We are used to considering human agency as the most important aspect of the educational process. Technologies are seen as inert matter, subordinated to human intention and design, as if they did not have a role in the eclectic combination of teaching, learning, and knowing about the world. Their agency is invisible until a breakdown occurs, a…

Since 2012, corporations, politicians, journalists and educators have asserted that MOOCs--massive open online courses--are radically changing North American and global education, and for the better. This article offers a counterpoint to the techno-deterministic and optimistic buzz surrounding for-profit MOOCs by contextualizing and analyzing…

Students' relationships with authority and information are changing rapidly, and this presents a new set of interpersonal boundary challenges for faculty. The topic of setting boundaries often conjures up thoughts of how to protect oneself. The intent of this chapter is to explore how good rapport between teacher and student can be developed and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion about the developmental value of knowledge by reflecting on the "knowledge for development" (K4D) paradigm. In particular, it draws attention to the interaction between linguistic and communicative processes and the areas of power, knowledge and education. This is…

The word "open" is receiving a lot of attention in education circles. For over a decade, "open" has been used as an adjective to modify a variety of nouns that describe teaching and learning materials. For example, open content, open educational resources, open courseware, and open textbooks are all part of the current higher education discourse.…

The paper critically reviews the concept of "global flows", beginning with the discussions of flows and networks in Appadurai (1996), Castells (2000) and Held "et al." (1999). Emphasising the need to embed "global flows" in agency and history, and to explore global connectedness in terms of situated cases, the paper…

Using Milton's "Paradise Lost" as metaphor, this article examines shifting positions of authority, and the role of technology, in higher education practice. As higher education becomes caught up in the performative agendas of globalised market rationalism, technology is mobilised in a specific way which sits uncomfortably with…