Thinking about Digital Scholarship

Martin Weller

Current characteristics

What is scholarship?

Doing different thingsor doing things differently

What are the drivers for change?

What can we learnfrom elsewhere?

Our relationship with content

Identity

Online environments

Clay Shirky: Cognitive surplus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyoNHIl-QLQ

If true, then society is changing & the same tools impact upon all aspects of scholarship

The Boyer view of scholarship

• Discovery

• Integration

• Application

• Teaching

Main question – will the Boyer view be applicable for digital scholarship

3 characteristics of a digital scholar

Digital

Network

If true what does it mean for scholarly practice

No change

We do what we did before but in slightly different ways

We do different things

Are these new or just different ways?

• Michael Wesch – database of article summaries• Students organising on Facebook prior to starting• Students organising OU Tesco protest on Facebook• Teaching culturally specific music via Skype• Crowdsourcing research iSpot/DarwinTunes/InnoCentive• Open courses/conferences

What about…

Heppell (2001) “we continually make the error of subjugating technology to our present practice rather than allowing it to free us from the tyranny of past mistakes.”

Lanier “Software sedimentation is a process whereby not only protocols, but the ideas embedded in them become mandatory. An example is the idea of the file.”

Drivers for change

Not net gen

Not some perfect storm

Possibilities for improving what we do

But don’t ignore network weather

Lessons from other sectors

Can’t control digital contentPeople like to shareNew filters emergeModels based on filters break downDisintermediation

http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeno/530649757/

We are only at the beginningDon’t confuse form with functionUnbundling of servicesExplore different modelsAlternatives are the killer

Content

When it is as easy to download an entire catalogue as it is one track, our relationship to content undergoes a fundamental change

Research papers

Lectures/Teaching content

Conferences Data

Code

IdeasDebate

Higher education as long tail production engine

Embrace unpredictability

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--viB3zTznA]

Identity

IdentityAcademic identityDistributedPersonal/ProfessionalMessier

Learning/research environments

Complexity comes from the network not the app

Your task:

Design the scholar of 2030

What will they do on a daily basis?

• How will they conduct research?

• How and what will the teach?

• What will be the key skills they need?