Latin America: a historical reconceptualization

 

Author:

Imanol Ordorika

Affiliations: 

Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

&

University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

Published:

Higher Education, 4 February 2021

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-020-00656-6

Abstract:

Student movements have played a significant political role in the history of Latin America. Since the beginning of the 20th century until now, students have transformed their universities, resisted totalitarian and authoritarian regimes and struggled against US military occupations. In the early 1900s these movements promoted university reforms, autonomy, shared governance, Latin Americanism, and university obligations towards social change. During the 1960s and 1970s, they fought for democratization and committed to attempts for profound radical transformations of society in many countries. In the 1980s student movements resisted structural adjustment policies and attempts to increase tuition. A decade later they continued to defend public universities against privatization and marketization brought about by the neoliberal model. In spite of these historical facts, mainstream literature in the 1980s and 1990s predicted the decline and even death of student movements in the region. A historical reconceptualization of student mobilization is presented in this article in order to fully grasp the impact and sustained presence of student movements in Latin America up to the present day. In this way it is possible to understand the existing links between movements over time and across countries, the continuity and shifts in student discourses, demands and strategies, and the emergence of new struggles for gender equality and to eradicate violence against women.

RUSSIA - Big-city universities to go remote as virus surges [University World News, 5 December 2020]

Title:

Big-city universities to go remote as virus surges

 

By:

The Moscow Times

 

Published:

University World News, 5 December 2020

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201205144849461

 

From the article:

Russia’s Science and Higher Education Minister Valery Falkov said on Monday 30 November that universities in Moscow and St Petersburg will switch students to remote learning for two months to prevent the spread of coronavirus during the pandemic’s record-setting second wave, reports The Moscow Times.

POLAND - Minister to introduce laws protecting free speech at universities

Title:

Minister to introduce laws protecting free speech at universities

 

By:

Polandin

 

Published:

University World News, 21 November 2020

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20201121141738670

 

From the article:

Poland’s Minister of Education Przemyslaw Czarnek has announced that he will introduce legislative changes to guarantee “freedom of science” at universities, which, according to the minister, does not exist today, reports Polandin.

South Africa - Five universities extend academic year to March 2021

Title:

Five universities extend academic year to March 2021

 

Author:

Bongekile Macupe

 

Published:

SowetanLIVE, 30 September 2020 

https://mg.co.za/education/2020-09-30-five-universities-extend-academic-year-to-march-2021/

From the article:

Out of South Africa’s 26 higher education institutions, five universities will conclude their academic year in March 2021, seven plan to do so in February and four at the end of January. Ten universities aim to finish the academic year this year. 

Universities are uniquely vulnerable to cyber attack during Covid-19

Title:

Universities are uniquely vulnerable to cyber attack during Covid-19

 

Author:

Sion Lloyd-Jones

 

Published:

Wonkhe, 20 September 2020

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/university-are-uniquely-vulnerable-to-cyber-attack-during-covid-19/

 

From the article:

As the National Cyber Security Centre issues an alert to the education sector, Sion Lloyd-Jones explains why universities should expect a ramping up of cyber attacks - and what to do about it.

 

New 2021 start dates for South African schools and universities

Title:
New 2021 start dates for South African schools and universities

Published:
Business Tech, 3 September 2020
https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/431030/new-2021-start-dates-for-south-african-schools-and-universities/

From the article:
Basic Education minister Angie Motshekga says to ensure that matriculants are not compromised by the late release of the Grade 12 results, Universities South Africa has agreed to extend the academic year to the end of February 2021.

COVID-19 is a wake-up call for Brazil’s universities

Title:
COVID-19 is a wake-up call for Brazil’s universities

Author:
Fernanda Leal

Published:
University World News, 25 July 2020
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200724100221821

From the article:
"In his book The Cruel Pedagogy of the Virus (A cruel pedagogia do virus in Portuguese), sociologist Boaventura de Sousa Santos reignites the debate on the circumstances that make it possible to know the truth about and the quality of institutions in any given society, whether at normal times or in times of crisis.

Specifically referring to the current coronavirus crisis, he asks: “What potential knowledge will emerge from the coronavirus pandemic?”

It is indeed important to ask what the current pandemic has to say about the Brazilian public university, in particular the university within a capitalist world system which devastates those in the ‘South’. Distanced from its autonomy and social function, including social outreach, the university and its capitalist productivist logic has little to contribute to the issues which are relevant to the society in which it is embedded."

Universities should be ranked on societal impact to justify their worth – report [Belfast Telegraph, 21 July 2020]

Title:
Universities should be ranked on societal impact to justify their worth – report

Author:
Eleanor Busby

Published:
Belfast Telegraph, 21 July 2020
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/universities-should-be-ranked-on-societal-impact-to-justify-their-worth-report-39387168.html

From the article:
Universities should justify their worth through a ranking system that assesses their impact on society to counteract the “corrosive narrative” that institutions are “disconnected ivory towers”, a report says.

United States of America - US universities are right to fight injustice

Title:
US universities are right to fight injustice

Published:
Nature, 17 July 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02143-5

From the article:
Over the past week, more than 200 universities in the United States have shown the power of swift, mass mobilization.

US states and technology companies were among those offering support as institutions large and small, private and public, mounted legal challenges to a decision by the administration of President Donald Trump that would have seen international students deported from the United States. The combined strength of opposition — and the power of argument — took the administration by surprise.

South Africa - SA's universities need R1.8 billion to be Covid-19 ready

Title:
SA's universities need R1.8 billion to be Covid-19 ready

Author:
Jason Felix

Published:
News24, 7 July 2020
https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/sas-universities-need-r18-billion-to-be-covid-19-ready-20200706

From the article:
South Africa's universities need R1.85 billion as part of their Covid-19 campus readiness plans, but Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande assessed it as unrealistic as many items indicated "were unnecessary".