Innovation and sustainability in higher education: lessons learnt from the case study of an online university

The need for higher educational systems to undergo a radical process of innovation is recognized worldwide, but how such a process has to be triggered, managed and sustained is far from being fixed. The paper illustrates the case study of a small Italian online university where a number of actions (i.e. a preliminary analysis of the existing system, the development of a new platform, a training course addressed to teachers and staff, a pilot test of the new system) were carried out to make technological and methodological innovation proceed hand in hand and to drive innovation towards a higher quality of teaching and learning experience. The paper describes context, method and outcomes of the approach adopted and then discusses its strengths and weaknesses.