The Re-designing of Business Education through Web Tools: From Universities Web-radio to On-line Magazines

Traditional teaching methods should be redesigned and renewed by consulting all those involved in the learning process: students, teachers, institutions, companies, in order to create a network whose aim is to exchange and transfer knowledge. The criteria used to choose a distance learning course program, should also be applied to building the right network to reach pre-determined goals. In both cases, we have a classroom- real or virtual- and it is only when we step outside the usual learning environment, that we can increase learning opportunities, by stimulating and motivating learners in a new way. Stepping out from a traditional classroom environment results in an open mind regarding the world of work , especially in the field of Business Education. New ,innovative and creative web 2.0 tools, such as university web-radios and on-line magazines could offer this opportunity by modifying teaching methods as could being part of the above-mentioned network . Moreover, both tools are user-friendly, cheap and quite simple to put into practice and manage. As there was little data available regarding Italian university web-radios and national academic magazines, we decided to carry out our own research. Little research had been previously carried out in this area. In this paper, we refer to WayOut a pilot project aimed at developing an entrepreneurial mindset by, engaging students in an interesting learning environment in order to make them capable of managing their life project, of reaching specific goals and subsequently of being able to take advantage of opportunities, which arise. Our aim is to encourage interaction between universities and businesses by removing the barriers between the internal and the external environment, thus making reciprocal knowledge transfer easier: from the company to the university and from university to the company.