DIMENSIONING ACADEMIC STRATEGIES AND PRIORITIES WITH
E-LEARNING TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
THE FREE STATE

DIMENSIONING ACADEMIC STRATEGIES AND PRIORITIES WITH
E-LEARNING TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
THE FREE STATE

GABRIEL KABANDA

The purpose of the research was to determine the strategies and priorities as an academic leader for creating a
world-class academic university in terms of quality and impact of teaching and learning. The University of the Free State
(UFS) is faced with the problem of relatively low scholarship throughput. The Xerox Excellence Model represents one of
the early excellence pioneering models, and the EFQM European Excellence Model is a representative of international
quality award model that informs customer service excellence. The status of the University of Free State (UFS) is
analysed qualitatively using a research design based on Discourse Analysis, Laclau and Mouffe‟s discourse theory,
supported by Document Analysis of the Strategic Plan 2012-2016 and the Integrated Report for 2013. UFS is
benchmarked against other top world-class universities. The recommended strategies hinge on sustaining momentum on
excellence, broadening access, investing in Leadership Success, enhancing research capacity and learner support, and
focus on institutional service excellence. Strategies and priorities identified are to be supported by the evolving future
e-learning trends (MOOCS, micro-learning, OERs, etc.) and technologies (cloud-based learning, gamification, notification
systems in LMS, SaaS authoring tools, HTML5, Tin can API, etc.). The global university performance of world-class
universities are assessed across all of their core missions – teaching (the learning environment), research (volume,
income and reputation), knowledge transfer (citations), industry income (innovation) and international outlook (staff,
students and research).

Journal of Educational Research and Reviews

2015