Micro and Macro Level Issues in Curriculum Development

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that an educational paradigm shift occurred in the course of the last decade, with a move from traditional to Web-based education at various educational levels (Harasim, 2000; Karuppan, 2001; Kilby, 2001). Webbased education (WBE) has advanced from the delivery of educational content to Web-based sites with interactive functions (Carty & Philip, 2001). Concurrently, new innovative kinds of pedagogical experiments have shifted the paradigm from teaching to learning (Pahl, 2003). However, there is a greater need for innovation in the area of pedagogy rather than that of technology (Littig, 2006). Indeed, educators have realized, as summarized by Armstrong (2001), that good Web-based educational theory and good educational theory are one and the same, the only difference being that WBE transcends the barriers of space and time. The paradigmatic shift has occurred in both global education (including developing countries) and corporate training. The key impetus for this shift may vary in these areas, but the role of knowledge and intellectual capital, coupled with the needs of organizations and individuals to learn more rapidly, are apparent as the driving forces for WBE (e.g., Bell, Martin, & Clarke, 2004). The growth of WBE has been part of planned educational policy, but at the same time, good international or national experiences have also supported its growth. Furthermore, the cash crises in the western university sector (Bell et al., 2004) and the endeavors towards more coherent and cohesive educational systems and degrees, especially in the European context (Littig, 2006), can be identified as the other galvanizing factors for this shift.