Monday, April 05, 2010

Canberra University moving towards Gov 2.0 post-graduate and under-graduate course

We've seen a boom in Gov 2.0 seminars and events over the last year and several prestigious US Universities already offer post-graduate courses on Gov 2.0 topics.

However, to my knowledge, Australia's formal educational institutions have largely been silent on when (if ever) they might begin offering courses that aid public servants, potential public servants and the many companies and professional individuals that are now working with Australian governments any formal qualifications on Gov 2.0 related matters.

I've long been an advocate for having more formal training options such as these available, particularly for more senior public service members, to help them fully consider the strategic consequences and accurately model risks for Gov 2.0 initiatives in light of emerging best practice.

While formal education isn't the only way to learn how to employ Gov 2.0 techniques, having university-scrutinised recognised courses provides a level of implied guarantee of quality of learning, which is useful when suggesting new and innovative approaches to conducting government business.

While it is entirely understandable that universities tend to lag workplace education needs - the drought in Gov 2.0 qualifications might be about to end. The University of Canberra (UC) is beginning to explore the opportunity to provide professional education in this area.

As a Canberra-based university which is already notable for its social media commentators such as Michael de Percy and Julie Posetti, I personally feel that UC is well-placed to lead in this space.

To be fair, the ANU also has at least one high-profile social media lecturer, Tom Worthington, who has also been running some notable courses.

2 comments:

  1. Craig,

    NSW DET is making some progress in this area and increasingly, opportunities to present at conferences and facilitate workshops for leaders and teachers are being requested and happening. It is definitely the case that leaders are interested and often supportive. NB The NSW D-G is now on twitter @mct_dg

    You are basically correct though - we have a loooong ways to go yet!

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  2. You are being a little optimistic in your assessment of Michael, Julie and Tom. In context they hardly rate as little more than opinionated commentators.
    What is required is research led knowledge sharing, discussion and analysis.
    I hardly think the three people you mention fall into this category. See if you can find any peer reviewed research from these three people and then ask if they are qualified to do more than blog.

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