Central Queensland University's Course Management Systems: Accelerator or brake in engaging change?

Authors

  • Jeanne McConachie
  • Patrick Alan Danaher
  • Jo Luck
  • David Jones

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v6i1.219

Keywords:

Australia, course management systems, enterprise systems, open and distance learning, teleological and ateleological systems

Abstract

Central Queensland University (CQU) is a highly complex institution, combining campuses in Central Queensland and distance education programs for Australian domestic students with Australian metropolitan sites for international students and a number of overseas centres, also for international students. In common with many other universities, CQU has recently reviewed its course management systems (CMSs). In doing so, CQU has signalled its desired strategic position in managing its online learning provision for the foreseeable future.

This paper analyzes that strategic position from the perspective of the effectiveness of CQU’s engagement with current drivers of change. Drawing on online survey results, the authors deploy Introna’s (1996) distinction between teleological and ateleological systems to interrogate CQU’s current position on CMSs – one of its most significant enterprises – for what it reveals about whether and how CQU’s CMSs should be considered an accelerator of, or a brake on, its effective engagement with those drivers of change. The authors contend that a more thorough adoption of an ateological systems approach is likely to enhance the CMS’s status as an accelerator in engaging with such drivers.

Keywords: Australia, course management systems, enterprise systems, open and distance learning, teleological and ateleological systems

Author Biographies

Jeanne McConachie

Dr. Jeanne McConachie is director of the Division of Teaching and Learning Services at Central Queensland University, Australia. Her research interests include social entrepreneurship, educational leadership and management in universities, enterprise systems and subcultures. Dr. McConachie's email address is: j.mcconachie@cqu.edu.au

Patrick Alan Danaher

Dr. Patrick Alan Danaher is an associate professor and head of the Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development Centre in the Division of Teaching and Learning Services at Central Queensland University, Australia. Patrick's research interests include educational research ethics and politics, educators’ work and identities, and Traveller education. Dr. Danaher's email address is: p.danaher@cqu.edu.au

Jo Luck

Jo Luck is research fellow (Policies and Educational Technologies) in the Learning, Evaluation, Innovation and Development Centre in the Division of Teaching and Learning Services at Central Queensland University, Australia. Her research interests include actor-network theory, educational innovations and technologies, policy development, socio-technical systems, and videoconferencing. Jo Luck's email address is: j.luck@cqu.edu.au

David Jones

David Jones is a senior lecturer in Information Technology in the School of Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and Communication at Central Queensland University, Australia. His research interests include design theory, e-learning, educational innovations and technologies, and information systems. To contact David Jones, please email: d.jones@cqu.edu.au

Downloads

Published

2005-03-01

How to Cite

McConachie, J., Danaher, P. A., Luck, J., & Jones, D. (2005). Central Queensland University’s Course Management Systems: Accelerator or brake in engaging change?. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v6i1.219

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2005): Special Issue: Strategic Enterprises Down Under

Section

Research Articles

License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. The copyright of all content published in IRRODL is retained by the authors.

This copyright agreement and use license ensures, among other things, that an article will be as widely distributed as possible and that the article can be included in any scientific and/or scholarly archive.

You are free to

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms below:

  • No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.