Traduir edgeless al català depèn del context. Per axiò no sé gaire com traduir la paraula Edgeless del llibre (pdf) Edgeless University: why higher education must embrace technology, on es parla del canvi estructural a les universitats, i sobretot del canvi que la tecnologia els ha comportat. De fet, al llibre s’hi esmenta la UOC, però he de reconèixer que la recerca també hi és present.
No puc recollir totes les frases i idees interessants d’aquest pdf-llibre, però al menys aquesta l’hi poso:
Non-institutional knowledge creation, facilitated by open and
collaborative technologies, does not just offer new ways of
teaching on campus. New spaces of value and knowledge
creation are emerging as resources are channelled to looser
groups of researchers and learners, groups which do not need
the associated set-up and overhead costs of large institutional
environments.Knowledge is no longer restricted within the boundaries
of universities and higher education facilities. These institutions
no longer have a monopoly on where good ideas come from,
nor of how information and knowledge is used. They cannot
control how the knowledge they help to create is used and where
it is accessed.But this does not mean that we can do without such
institutions. They, too, have to be open to new spaces of
learning and research. They have an important role in helping
such spaces flourish. Universities are becoming partners in
learning and research rather than sole providers. People need
their resources, for example to spur learning. They look to their
expertise and their recognition to validate learning. Their
reputations, networks and spaces are a driving force for research
and collaboration.This is the way in which universities are becoming
‘edgeless’. They are not disappearing, either into the virtual
world or out of existence. They are present in new places, in new
ways. Far from being undermined, these new networks can
reinforce their importance. Their value is their institutional
capital – the spaces they create for learning, the validation they
provide for learning and research, and the returns people get
from it. One of our interviewees explained it as follows:If you want a degree because it is currency in the labour market, then you
are still going to need to go to university to at least signal to other people that
you are qualified to that level.Universities have to rediscover their value to knowledgeseekers
in a world where information is ubiquitous. Their
presence across these networks of learning and research remains
vital and influential.
Certament, les universitats s’han de redescobrir, en un món amb informació ubícua. Per això la seva presència a les xarxes d’aprenentatge és cabdal.
La realitat, però, no és ben bé així. Aquest any hi ha hagut un increment notable de la demanda universitària clàssica. El que deu passar és que conviuran tots els models d’unviersitat, i totes les formes d’aprenentatge superior.