ERIC Number: EJ1253441
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jun
Pages: 34
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-8312
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Pedagogy and Profit? Efforts to Develop and Sell Digital Courseware Products for Higher Education
American Educational Research Journal, v57 n3 p1125-1158 Jun 2020
The individual economic benefits of higher education are largely determined by what students learn in the process of obtaining their degrees. Increasingly, for-profit companies that develop and sell digital courseware products influence what college students learn. Employees' pedagogical expertise, content knowledge, and understanding of organizational goals are likely to affect product characteristics and outcomes associated with the use of those products. This study draws on 15 months of ethnographic data to examine one organization's efforts to develop and sell courseware for use in higher education. The data suggest organization members' interpretations of educational access and quality support product development and sales efforts consistent with profit aims, but that may promote credentialism, negatively affect learning, and exacerbate quality differences across institutions.
Descriptors: Online Courses, Learning Modules, Higher Education, Commercialization, Instructional Materials, Credentials, Curriculum Development, Outcomes of Education, Publishing Industry, Learning Strategies, Student Evaluation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A