The LA Times Wikitorial fallout

The LA Times Wikitorial fallout

The LA Times tried, for a short period to have a Wiki. Following its failure, Ida takes tea, suggested that given the prominence of articles about it in the UK media, then there could be a number of problems:

1. University managers and administrators will be much less likely to agree to the use of wikis in high-profile, high-traffic, or non-password-protected area of University websites.
2. Critical eyes will be cast on other collaboration tools, with a view to their potential effects on institutional reputation. Blog services will be first in line for review.
3. Institutions will move to develop clearer policies on the use of Web-based tools and teaching resources. Potentially, such policies may have implications for academic intellectual property, buttressing institutional ownership of teaching and learning resources and materials (potentially, to the detriment of individuals).

I’m personally not sure that it will be that dramatic… but who knows. Knowing problems that we already have getting permission for software that can be used outside the firewall, well maybe it’s not such a problem.