Unbundling the approach to teaching in online Australian higher education

Abstract

This paper illustrates how unbundling has progressed from university-controlled approaches to incorporating partnership organisations into the delivery of university functions, specifically teaching. In this paper, we limit the scope of unbundling to the management of online teachers using three Australian case studies. In the first section, we review the literature for reasons that support unbundling the teaching approach, the effectiveness of this approach, and criticisms posed. Then we use aspects of the literature to present an unbundled teaching hierarchy. We use three examples from the hierarchy in the context of three Australian case studies that are illustrative of how online teachers are managed in Australian higher education. As discussed in this paper, the opportunities and challenges associated with unbundling university teaching have implications for the quality of the student experience, teacher experience, and cost effectiveness for institutions.