Developing On-Campus and Distance Learning Systems in Higher Education: On-Campus and Distance Learning Systems

Structuration Theory

It explains how the structure and agency are related in the development of social behaviour. An on-campus and distance higher education settings take the shape they have because of the interplay between social structures and human actions. In an on-campus and distance higher education settings structures ought to be seen as having functional properties, and how students negotiate social structures, their knowledge and the way they act is of importance (Jack, 2017, p. 213). Structuration theory can assist institutions to consider questions of why the use of technology must not be taken-for-granted and what might be the challenges and opportunities of technology. In essence, it is about the influential actions of certain actors and the practices they are able to embed in an on-campus and distance higher education settings, from within or from outside. It helps the analysis of those situations where people might be able to alter their own or others’ internal structures whilst external structures stay ostensibly the same (Jack, 2017, p. 215). The building and development of a flexible and responsive IT infrastructure was the most important issue of IT management in any system (Byrd & Turner, 2000, p. 168). IT infrastructure is a multifaceted concept that seems to include two related but distinct components.