The future of distance education : reformed, scrapped or recycled

A mass of under-educated people, an expanding population, major global crises and an expanding knowledge economy all combine to sustain a massive demand for basic, further, higher, continuing and lifelong education.This demand cannot be met solely in the world’s classrooms; even if there were enough classrooms, many people will be unwilling or unable to attend them to learn. In this sense, distance education is essential for the future, but the fluidity around educational terms and practices means that it is also quite possible that ‘distance education’—the term and its history—will be towed to the scrap yard for many of its useful parts to be recycled. This chapter considers three key elements of distance education—technology, students and educational institutions—and the educational possibilities that surround them by reflection on past and present changes. The future of distance education is intimately connected to broader social, economic and cultural changes. These changes are strongly influenced by the ‘disruptive’ technologies, demographic transformations in the nature of distance learners and the pressures of global techno-capitalism on educational institutions.

Beliefs, practices, and expectations of oral teachers of the deaf

This study investigated the beliefs and practices of 28 teachers of the deaf about their practices. The teachers were all working in oral settings either as visiting teachers or teachers in a mainstream school facility supporting groups of students with hearing loss. Teachers who used an Auditory Verbal approach largely adopted a positivist paradigm, whereas those using an Auditory Oral approach were more likely to adopt a constructivist paradigm. Those using a mixed approach (AV/AO) adopted a paradigm that was a mix of both positivist and constructivist. Results suggest that there is a strong relationship between the underlying beliefs of teachers and the model of practice that they adopt, and that professional experience, professional development and the inclusion movement exert an influence on those beliefs and practices.

The future of facilities management : educators and professional bodies working together

Facilities management programmes in Australia suffer from poor recruitment levels. This is in strong contrast to nearby Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Singapore where facilities management is a well-respected profession and programmes recruit in the 100’s. Facilities management seems to be more regarded as purely a technical or even a janitorial job by potential students rather than a profession that offers scope for the development and exercise of high level skills in Australia. The word “management” seems to be ignored in the minds of the general public, despite the aspirations of practitioners and researchers to reach board-level influence. Facilities management is not the only one of the built-environment professions being viewed in this way. A number of professional bodies have difficulty recruiting fresh graduates into their ranks in Australia and research suggests that low recruitment levels will lead to a moribund profession with the potential for being downgraded to quasi or para-professional status. This paper would like to stimulate debate about the future of construction professions generally, how to encourage quality graduate entrants and educate employers about the need, indeed the necessity, for requiring professional qualifications in addition to graduate or post-graduate education to ensure the highest standards and continuing development of skills and knowledge.

Practitioner prognostications on the future of online marketing

In arguably the most dynamic period in the history of marketing, and in particular the management of marketing communication, the challenges and opportunities presented by online marketing are both immense and unprecedented. In an effort to understand how these challenges are perceived at the ‘coal face’, this paper solicits and longitudinally compares senior marketing practitioners’ perceptions and perspectives, both recently (late 2008) and five years prior (2003). Due to the rapid evolution of online marketing and its impact on both consumer behaviour and marketing strategy, a longitudinal qualitative research design was employed to track changes in senior marketers’ perceptions. Findings are presented and discussed within the context of six recurring themes: interactivity, personalisation, integration, evaluation, agency structures, and capabilities. The paper concludes by examining the utility of integrated marketing communication as a marketing management framework for online marketing strategy.

Vigilantes - could they be the future of security in Australia?

Provides an overview of current research by the author and related Australian scholars on the problem of vigilantism as a question of media representation, as opposed to a substantive crime prevention trend. Implications of this research discussed for a professional security audience.

The accounting professional of the future : never mind the quality check the look!

Using legitimacy theory this paper contrasts the values portrayed by public accounting firms via their recruitment practices and society's expectations of the responsibilities of a professional accountant. Society confers on organisations legitimacy when the value system of the organisation is congruent with the value system of the larger social system (Deegan, 2006). It is argued that there is increasing incongruence between the value system of public accounting firms (that employ accounting graduates) and society's value system that includes an expectation of accountants to act in the public interest. This study draws on evidence from recent corporate collapses, to question whether the attributes/skills displayed by accountants have reduced their capacity to act in the public interest. Interviews with employers show that preferences for employment are given to graduates who 'fit the culture' of the organisation and have the ability to 'market' the firm to clients. Attributes that define the professional accountant appear to be less highly valued. It is concluded that the attributes valued in the workplace today have the potential to increase the risk of 'severing the social contract' between the accounting profession and society.

Sounding alien, touching the future : beyond the sonorous limit in science fiction film

In this paper I examine two particular aspects of sounding science fiction film: first, the ulterior, Othering sounds of the alien, whether it is creature, object, technology or environment; and second, the soundscape that accompanies or underscores the type of space travel that crosses temporal and spatial thresholds. In both instances of sounding science fiction film I suggest that human limits are reached and breached, leading to a deterritorialization of the self and a hearing that touches the future which is a moment of pure becoming. I focus on the womanly sonority of the alien to suggest that patriarchal and heterosexist sound devices can be ultimately corrupted. In the analysis of sounding space travel I suggest that science film can create a series of moments in which one experiences the double sublime. This spectacular rendering of a liquid chaos enables the viewer to experience the logic of sensation beyond bodily integrity. In this paper my over-arching position is one that hears in science fiction film the profound potential of a radical alterity that exists beyond the sonorous limit.