Benchmarking in education

Citation

Gunasekaran, A. (2002), "Benchmarking in education", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 9 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij.2002.13109aaa.001

Benchmarking in education

Benchmarking in education

An effective knowledge and information technology management has become a major force in improving organizational competitiveness. It is essential that educational institutions should develop their learning and research strategies, methods and technologies to develop necessary skills that are required for organizations to compete in the twenty-first century global market. Global competition and information technologies are changing the methods of how educational institutions function. To implement substantial changes in efficiency and productivity of education, a new approach to improve efficiency and encourage continuous improvement must be integrated into institutional systems. Benchmarking in education is important and can be used for improving administrative processes as well as instructional models at colleges and universities by examining processes and models at other schools and adapting their techniques and approaches.

Benchmarking is suitable for institutions of higher education. Benchmarking will help to overcome resistance to change, provide a structure for external evaluation, and create new networks of communication between schools where valuable information and experiences on teaching and research can be shared. The twenty-first century education industry is shaped with a new perspective of "education for all" taking into account the developments in e-learning and distance education. Multimedia technologies facilitate electronic and distance learning as an effective medium of education and training. Educational institutions adopt different strategies to enhance the effectiveness and quality of learning. Benchmarking strategies, methods and technologies in education will help identify best practices of research and teaching.

The editors of BIJ welcome contributions or a proposal for special issues on benchmarking in education with the objective of identifying best practices in teaching and research. The following are some of the potential areas of benchmarking in education:

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  learning strategies;

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  e-learning;

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  knowledge management;

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  learning/teaching evaluation methods;

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  learning resources;

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  teaching methodologies;

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  training methods and strategies; and

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  learning technologies.

Other areas of benchmarking in education are also welcome.

A. Gunasekaran