Table Of Content“We heartily commend the book by Betts and Rosemann to anyone who wants to under-
stand and improve the new learning economy. In conducting this detailed analysis, Betts
and Rosemann generate a framework that can guide the future strategies of global univer-
sities. This book is a forceful, bold and pragmatic contribution that will prove invaluable for
leaders of universities as well as leaders of corporations and investors who are contem-
plating entering the higher education sector”.
Professor Michael Crow, President and Research Professor
William Dabars, Arizona State University, USA
“As we head into a period of unprecedented disruption in higher education, the need for
new ways of thinking has become increasingly urgent. Drawing insights from contemporary
tech giants, Betts and Rosemann articulate a framework for a new order learning economy
and provide a methodology to achieve this. An important, insightful and practical read for
leaders interested in the future of higher education”.
Sue Kokonis, Academic Director, Online Education Services, Australia
“Betts and Rosemann provide us with the single best map for navigating the terrain of
the global learning economy, driven by the values of ‘educational well- being’. Everyone
from university presidents and vice chancellors, to EdTech entrepreneurs, policymakers,
and scholars of higher education will be required to consider The New Learning Economy in
order to understand the changes and opportunities that are arriving”.
Associate Professor David J. Staley, author of Alternative
Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education
“A ‘university of enterprise’ leadership team visibly and actively seeks to incorporate
the views of its customers in plans for the future – and is not afraid of the word ‘cus-
tomer’. In this book, Betts and Rosemann apply new ideas of enterprising univer-
sities seeking to differentiate through technology. The need for universities to explore
business models and global opportunities is universal. This book provides an agenda
for that to happen”.
Professor David Lloyd, Vice Chancellor and President,
University of South Australia, Australia
“Betts and Roseman argue new online education technologies enable qualified students,
regardless of their life situation, to acquire the necessary knowledge, experience, and
consciousness to be lifelong learners and thrive. Driven by attention to the educational
well- being of students, they provide practical strategies to inform education leaders to
reimagine higher education. This book is provocative, providing a hopeful, human-c entred
vision for the future of higher education”.
Professor Lynn Bosetti, Professor of Educational Leadership,
University of British Columbia, Canada
“Betts and Rosemann’s analysis focuses on key drivers and opportunities that academics,
administrators, and business leaders must understand when addressing contemporary
learner evolution. Illustrating key tenets through a range of contemporary disruptors and
iconoclastic game changers, they present strategies and potential directions that anyone
involved in education would be wise to review. The interrogative questions they pose are
thought- provoking and timely”.
Dr Kevin Bell, AWS Head of Higher Education and Research, Australia
“An inspirational and timely read for all those in higher education wishing to move from
survive to thrive, disruption to creation, disorder to impactful transformation. This book
provides a guide to the underpinning trends and drivers in education, revisited for the new
uncertainties in the learning economy. Of interest to leaders, future runners, and strategic
influencers willing to create rather than stand by as new futures unfold”.
Professor Gilly Salmon, CEO at Education Alchemists Ltd., UK
“The pandemic causes us to revisit how we deliver a multidimensional student experi-
ence. Our students are wanting more personalised learning and consistency of experience.
How universities respond to these expectations and opportunities is the agenda in evolving
beyond higher education. Betts and Rosemann crystallise the issues, draw inspiring lessons
from other sectors, and offer practical steps for how we can all embrace these opportun-
ities. The authors provide a significant addition to our understanding of how to focus on
what matters in the great readjustment ahead”.
Professor Anthony Forster, Vice Chancellor of University of Essex, UK
“This an extremely timely book given the massive disruptions occurring in education as a
result of the fourth industrial revolution, and then accelerated due to the pandemic. The
concepts of a learning economy and educational well-b eing are important new tools to help
not only manage these disruptions but leverage them to drive true innovation in order to
reach a new paradigm for education”.
Phil Ventimiglia, Chief Innovation Officer, Georgia State University, USA
“Higher education needs to change. But resistance – active and passive – within univer-
sities can make adaptation difficult. This book should be a wake-u p call for leaders across
higher education to learn from the disruption in many sectors of the economy and society.
With practical frameworks and recommendations, this book will also empower leaders to
take action and respond to the changes around them”.
Dr Ant Bagshaw, Senior Advisor, Global Education Practice,
LEK Consulting, Australia
“Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann bring 30 years of experience inside the academy to
bear on their critique of the state of higher education. Using a range of readily identifiable
personas and examples from the commercial world, they make a compelling case that it’s
past time for universities to reengineer their own offerings or face the painful consequences
of competition from surprising quarters”.
Jack Goodman, Founder and Executive Chair at Studiosity, Australia
“With sensitivity, diligence, and acumen, this book triages enduring higher education
dysfunctions and weaves together eclectic ideas in cogent ways which will ricochet for
decades to come. People who think and care about higher education will enjoy this book’s
depth, clarity, and foresight.
Professor Hamish Coates, Director of Higher Education
Research Division, Institute of Education, Tsinghua University, China
The New Learning
Economy
With a focus on action, this book offers inspiration and pragmatic guidelines to higher edu-
cation leaders and organisations that want to meet the demands of the changing landscape
of knowledge, experience, and learning.
Offering a practical toolkit and methodology, this book describes the fast- changing higher
education sector as a new learning economy. It explains how this new economy evolved
and three major problems that make the current higher education model unfit for purpose.
Through six case studies from other contexts, the book presents key lessons for the higher
education sector and six strategic principles for growth in this changing environment. The
book includes a strategic planning methodology which guides the reader on how to make an
assessment of their own institution and identify a strategy for how adaptation and change
can realistically be achieved.
This book is a must- read for all higher education professionals looking to drive their institu-
tion towards an innovative and sustainable future.
Martin Betts is Emeritus Professor at Griffith University having served as Deputy Vice
Chancellor of Engagement until 2020. He leads the higher education sector with experience
from seven universities in three continents. He is co- founder of HEDx, impacting higher
education through a podcast, advisory services, and live events.
Michael Rosemann is Professor for Information Systems and Director of the Centre for
Future Enterprise at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). His areas of research are
the management of innovation, business process, and trust. He published more than 350
referred papers and nine books available in five languages.
The New Learning Economy
Thriving Beyond Higher Education
Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann
The right of Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Betts, Martin, author. | Rosemann, Michael, 1967– author.
Title: The new learning economy : thriving beyond higher education /
Martin Betts and Michael Rosemann.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022021647 (print) | LCCN 2022021648 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032325989 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032325972 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003315780 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational change. | Educational change–Case studies. |
Education, Higher–Evaluation–Methodology. | Education, Higher–Aims and objectives. |
Educational leadership. | Educational innovations.
Classification: LCC LB2806 .B468 2023 (print) | LCC LB2806 (ebook) |
DDC 378–dc23/eng/20220810
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021647
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021648
ISBN: 9781032325989 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032325972 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003315780 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003315780
Typeset in Univers
by Newgen Publishing UK
BOWEN1 978-0-240-52120-6 00001
Contents
List of Figures xv
List of Tables xvii
Foreword xix
Acknowledgements xxvii
Prologue: A Day in the Lives of Adam, Julianne, Saki, Dann, and Gabriella xxix
Preface xxxi
Part A – The Emergence of a New Learning Economy 1
1 The Current Learning Economy 1
1.1 The Origins of Learning 1
1.2 The History of the Learning Economy 3
2 Educational Well- Being 12
2.1 The Notion of Well- Being 12
2.2 Types and Mechanisms of Well- Being 13
2.2.1 Physical Well- Being 14
2.2.2 Psychological and Emotional Well- Being 14
2.2.3 Social Well- Being 15
2.2.4 Cultural Well- Being 16
2.2.5 Systems Well- Being 17
2.2.6 Economic Well- Being 17
2.2.7 Philanthropic Well- Being 18
2.3 Positioning Educational Well- Being 20
2.4 Measuring Educational Well- Being 21
2.5 Mechanisms of Educational Well- Being 22
2.6 The Importance of Educational Well- Being 23
2.7 Three Key Components of Educational Well- Being 26
3 Three Learning Disorders of the Current Learning Economy 35
3.1 The Knowledge Disorder 36
3.2 The Experience Disorder 39
3.3 The Consciousness Disorder 42
4 Amplifiers of Learning Disorders 44
4.1 Black Swans 44
4.2 Digitisation 46
4.3 Ageing Population 50
