Have you ever wondered why universities still educate tomorrow’s managers with yesterday’s tools? Our contemporary higher education landscape is facing rapid technological advancements and the promises of web 2.0 to foster a new mode of knowledge production and collaborative learning among students around the world. We are always online, continuously updating and connecting to electronic information nodes in the globalised digital village of the web. And yet courses in universities are stalled in a pedagogical model of transmitting knowledge which comes straight from the middle ages and continues to dominate teaching and learning.
The focus of economic activities in knowledge-based societies is shifting from the production of goods to the allocation of services. Modern enterprises demand new competence profiles from graduate students, who have to be capable of mastering the technological panacea for future growth and market expansion.
The demand for this ne(x)t generation of web-savvy and autonomous managers is pushing universities to reconfigure curricula structures towards competenceoriented learning. Learning technologies can play a valuable role in this innovation. But one essential condition for the move of higher education to the 21st century is the adoption of eLearning by faculty.
The future of learning depends on the ability of universities to actively involve faculty in organisational change. Based on a thorough investigation of the concept of competence, Educating Tomorrow’s Knowledge Workers develops a holistic framework for eCompetence. This framework is validated by an International investigation of eCompetence measures in universities.
The book is addressing HR managers and faculty developers, university leaders, chief information officers and change managers who are involved in strategic curricula and eLearning decisions. Learning technologists and consultants in public and private organisations find a range of models and practices for a forwardthinking application of eLearning in HRM.
Dr. Dirk Schneckenberg is Assistant Professor at ESC Rennes School of Business and Head of the Strategy & Marketing Department. His main research interests are innovation and HRM, in particular the evolution of web 2.0 and its implications for organisational change.
