Okay so we had Web 2.0, e-Learning 2.0 and now we have Faculty 2.0!!!
Actually this is a title of an interesting article on how institutions should not try and bolt on technology to existing practices, but should be using technology to systematically change the institutional practices to improve and enhance learning.
Should the goal be to persuade and assist faculty members to adopt technology, or should it be to enable systemic transformation? When technology is “bolted on” to an existing process, the usual result is a modest improvement in the process and also higher costs. To obtain both greater improvement and reduced costs, higher education institutions must redesign the process so as to take maximum advantage of the enabling capabilities of technologies.
Too often I have seen this “bolt-on” approach in colleges and almost avoidance of using technology for systematic change.
Which type of institution are you working for?
We are running out Moodle at my secondary school. The first departments to whole heartedly adopt it were Maths and ICT, Now other departments are coming on side. The approach we are adopting is to ‘sell’ one advantage – off site marking or revision, and get them to create a presence, then widen it out usually as a result of student pressure. We make a lot out of the fact that students are working on Moodle at the weekend and in the evening – but only for those subjects that have content available. I am thinking of creating a repository with a group of other local schools that also run Moodle.