Design of a web 2.0 learning laboratory for developing managerial competencies

This article describes the Applied Learning Laboratory (ALL), a model-based on a learner-centered approach for developing Managerial Competencies that takes advantage of the benefits of web 2.0 technologies. Within the ALL, a collaborative platform including blogs, wikis, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and folksonomy, supports cooperative learning, project-based learning and problem-based learning within the more general framework of the case-based method. Our interest is in understanding how to combine the effectiveness of the case-based method – a powerful way to learn the skills and attitudes required to manage and to lead – with the benefits deriving from web 2.0 technologies. The ALL enables a community of mentors and learners to learn new perspectives on the analysis of real business cases aided by web 2.0 technologies that serve as facilitators of communication, virtual collaboration and problem solving development.