Emerging technologies as change agent within and across organisational cultures

Abstract

E-learning policy and project implementation can be said to act as a driver of change in educational institutions, but institutions can change in markedly different ways. This paper reports on recent qualitative research focused on the implementation of Web2.0 approaches within a UK university. It argues that the embedded use of Web2.0 relies on the changing of working practices and people's mindsets. We suggest that implementation may be problematic, resulting in change being more readily accepted by some groups and/or cultures than others. The way in which the Web2.0 concept is socially constructed in everyday discourses, events and learning communities is explored. The informal and participatory nature of these approaches, which may initiate the seeping of informal practices into otherwise more formal educational environments, can frame emerging technologies as 'disruptive'.