Towards Ubersity? Conflicts and contradictions of the digital university

Abstract

The university is an institution with a long history, which has fostered and survived multiple changes over the centuries. In recent decades, changes seem to be accelerating, partly linked to technology development. Digitisation is having a significant impact on how university develops its functions, but these processes are not linear or straightforward and will translate into complex, ambivalent and conflicting changes. This paper aims to analyse some of the most relevant effects of the implementation of digital technologies in the university teaching and research, from a socio-material point of view. In other words, we will not focus on these technologies as objects, neither on people on this context, but rather on how the relationships established between subjects and objects affect the action that takes place in the university, as a complex reality. To do this, the present article presents an analysis ranging from the particular to the general. Firstly, it analyses how "the digital" affects to teaching and research, then It will sketch some ideas about possible futures linked to digital technology and, finally, will propose some ideas on how to analyse the impact of technology in the university from a critical perspective.

Keywords

• universidad, tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación, cambio tecnológico, innovación pedagógica.