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ICT 's participatory potential in higher education collaborations: Reality or just talk
Author(s) -
James Rosalind
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of educational technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.79
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-8535
pISSN - 0007-1013
DOI - 10.1111/bjet.12060
Subject(s) - enabling , appropriation , mandate , public relations , context (archaeology) , citizen journalism , government (linguistics) , incentive , work (physics) , inclusion (mineral) , business , knowledge management , political science , sociology , engineering , psychology , economics , social science , mechanical engineering , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , computer science , law , psychotherapist , biology , microeconomics
Recently, interest has sparked in collaboration and networking within and between universities, industry, government and the wider populace. Knowledge transfer has gradually become a strategic issue, so that many governments and funding bodies now use economic‐based incentives to mandate collaboration in hope of stimulating innovation, improving efficiency and promoting inclusion. W eb 2.0 has been heralded as an enabler of collaboration. Powerful new tools abound to enhance collaborative initiatives. I investigate uptake of these tools and their impact on collaboration in the Australian context. Although research is scant, the literature provided a preliminary picture of W eb 2.0 usage patterns among Australian academics, researchers and professionals. Adoption of virtual collaboration tools for work activities is lower than expected. Connectivity, accessibility and availability do not seem to be major deterrents to W eb 2.0 use, suggesting appropriation is the problem. It remains unclear whether these technologies have encouraged further collaboration; at present, these are primarily social devices and tools, their beneficial work applications yet to be fully unmasked. It is argued that further research and broader professional learning opportunities would support greater W eb 2.0 appropriation.