The purpose of this paper is to highlight the complexities involved in higher education provision and how systems thinking and socio-technical systems (STS) thinking approach can be used to understand the education ecosystem. Systems thinking perspective is provided using two case studies: the development of European Learner Mobility (EuroLM)…

Large quantities of data are now being generated, collated and processed within schools through computerised systems and other digital technologies. In response to growing concerns over the efficiency and equity of how these data are used, the concept of "open data" has emerged as a potential means of using digital technology to…

Most UK universities can trace their current management information systems back to significant investments made in the 1990s, largely fuelled by concerns about the millenium bug and a change from character interfaces to graphical user interfaces following the introduction of the personal computer. It was during this period that institutions also…

Universities in Australia, like their counterparts abroad, are making available several different kinds of electronic information services for their student communities. University students need different types of information for the frequently entwined purposes of learning and living, and such information may be available from a variety of…

In this paper, knowledge management is seen as an element of strategic management for which the highest level of the organization is responsible. Knowledge management is discussed in the framework of the current reform of the central government in Finland. The main goals of the reform are to strengthen the cooperation in the central government, to…

Discussion of the state of the art in computer-assisted school administration (CASA) is based on preceding articles in this issue describing administrative computing in Australia, England, Hong Kong, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, and the United States. Highlights include findings of the country-specific articles, elements of the school…

Most universities in Canada are spending enormous amounts of effort collecting vast amounts of data, but are still--in some quarters--perceived to be unable to report data effectively. In other countries, this kind of problem has been resolved in two different ways. But in Canada, this hasn't happened. The purpose of this paper is to shed some…

Computer-assisted school information systems (SISs) are developed and used worldwide; however, the literature on strategies for their design and development is lacking. This paper presents the features of a fundamental approach to systems design that proved to be successful when developing SCHOLIS, a computer-assisted SIS for Dutch secondary…

This collection of papers addresses key questions facing college managers and others choosing, introducing, and living with big, complex computer-based systems. "What Use the User Requirement?" (Tony Coles) stresses the importance of an information strategy driven by corporate objectives, not technology. "Process of Selecting a…

In 2000 a survey was undertaken in an attempt to establish a sustainable, coherent database of empirical information on NVQ level 3, 4 and 5 activity in English and Welsh higher education institutions HEIs. As a result of this work a report was produced, "The Utilisation of NVQs in Higher Education in England and Wales," which set out…