Architectures of assetization
Legacy infrastructures and the configuration of datafication in UK higher education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6443517 |
|---|---|
| Authors | K Birch (0000-0003-2881-4623, York University), Janja Komljenovic (0000-0001-5951-5189, The University of Edinburgh, UK), Sam Sellar (0000-0002-2840-5021, University of South Australia) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1868-1887 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Media & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14614448251314400 |
| OpenAlex | W4409089289 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 40 |
We outline the concept of ‘architectures of assetization’ as a way to get at the political-economic configuration of datafication in higher education through the layering of educational technology (‘edtech’) onto existing, legacy infrastructures. Edtech provides a useful empirical object of study because of the increasing deployment of new digital technologies in educational organizations; our focus is on higher education institutions (i.e. universities) in the United Kingdom. The empirical analysis is split between a discussion of digital infrastructures and architectures of (data) assetization in higher education; the tensions arising between new digital infrastructures and legacy infrastructures in UK higher education institutions; and the implications of reconfiguring legacy infrastructures for UK universities. We pay particular attention to the creation of new techno-economic objects, especially the transformation of personal and user data into an asset, as datafication transforms higher education in unexpected and not necessarily beneficial ways
Business · Political science · Process management · Public relations · Sociology · Computer Science · Online Learning and Analytics · Public Administration
Teaching Machines
Having, being and higher education
Datafication
Platformisation
Automating Learning Situations in EdTech
The rise of education rentiers
Big EdTech
The datafication of higher education
The datafication of teaching in Higher Education
The future of value in digitalised higher education
Turning universities into data-driven organisations
Data as asset? The measurement, governance, and valuation of digital personal data by Big Tech
Did you give permission? Datafication in the mobile ecosystem
Data Paradoxes
Edu-business within the Triple Helix. Value production through assetization of educational research
The neoliberal regime in English higher education
Datafication, dataism and dataveillance
Corporatisation, competitiveness, commercialisation
When public policy ‘fails’ and venture capital ‘saves’ education
Going with the flow
Datafication research
Big Tech
Brief Note on the Origins, Evolution, and Meaning of the Qualitative Research Concept Thick Description
Assetization as a mode of techno-economic governance
Using thematic analysis in psychology
New managerialism' and higher education
Rethinking Value in the Bio-economy
Emerging models of data governance in the age of datafication
When data is capital
Constructing a national higher education brand for the UK
The Platformization of the Web
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |