A Study on Market Issues for the Proposed e-University

The e-University Compendium Chapter Three

A Study on Market Issues for the Proposed e-University

Chapter 3 is the third and final of three chapters in Part One The e-University Concept.

For the report see http://virtual-learning.referata.com/w/images/EUNI-chap03-eUni-market-2004.pdf

Editor's Overview and Contextualisation

Contextualisation and footnotes by Paul Bacsich, August 2004

As the lead author points out in his introduction, the title of this chapter is misleading, suggesting a focus purely on market issues. The "marketing" focus of this chapter is in sections 3 and 4, on the UK and international markets respectively. Working mainly from secondary sources, the team tried to get a sense of the potential for UK-sourced HE e-learning in each country or region, rather than trying to quantify it. Readers will find no crisp business plans in this chapter - there could not have been; there was at the time (summer 2000) no business to write a plan for, not even a business model. Indeed, the team recommended strongly that further detailed market research work be carried out once the business model was fixed.

But like an ellipse, there is a second focus in the report: this is the excellent and thought-provoking discussion on quality and standards comprising section 7. There are also sections on pedagogy and technology (5 and 6) which, as the team points out, overlap with the considerably more detailed reports from other teams specifically charged to report on these issues. Section 8 raises some usually neglected questions about what happens when consortia compete with their members.

This chapter is much longer than chapter 2 [Overview of the e-University Concept] and the material has some apparent overlap. However, this chapter was written much earlier than chapter 2, which benefited from 15 more months of discussion and refinement, including analysing the various case studies carried out during 2001 (note that they were institutional case studies, not market studies) that form part 2 of this compendium. However, the early timing of this chapter gives it one of its main strengths for today’s reader: as noted above, at the time of this study there was no e-University business model confining the team’s researches; thus information was gathered and analysed to help work out the implications of a wide range of "e-university" models – degree-awarding, pure brokers, training-focussed, consortia, single-lead-institution, etc. Many of these models are still active today and the issues still topical – just consider the UK debates about degree-awarding powers in terms of NHSU (the corporate university for the NHS), teaching-only institutions and private universities that have enlivened the last year.

A Note on Contextualisation

The editors have followed their usual practice of footnoting those points where the situation has changed in an easy-to-describe fashion that can be pointed out without overly disturbing the flow of the argument. There are also some more substantial footnotes on key topics, but since much of this report (sections 1, 2, 5 and 6) points forwards to other sections or reports, we have kept footnoting in these sections to a minimum).

With respect to sections 3 and 4, it would have been a Herculean task to update these sections - in fact it would have effectively meant doing the market re-search that the team recommended as one of the follow-up actions. It is the editors' understanding that some additional HEFCE, UKeU and perhaps British Council market-research material was commissioned in the period 2001–03, and it is hoped that at some point this can be published also so that the sector can gain the benefit.

Executive Summary (Section 1 of the report)

This report explores the possible markets for the e-University and provides as much evidence as is available to inform decisions on operational aspects such as quality assurance, teaching methods and curricula and the use of technology. Our terms of reference are given in appendix A.

The authors of this report were all involved in producing the report for the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and the Higher Education Funding Coun-cil for England (HEFCE) called The Business of Borderless Education: UK Perspectives (BBE report), which was published in July 2000. We have used this experience as the prime source for this study, but have also continued our research and data gathering in view of the very rapid developments in the field.

We have made some assumptions about the business approach which the e-University will take and have agreed these with the team working on the business model. These assumptions are needed to provide the parameters for an analysis of the markets. The key ones are:

• That the e-University will be led by market factors rather than being producer led.
• That the e-University will seek to meet a wide range of markets, offering first degrees, postgraduate courses, continuing professional development (CPD), continuing education and training (CET) and different kinds of learning services in appropriate countries
• That it will market its courses under a quality label and will not therefore enter markets where price factors are dominant.
• That it will vary the degree of "virtuality" of its products according to market demand and access to electronic capacity.
• That it will develop its undergraduate programmes and services principally for the overseas market.
• That it will take content from a range of providers at home and overseas.

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