Universities and Web 2.0: Institutional challenges (eLearning Papers 8)

La revista electrónica eLearning Papers acaba de publicar su número 8 con un monográfico titulado Openness and learning in today’s world (español, inglés) dedicdo al análisis de de los paradigmas abiertos favorecidos por las tecnologías de la información, entre otras la web 2.0, en el aprendizaje.

Edita esta revista elearningeuropa.info, el portal de la Comisión Europea para la promoción de las tecnologías de la información en el “lifelong learning”. La publicación es multilingue (al menos en los resúmenes de los artículos) y utiliza una licencia Creative Commons.

En este número de eLearning Papers se publican los siguientes artículos:

• Richard Straub. Is the world open?
• Antonio Bartolomé. Web 2.0 and New Learning Paradigms
• Juan Freire. Universities and Web 2.0: Institutional challenges
• “Innovation is for everyone. Learning is for everyone” An interview with Anna Kirah
• Aina Chabert, Monica Turrini. Grandparents and Grandsons: poetics of an intergenerational learning experience

Mi artículo Universities and Web 2.0: Institutional challenges (disponible en pdf aquí y aquí) es una versión revisada y actualizada de la conferencia que presenté en el Fourth International Seminar. Web 2.0 and education de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya UNESCO Chair in eLearning (Barcelona 17–19 Octubre 2007). Una versión previa en español (Los retos y oportunidades de la web 2.0 para las universidades; pdf) se publicó en La Gran Guía de los Blogs 2008 de la  Colección Planta29. Este es el resumen de mi artículo:

Freire, Juan (2008). Universities and Web 2.0: Institutional challenges. eLearning Papers Nº 8. ISSN: 1887-1542. www.elearningpapers.eu

The irruption of the Web 2.0 internet in universities does not modify only learning models – organizative models are also challenged, creating important fears among the managers of the institutions. Teachers, researchers and students started some years ago to use social software tools, but in few cases these experiences have allowed any scaling from the individual to the institutional level.

The promises and potential of web 2.0 in universities need an adequate strategy for their development which has to confront the bottlenecks and fears common in these institutions, which could explain the lack of adaptation. Some of the bottlenecks highlighted in this paper are: a) the rejection by the users, personnel and students, b) the lack of an incentive system, c) the available pre-web 2.0 technology, and d) universities show in some cases a culture of aversion to innovation and entrepreneurship.

The adoption of a Web 2.0 approach to learning in universities is a complex process confronting important technological, managerial and human barriers. For these reasons, the design of a set of objectives and a strategy accepted and promoted by the managers, especially those in charge of knowledge management, is absolutely needed. This first step requires in many cases radical cultural changes for people used to work and make decisions in a different scenario.

The introduction for the web 2.0 approach to learning in universities must be done through an adaptive strategy, one that may be designed integrating previous experiences of educational, research and business organizations.