Draft on Design / Quality

For some time I have been thinking about words such as "Design" and "Quality" and trying out ways to mix them up. I find there is resistance to quality but design is accepted even if unclear in meaning.

These notes follow a look at the PhD from Adam Matthews. Tweet was last week. Over the weekend I have read quite a lot of the PhD, enough to get the outline.

Two main things are established with solid references. ONE There is a sequence of ways to describe a university - ivory tower, factory, network. TWO "Design" is a discipline ( p288 of the PDF)

Previously I have found academics who study Management Learning and Networked Learning are not that keen on quality as theory. ( or "Excellence" ) Design could be an easier wayu to raise questions about how organisations change.

I now do radio shows with my producer JD . We score well in YouTube search for "Design Science DJ" . I found Science DJ and thought there could be a Design Science DJ. JD understood it not as compliling clips about Design Science but designing a music radio show. Also he thinks being a DJ is based on feeling not science or design. Guests will be welcome once the pandemic is over.

Design Thinking seems to have more interest now than Design Science. Compare developments in ideas about quality, less on systems and variation, more on psychology and knowledge / learning . ( Also some on quality scene have views about HR styles )

I have a more positive take on the MOOC than Adam Matthews and the sources he quotes. He seems to equate all MOOCs with the EdTech companies. Futurelearn started with the OU. EdX with Harvard / MIT . I never come across proposals from the MOOC critics for something else by way of a platform. In the PhD there is none of the discourse around the idea that Futurelearn was a wild misuse of funds. ( It still might be btw, platforms exist in an uncertain world ) . Seek Group bought 50% partly because it became clear no other funding was available, other UK HE . Coursera now post IPO. EdX sold by Harvard /MIT but they plan to use $800m to work on something else. Is this a credible base for EdTech? Will UK academics pay attention?

MOOC platforms are not what was claimed years ago. Micro-credentials  and some degrees, many vocational. But I think they do reach a wider audience than ivory tower undergraduate courses. There is an overlap with social media - Twitter / YouTube.

I will have another look at the Fortress University lecture from Peter Horrocks. This was at Durham before he had to resign. Some say it is hard to follow the "managerialese" but most of it is clear.

In Exeter the radio shows include a #CDWalk looking at where music retail used to be. Also student accommodation, question why is this still being built as learning moves online? Music Business World reports that major labels are losing market share on music streaming services, but streaming income is a larger part of major label income. Part of the walk / radio show is to explore memory and speculation. There is no way to directly compare HE and the music business. Adam Mathews is considering the potential of a networked model for HE but has reservations about the MOOC. There is no reason why major labels could not launch a social media platform but it never seems to happen.