The Changing the Face of Higher Education through Digital Technologies: A Case Study

Universities today face many challenges, brought about in part by changing needs in society, changing attitudes towards higher education, new research into adult learning and the introduction and use of new digital technologies to improve efficiencies and effectiveness in educational delivery and at the same time introducing new opportunities to change the curriculum and methods of teaching and learning. Each country and each university are seeking their own ongoing solutions though many can learn from what other universities are doing, few are able to merely adopt the same strategies. This paper, using a case study approach, explores how one university in Australia is seeking to find sustainable improvements in teaching and learning through a large-scale introduction of digital technology solutions, accompanied by a shared and aligned curriculum framework and learning design models as well as capacity building opportunities for its staff and students. This paper first aims to highlight the many changes within this single university and to show how reform has been established through the adoption of a strategic and wholistic approach to change and second through sharing key changes to identify strategies that could be adapted to suit different university needs in their search for sustainable solutions to some of the big challenges we all face.