As digital technology continues to influence and disrupt how students learn and are taught, a new transcontinental research project by the University of Leeds, in the UK, and the University of Cape Town (UCT) will examine its effect on staff, students and employers.

The ‘Unbundled University: Researching Emerging Models in an Unequal Landscape’ project will look at the unbundling of higher education and asks if the traditional university – offering a single package for many aspects of the student experience including teaching, content and assessment – is still relevant.

It comes at a time when the UK sector is moving towards increased marketisation as a result of government initiatives. In South Africa, meanwhile, universities are seeking ways to level the field for students who come from highly diverse economic and social backgrounds, with a great deal of disparity in experience in using technology.

The higher education sector in South Africa has also been rocked by a second year of student protests broadly aligned under the call for free “decolonised” education.

With the success of mass open online courses (Moocs), there is increasing interest in more flexible models of higher education, especially those evolving into accredited courses.

The Moocs programmes at Leeds, for example, offer credit that can be used towards a degree to be taken at any university that will accept it, or used to build a portfolio of awards from a range of universities and other accrediting bodies, in place of a degree.

“As well as looking at how digital technology is disrupting higher education, this research will explore how the involvement of alternative providers and external partners is changing the way higher education is offered.

“It is an exciting example of international collaboration between two research-intensive universities operating in very different contexts, but facing overlapping challenges,” Leeds digital learning director Professor Neil Morris said.

However, unbundling education is not without risks. UCT Centre of Innovation in Learning and Teaching director Associate Professor Laura Czerniewicz noted that while there were clear opportunities offered by new models of provision, there were concerns that it could lead to fragmentation of the curriculum, increasing inequalities among the student body.

“[This could] create a disconnect with the holistic benefits offered by a university experience, and create concerns about quality if a range of providers are involved.

“We want to look at these risks and at whose interests this unbundling is serving. Outputs from the project will be shared with higher education decision-makers and government policy makers to help them to make informed decisions about future initiatives in this area,” she highlighted.

The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) and is one of five collaborative research projects into higher education in South Africa.

It will take place over 26 months. The ESRC has provided £494 000 to fund the research and the NRF R2.15-million.