Understanding the adoption of TELEs: the importance of management

For a TELE to become adopted by the vast majority of individual learners as a tool for learning, adoption at the institutional level must be considered, because the vast majority of a population of technology users depends on external stimuli to adopt the technology. This article analyses a case where a social simulation game, a prize-winning e-learning product, which is based on theory of, and dedicated to, self-regulated learning - in other words, a product predestined to succeed in supporting self-regulated learning - was implemented for training in academic information literacy. Applying a systemic, Bateson-inspired, understanding of learning and based on data from observation, qualitative interviews, and surveys, a number of barriers to adoption at the organisational level are identified, all requiring management initiatives if the application is to fully unfold its potential.