Title: Virtual Spaces Impacting Real Places: Entrepreneurial Innovations in Trinidad and Tobago s Tertiary Education Landscape

Transcription

1 Title: Virtual Spaces Impacting Real Places: Entrepreneurial Innovations in Trinidad and Tobago s Tertiary Education Landscape Author One: Lead Author Name: Freddy James (Bsc., Dip/Ed., MA., Ph.D.) Address: freddyleejames@gmail.com Postal Address: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies Telephone Number: Ext (83831) Author Two Name: Sandra Figaro-Henry (Bsc. MSc.) Address: sfigarohenry@gmail.com Postal Address: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies Telephone Number: Author Three Name: Lisa Wickham (Bsc., MBA.) Address: lisa@imaginemediatt.com Postal Address: 16 Flagfort Villas, Flagstaff, St. James, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies Telephone Number: Abstract: In this study an innovative entrepreneurial approach was used to teach a postgraduate educational leadership course by incorporating digital tools to develop 21st century skills (creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking). Additionally, utilizing a practice-based approach facilitated learners operationalizing acquired skills within their institutions in real time and in the real world, thereby wedding knowledge, skills acquisition and dissemination in a way that had immediate impact and added value to the learner and The University of the West Indies School of Education (UWISOE) in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Global factors impacting the business of education have made it imperative for tertiary education providers worldwide to seek innovative entrepreneurial pathways to increase the skills base of their populations and capitalize on the full potential of individuals. New digital technologies have brought this imperative within reach, but it is not sufficient. The innovators are entrepreneurs: their integration of new pathways in tertiary education foster institution building, albeit intrapreneurs: they build collective capacity and transform the institution from the inside. (Coyne et al, (2001) and Hekkert et al, (2011) technological innovation systems (TIS), seven-step system functions, was used as a theoretical framework to assess the challenges and extent of the value-added. A qualitative interpretive approach was used in the study. The participants comprised thirty learners (school teachers, school leaders and educational organization leaders) enrolled in the course, the four lecturers who integrated 21st century skills in the course, and a fifth lecturer who acted as a participant observer of the course. Data collection methods included: participant observation, field notes, realtime videography of participants, interviews, blog posts, online and face-to-face focus groups and an online survey. A content analysis approach to data analysis was adopted, with the aid of the NVIVO 10 data analysis software. Research Questions 1. How has the entrepreneurial, innovative approach to teaching an educational leadership course utilizing digital tools aided the development of participants 21st century skills and capitalized on the potential of the individual s learning? 2. How has the entrepreneurial, innovative approach to teaching an educational leadership course utilizing digital tools added value to the UWISOE? 3. How have participants in the course translated the gains from the course experience into their real world activity? The findings indicate that learners are navigating new spaces and ways of functioning within a blended learning environment. They are willing to do so because they feel the acquired 21st century skills are adding value to them personally and the practice-based approach allows them to use these skills to begin

2 institutional transformation. These findings are important because they show that acquisition of 21st century skills provides learners with confidence to develop their institutions utilizing these skills, thereby adding value to the T&T educational system from the bottom up. From the UWISOE s perspective the benefits were: 1) economic, as open-source digital tools were used and there is the potential for increased student intake, 2) administrative, as digital instruction and assessment frees up administrative resources. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Trinidad and Tobago, Digital tools, Tertiary Education, 21st Century Skills, Collective Capacity Building Introduction Global factors impacting the business of education have made it imperative for tertiary education providers worldwide to seek innovative entrepreneurial pathways to increase the skills base of their populations and capitalize on the full potential of individuals (Schleicher, 2006). In response to the global environment, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (UWISA) , articulates a strategic objective to:...provide multiple, flexible paths for all constituencies to pursue tertiary education over their lifetime and to enable technology solutions for teaching, learning and research (University of the West Indies, 2012, p. 33). New digital technologies have brought this imperative within reach, but it is not sufficient. Entrepreneurial innovative approaches to the delivery of instruction and learning must be instituted within the tertiary education in T&T. In the current study an entrepreneurial innovative approach was used to teach a postgraduate educational leadership course by incorporating innovative digital tools to develop 21st century skills (curation, creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking). A multi-layered approach to technological infusion was adopted to engage 30 learners across two separate geographical locations (23 in Trinidad and 7 in Tobago):! To use wired and wireless technologies to communicate during instruction! To immerse the learners in the 21st century tools, to facilitate their acquisition of these 21st century skills to enhance their practice! To facilitate learner interaction during face to face and online classes! To create the framework for the learners to implement the use of these technologies in their institutions! To spark discussions towards identifying and closing the technological gap that exists in the learners institutions! To foster communication and group work among learners and across the geographic locations, thereby building a professional learning community! To use videography to collect data for research purposes, curation and to capture student interactions during class Additionally, utilizing a practice-based approach facilitated learners operationalizing acquired skills within their institutions in real time and in the real world, thereby wedding knowledge, skills acquisition and dissemination in a way that had immediate impact and added value to the learner and the University of the West Indies School of Education (UWISOE) in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Utilizing the practice-based approach as a model of learning supports entrepreneurial action (Brush et al, 2015). This current study builds on a previous innovation introduced to the UWISOE, which involved the use of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) mobile learning technology to enhance instructional delivery and flexibility (Figaro-Henry and James, 2015). Innovations were used to add value in the following areas: UWISOE, students, instruction, tool selection, communication, accessibility and flexibility (Hekkert et al, 2011). Theoretical Frameworks The increasing role of ICT in the global economy and the eminence of the knowledge economy are propelling higher education institutions to reconfigure research and learning in more creative, innovative and entrepreneurial ways (Gibb et al, 2013; Mok, 2005 & Kitagawa, 2004). To remain relevant, competitive and keep pace within this knowledge economy, higher education institutions must find ways to serve all

3 constituents of society, particularly those who may not have had access to higher education previously (Schleicher, 2006 and Kitagawa, 2004). Further, higher education institutions must become more responsive to the needs of its stakeholders, improve administrative efficiency and this can be done by promoting entrepreneurship and innovation (Gibb et al, 2013). In the context of this study the term entrepreneurial means organizing, managing and assuming the risks of a business enterprise and the term innovative means introducing or using new ideas or methods. The researchers drew from Hekkert et al (2011) whose ideas on technological innovation systems (TIS), provided a fitting conceptual framework to guide the entrepreneurial and innovative instructional and evaluative approaches regarding value added to both the institution and learners. This framework was used to assess the value-added and resulting challenges from innovation integration to practice. The TIS frame, facilitated a structure and process for charting, recording and assessing the extent of the entrepreneurial value-added while pointing out obstructions, due to the innovations integration into the course s enactment. The following evaluative system functions assess who or what is active in the system, whether what is being done is enough and the success of the innovation which aids the evaluative process. The system s success comprises qualitative and quantitative measures of the key stakeholders active in the innovation system. Indicators of success, inclusive of the integration of the 21st century skill, are identified and measured by answers to the following:! What are the intrapreneurial activities? Identify those that are valuable and add value.! How does knowledge development take place and how is it measured? Examine how the actors in the innovation ecosystem interacted.! How does knowledge exchange occur? Explain how knowledge is exchanged across the networks.! How is the search guided? Identify a clear vision and policies.! How are markets formed? Ensure the size of the education market does not form a barrier for development of the innovation system.! Are all the resources mobilized? Examine the physical, infrastructure and other resources to ensure they support the diffusion of the technological entrepreneurial innovation.! Is there a lot of resistance towards the new technology? Evaluate to minimize resistance to change so as to facilitate the diffusion of the innovations. The framework views an innovation as a collective activity and thus an entrepreneurial innovation is thought to take place within a wider system called the innovation ecosystem (Hekkert et al, 2011, p. 3). This study s innovative ecosystem consisted of the digital interactive innovations used amid the blended infrastructure. The practice-based approach to curriculum enactment was also part of the ecosystem. It embodied entrepreneurial and sustainable benefits to the students and organization s economic, political, administrative, social, cultural and technological systems functioning. The TIS frame identifies four components of an innovative ecosystem. Firstly, the actors who are the people or organizations contributing to the technological innovations. Secondly, the institutional structures for example the formal policies and informal interactions that guide the activities of the actors. The networks that facilitate the global and local communications are the third component. The technological factors or techno-economic infrastructure in which the artifacts are integrated constitute the fourth component. Some examples of the techno-economic infrastructure are costs, reliability and safety (Hekkert et al, 2011). In finding solutions to effect the innovations diffusion within the innovation system, Hekkert et al (2011) sees benefits in incorporating a large amount of practice or experiences in the learning. Billett (2010) also agrees that a practice-based approach for novice practitioners in higher education is not only beneficial in initial educational or occupational preparations and practice, but also provides continued development across learners working life. He is convinced that...the experiences provided in practice settings, usually workplaces or work settings, are essential for developing the knowledge required to effectively practice occupations (Billett, 2010, p. 1). As such, the researchers incorporated the learning and thinking skills identified by the Partnership for 21stcentury skills (2016), within the face-to-face and distance instructional and practice segments, for learners who worked in multi-occupational environments to effect innovative intrapreneurial elements to the course.

4 Having conceptualized the innovation as a new and improved educational service and the process modelled after Meissner and Kotsemir (2016, p. 3) who purport that innovation activities can more or less correctly be described and visualized in process models, the researchers sought to effect and evaluate the innovative entrepreneurial outcomes. They also integrated an innovative entrepreneurial instructional practice with a view to addressing a need to harness a creative, value-added, economically sustainable future for higher education in their institution and country (Stephens et al, 2013; Blass and Hayward, 2014 and Carmeli and Paulus, 2015). Additionally, the researchers were guided by Higgs (2011) framework for practice-based education, which suggests that the instructional design should be configured in alignment with the answers to the following questions:! What is the practice of this occupation?! What capabilities does the student need to develop to enter this practice community?! What is the context of the course and what resources and opportunities does it provide?! Who will be the key role models and educators to reflect the standards and expectations of the profession?! How can authentic and relevant relationships and learning activities be created to foster students learning! and socialisation? Methodological Approach A qualitative interpretive approach was used in the study. The participants comprised 30 learners (school teachers, school leaders and educational organization leaders) enrolled in the course, the 4 lecturers who taught the course and a fifth lecturer who acted as a participant observer of the course. The participants situational and practice contexts varied as follows. There was one participant whose practice context was an Urban High School in The United States of America; there were 23 students from the island of Trinidad and seven from the island of Tobago. Further, participants represented various educational levels in the system, ranging from early childhood care and education teachers, and principals; primary school teachers, vice principals and principals; secondary school teachers, middle managers, vice principals and principals and one participant from a non-school educational organization. Data collection methods included: participant observation, field notes, interviews, blog posts, online and face to face focus groups, an online survey and realtime videography of participants. Videography served the purpose of recording the students as they utilized the actual tools, for example, students using multiple devices and technologies simultaneously. A content analysis approach to data analysis was adopted, with the aid of the NVIVO 10 data analysis software. Findings Research question 1: How has the entrepreneurial, innovative approach to teaching an educational leadership course utilizing digital tools aided the development of participants 21st century skills and capitalized on the potential of the individual s learning? The findings show that the entrepreneurial, innovative approach adopted in teaching the educational leadership course, utilizing digital tools aided the development of 21st century skills and capitalized on the potential of their individual learning in a number of ways. Collectively they indicated that they had learnt the following new digital tools: Moxtra, Padlet, Blogs, Weebly website and NVIVO. More significantly, they identified a number of new skills, digital and otherwise that they were learning because of the practice-based approach utilized in the course delivery. There was consensus among the participants that they learnt new skills because of: The style of delivery by lecturers, course design and content and flexibility of the course, e.g the use of the blog to respond to issues and discussion during class and the Moxtra meet on school improvement. Overall the learners indicated that using the digital tools during the course allowed them to learn many skills: collaboration (virtual and face-to-face), team-work, affective learning, problem solving, networking, research, using google docs to collaborate, setting up Moxtra meetings, creating Padlets, using Skype to communicate,

5 posting to a blog, navigating the Weebly website, emotional intelligence, leadership and critical thinking. The ways in which using new media/digital tools have capitalized on the learners potential are detailed below. The virtual and face-to-face classroom environment facilitated the development of the learners collaboration skills. On the one hand the learners engaged in virtual collaboration for group-work during classes and away from classes. These groups comprised students located in Trinidad and students located in Tobago. On the other hand, the expressed view was that collaboration enriched the relationships among learners, fostering emotional intelligence and building professional learning communities. According to one learner: This course has enhanced my collaborative and communicative skills through group work. Working in groups, during class and out of class has helped me in being more sensitive to what I say to others and how I say it. Again the group dynamics has brought our class together and has fostered greater communication with our classmates in Tobago. I belong to two different groups and this has helped me to build a better relationship with my classmates. Last term I didn't know a lot of people - mainly the people I sat with. This term I got to know everyone in my class. Thanks to our lecturers who threw us into confusion at first with these different groups which eventually brought us together as a class. Learners expressed that the course fostered the development of their communication skills. Active engagement in the course, for example, group-work built learners listening skills. Additionally, having to present their findings from activities, whether individually or in groups enhanced the learners presentation skills. Further, the learners reported that the use of digital tools afforded more effective communication, in that they didn t have to meet physically to get work done. Still further, the evidence indicates that a deeper transmission of communication skills took place as a result of learning by modelling. That is, in their instructional delivery, the lecturers demonstrated the behaviours and skills that they wanted the learners to inculcate and the learners effectively modelled these behaviours and skills. Thus, the findings show that communication is learnt at both the tacit and explicit levels. Following are some of the comments the learners made with regard to communication and modelling: Group work and group presentation have helped facilitate communication and collaboration skills. Also, encouragement and techniques used by leaders of the course have also helped with communication. Having me work with others who are skilled with ICT use and motivation by tutor had given me confidence to try new and challenging areas. It is much easier to collaborate with group members without having to meet physically on campus I now see that there are so many possibilities for greater collaboration amongst teachers and students and tools to assist. The quality, accessibility and availability of course materials via the course website enhanced the learners experience and participation during the course. Learners attributed a number of benefits to having the course materials available online. These included having 24/7 access to materials from any location provided that there was Internet. One learner adequately sums up the benefits as follows: the allowance of flexibility, userfriendliness, convenience and ease of retrieval of material on my hectic day to day work schedule. Other benefits mentioned were that it made reviewing and revision easier, and the paperless delivery according to one learner meant that materials could not be misplaced. Additionally learners stated: I have benefited tremendously because it is easy for me to access and read the content. It also means that I can engage fully in classes and not have to concentrate on writing notes. This has been quite effective for us as we are operating in Tobago and it allows for full participation despite the distance, having to interact with the ICT has presented me with the opportunity to learn new skills. The learners consistently acknowledge that it was not only the use of digital tools that realized and advanced their learning potential, but the way the lecturers delivered the course. The evidence suggests that the practice-based approach adopted in the delivery of the course helped learners to gain a deeper understanding of leadership, and their role as leaders in their institutions and organizations. The words of one learner succinctly captures this point in the statement: the reading material and theories discussed come to life and feel more practical, and another expressed:

6 It has allowed for greater diagnosing, action planning and implementing solutions through a collaborative approach. Discussions and activities have contributed immensely by applying theory to problems, scenarios etc. as opposed to having the course strictly lecture based and boring. Good use of time and variety of methods utilized to marry theory with practice. There is agreement among the learners that quite apart from the soundness of the course content and the effectiveness of the course delivery, leadership skill acquisition was also derived through modelling the lecturers. One learner stated:...the professors decision to use different tools weekly was a leader and teacher by example. The key leadership skills that learners acquired during the course were creating a vision for an institution/organization, problem solving, emotional intelligence, collaboration, communication, being a reflective practitioner, being analytical and evaluative in making decisions, thinking creatively and critically and capacity building. The evidence also indicates that the learners acquired leadership dispositions as a result of engaging in the course. These dispositions include: self-confidence, motivation, being solution driven, empathetic and being reflective. The evidence suggests that the ability to share ideas, reflect on issues and discuss with colleagues, both in class and away from class was pivotal in making the learners become more solution driven. It has caused me to be more reflective evaluate multiple responses to resolving situations before acting. I am even more self motivated to succeed and turn my school around. Many of the problems were real and currently what we experience. I enjoyed the relevance to on the job situations and my interest peaked as a result. The diversity lesson was good to me as the influx of immigrants is a real issue that I had not actually considered carefully until after that class. Further, learners expressed the view that the practice-based approach moved them out of their comfort zone into areas that enhanced their critical and creative thinking skills and made them empathetic: The first assignment encouraged the use of creative and critical thinking skills. As a teacher I m never asked to think like an administrator. The assignment forced me to imagine myself in a new role and how [to] attempt to solve the issue. I think I got a better understanding of how principals address issues, something that I had never considered before. The findings for this research question indicate that significant development of the learners took place, through the use of digital tools, the quality of the course content and the positive learning environment created through the entrepreneurial innovative approach used in the course delivery. Research Question 2: How has the entrepreneurial, innovative approach to teaching an educational leadership course utilizing digital tools added value to the UWISOE? Value was added to the UWISOE economically, technologically, administratively and socio-culturally and in terms of building collective capacity. Economically, the entrepreneurial innovation was the use of the Internet and Intranet and the overall value added gains are as follows. The use of blended learning and BYOD allowed for instructional and learning opportunities, which saved time and reduced organizational costs because less technical equipment was needed and therefore less money spent on acquiring technological resources. All the tools used were Open Educational Resources (OERs) which were free and open source, thereby bringing economic and financial gains for the UWISOE. Additionally, there were cost-savings through the application of a paperless delivery model. Administratively, there were savings from a human resource perspective, in that no time had to be allocated to copying, which meant that time could be utilized in more value adding activities. Additionally, face-to-face meeting spaces were freed-up due to the blended approach making more physical space available for scheduling other UWISOE activities.

7 Technologically, the course added knowledge onto the Web. The curated digital spaces aided continued online and mobile interactions. The acquired digital collaboration skills facilitated everyone s ability to work together and pool ideas for problem-solving. Further, divergent views fostered the expansion of ideas and contributed to a broader exchange and asynchronous interactions facilitated deep thought processing. Another gain was that the use of digital tools like Padlet facilitated brainstorming and immediate and spontaneous idea generation, easily retrieved and curated. Socio-culturally gains were achieved through the innovative entrepreneurial approach that promotes collaboration and communication using digital tools. As mentioned in findings for research question 1, sensitive content like migration was ventilated through the use of social networking tools and in so doing the goals of differentiated instruction were achieved. This approach promotes reciprocal learning as students are encouraged to interact, rather than take individual notes, with the resultant effect being: team interaction, intra and inter island engagement and collaboration across gender, ethnic, geographic and hierarchical lines, (various levels of work positions) One learner stated: During class - by listening to the experiences of fellow classmates especially those currently in administrative leadership positions, allowing me, someone fairly new to administration, the opportunity to be exposed to day to day issues at their schools and possible strategies on how to handle them. Perhaps the biggest socio-cultural value added to the UWISOE was the blurring of cultural and geographic barriers to teaching the Trinidad students and the Tobago students as a homogenous group. The group tasks have encouraged greater collaboration between the students. We are mixed with Tobago students which was out of the box for us and each task is completed by a new mixture of participants. Research Question 3: How have participants in the course translated the gains from the course experience into their real world activity? The learners benefitted from the course in such a way that the 21st century knowledge and skills acquired could have been immediately applied to the real world activity in their respective institutions and organisations. The learners indicated practical ways in which they had started to share and implement some of the leadership theories and practices they learned as follows: Challenging teachers to reflect on their practice. reflecting on my practice and attempting to make relevant changes. Building capacity.... a parent group was made via WhatsApp as a means to keep parents informed about their child's development and assignments. These tools assist me in maintaining contact and collaborating, even brainstorming at times. I have created a WhatsApp group with staff for this purpose. Technical skills are used to help me communicate with staff members. Knowledge of leadership traits etc. help to mould me into becoming a better leader. I try to listen to the input of others much more. I also share readings with management team. More than indicating specific actions that were applied in their respective work environments, a deep sense of self reflection come through in the findings. This course has made me become a more reflective person so that I am able to look at challenges in another way and find solutions that would have been very reactive before. I am now more highly motivated to attack issues that I would not have done before. It is noteworthy that as a result of the skills and knowledge acquired on the course, learners were able to positively influence not only their peers, but their superiors at their institutions to engender change. One learner indicated that this was done through: sharing of materials in department meetings and changing the discussion topics in the staff room to school improvement. Another stated:

8 The use of encouraging media tools at my school has influenced my administrator to get interested and involved in technology or media tools as she was not exposed to smartphones and the use of the technology before... as a result she has gotten a smartphone. Challenges The greatest challenge faced by the learners and lecturers was technical, for example, inconsistencies with Internet connectivity and video conferencing. At the individual level for some learners using the new tools was a challenge, but they all indicated that with practice and help from colleagues they were able to surmount that challenge. One learner captures the sentiment of the others in the following statement: Challenges I faced when using Moxtra was that it was the first time I was using the tool and as a result I was fumbling around and this had me uneasy. For instance, when we had to set up the Moxtra connection the first time it took a long time and I was becoming frustrated but with persistence and help we got through. While being in mixed level groups worked for most persons, for one learner it presented a challenge: Not so much a challenge but drawback for me many times in not being able to contribute in discussions and solutions which I attribute to my lack of experience in being an administrator Discussion and conclusion The use of digital tools to capture and share material facilitates more meaningful engagement within the learning environment and among peers. This implies that the quality of interaction as well as the quality of the content derived would have been more substantial. Shared notes in the digital landscape provides the opportunity for simultaneous enhancement of thought as learners can contribute to each other s notes in real time thereby adding to the process and capitalizing on collaboration. The findings imply that significant work remains to be done with regard to the integration of 21st Century tools and new media skills into both the operations of and course delivery at the UWISOE. This gap presents an opportunity to move the eco-systems to a place where learners are better able to navigate the digital landscape. The value that learners derived from the course experience extended beyond the acquisition of learning and applying 21st century digital skills. For example, some learners appear to have benefitted from improved communication skills as a result of the collaborative processes employed. Still, with regard to the use of online tools for collaborating, it was clear that without a strong infrastructural backbone the entire process can be thwarted because once the Internet became unreliable the learning process was affected and the learning stunted. Clearly there are benefits to be derived from creating spaces and opportunities for participants in the educational system to collaborate and cross function, not only in intra regional groups but across Tobago and Trinidad thereby creating opportunities in the digital landscape for teams to meet on a regular basis, to address real world issues and challenges. The research sought to find out how an entrepreneurial innovative approach, using new media tools and a practice-based instructional design to teach a postgraduate educational leadership course brought value for the learners and the tertiary institution. Additionally, the research sought to investigate how the learners had incorporated their newly acquired skills and knowledge in their real world work spaces, thereby bringing value and innovation to those institutions. The evidence in this study, which speaks to relationship building, collaboration, capacity building, teamwork and shared values, leads to the conclusion that the learners in the course have been building a Professional Learning Community (PLC). Even more so, it would seem that the digital tools they have learnt during the course has provided a pathway to make the PCL sustainable beyond the course. It can also be concluded that the application of new media technology to the learning environment significantly enhances the experience of and adds value to both the learners as well as the lecturers and administrators. It redounds to the benefit of the learning institution via economic, socio-cultural and financial

9 gains and to the benefit of the learners through a greater understanding of self-worth and transformational skills not only in their respective work environment but in the wider society. References Billett, S. (2010). The Practices of Learning through Occupations. In S. Billett (Ed.), Learning Through Practice: Models, Traditions, Orientations and Approaches Dordrecht, Springer, Netherlands, pp Brush, C., Neck, H., and Greene, P. (2015). A Practice-Based Approach to Entrepreneurship Education Evolving Entrepreneurial Education: Innovation in the Babson Classroom, pp. 35. Blass, E. and Hayward, P. (2014) Innovation in higher education; will there be a role for the academe/university in 2025? European Journal of Futures Research, Vol 2, No.1, pp 1-9. Carmeli, A. and Paulus, P. B. (2015) CEO Ideational Facilitation Leadership and Team Creativity: The Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing. The Journal of Creative Behavior, Vol 49, No.1, pp Coyne, K. P. and Nielsen, J. (2001) How to conduct usability evaluations for accessibility methodology guidelines for testing websites and intranets with users who use assistive technology,[online], University of Syracuse, Figaro-Henry, S. and James, F. (2015) Mobile Learning in the 21st Century Higher Education Classroom: Readiness Experiences and Challenges, Caribbean Curriculum, Vol 23, pp Gibb, A., Haskins, G. and Robertson, I. (2013) Leading the Entrepreneurial University: Meeting the Entrepreneurial Development Needs of Higher Education Institutions. In A. Altmann and B. Egersberger (Eds.), Universities in Change Managing Higer Education Institutions in the Age of Globalization. Springer, New York, pp Hekkert, M., Negro, S., Heimeriks, G. and Harmsen, R. (2011). Technological innovation system analysis, [online] Utrecht University, Kitagawa, F. (2004) Universities and Regional Advantage: Higher Education and Innovation Policies in English Regions. European Planning Studies, Vol 12, No. 6, pp DOI: / Higgs, J. (2011) Practice-Based Education: A Framework for Professional Education, Sydney: Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Meissner, D. and Kotsemir, M. (2016) Conceptualizing the innovation process towards the active innovation paradigm trends and outlook. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Vol 5, No.1, pp doi: /s z. Mok. K. M. (2005) Fostering Entrepreneurship: Changing Role of Government and Higher Education Governance in Hong Kong. Research Policy Vol 34, No. 4, pp doi: /j.respol Partnership for 21st-century skills. (2016) Framework for 21st-century learning, [online], Partnership for Century Learning, Schleicher, A. (2011) Skills, Education and Employment: Europe s Next Frontier. Lisbon Council Policy Brief An Action Plan for Europe 2020: Strategic Advice for the Post-Crisis World, [online], The Lisbon Council think Tank for the 21 st century, strategic-advice-for-the-post-crisis-world.html. Stephens, H. M., Partridge, M. D. and Faggian, A. (2013) Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth in Lagging Regions. Journal of Regional Science, Vol53 No.5, pp University of the West Indies. (2012) Strategic plan , [online], Universityof the West Indies,