The University in the Networked Economy and Society: Challenges and Opportunities by Yochai Benkler
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/PUB7202f.pdf
I'm slowly making my way through Katz's edited Tower and the Cloud book.
Yochai Benkler contributes a wonderful chapter entitled: The University in the Networked Economy and Society: Challenges and Opportunities
Benkler makes the case that those of us situated in higher education have an opportunity to engage and experiment with collaborative practices and technologies. Our medieval guild routes of a community built around shared understandings, including the value we place on argument, transparency, learning and knowledge production, offers distinct advantages as compared to other institutions tied to purely market based norms. The "University" is something special - something different - and is therefore well positioned to prosper as we move from the industrial information economy to the networked information economy.
What I liked best about this short chapter is how Benkler is able to describe the political economy of the University and then relate this organization and history to larger trends in collaboration and knowledge production. I learned a great deal about both sides of the equation.
I think that this article would support and spur us to think about how we can lower barriers to collaboration and production - be it in making materials available for students to create by mashing up or in protecting our community from copyright assaults from organizations that do not share our educational mission.
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