Abstract:

The Internet of Things has brought about changes in the way we live, work and play, enabling enhanced connectedness with associated radical opportunities to improve every sector and area of our lives. Access to information is continuous, ubiquitous, time and place independent, which has revolutionized the workplace, becoming progressively complex, and continually changing. With this increasing connectedness of life there are associated vulnerabilities, challenges and risks, evident across all sectors of society, in particular within higher education, faced with increasing student demands, constant pressure for research excellence, new pressure for the equivalent teaching excellence embedded in the teaching excellence framework. Renewed strategies to innovate within the classroom is paramount for survival. Research suggests that engaging in knowledge sharing activities improves outcomes. This research explores the role of Knowledge Café’s, introduced within a Business School at a Welsh University. Initial outcomes suggests creating opportunities for the sharing of teaching best practices using a Knowledge Café creates a positive, informal space for sharing teaching experiences with the aim to add value, however, competing priorities is a major challenge which has an impact on staff ability to take up these informal opportunities.

Keywords:

Knowledge Café, Knowledge Management, Pedagogy, Higher education, Best practice.