Digital, networked, and open
These notes are part of a series for the book.
Note: I reference this chapter in my essay, Does technology shape us, or do we shape technology?
Outline
- A tale of two books
- What is digital scholarship?
- Digital, networked, and open
- Fast, cheap, and out of control
- Technology determinism
- The structure of this book
Notes
This chapter starts with a description of the resources and processes Weller used when writing a book several years ago, and compared it to the resources and processes he used to create the current text. The difference was one of ‘digital scholarship’: Making use of the vast digital resources when creating scholarly works. Whereas this used to involve visits to the library and access to a limited selection of resources, the scholar today can make use of videos, presentations, blog posts, online conferences, as well as journal articles and books.
In particular, Weller mentions the use of blogs for writing, reading, and sharing ideas. He says:
“The questions one might ask of blogs in relation to academic practice are true of all digital scholarship:
– Do they represent ‘proper scholarship’ (however that might be defined)?
– Are they central or peripheral to practice?
– Are they applicable to all domains?
– Are they more applicable for some scholarly functions than others, for example, teaching?
– How do we recognise quality?
– Do they complement or replace existing channels?
– Should we reward them through official routs such as tenure?
– Should bloggers use institutional systems or separate out their blogging and formal identities?
– What is their impact on academic communities?”
(Weller, 2011, p. 5)
- See also: These issues are also discussed in:
Scholarly practice is changing in three ways or areas:
- Digital: Removing the practical or physical restrictions from (for example) journals and conferences
- Networked: The networked nature of shared digital files means more resources are more readily available (and this also includes the networks of people, their ideas, etc.)
- Open: Technology is more open, but also there is a change in practice such that sharing is done by default
To encourage experimentation and innovation among scholars, technology needs to be:
- Fast: Easy to learn and set up
- Cheap: Free or freemium pricing
- Out of control: Outside the formal institutional structures
Technology determinism
This term was coined by Thorstein Veblen; the idea that technology is an antonomous system shapes human behavior, which lessens the idea of human will and thus most people reject the concept. ‘However, there seems to be such an anxiety about being labelled a ‘technological determinist’ that many people in education seek to deny the significance of technology in any discussion. ‘Technology isn’t important’, ‘pedagogy comes first’, ‘we should be talking about learning, not the technology’ are all common refrains in conferences and workshops. While there is undoubtedly some truth in these, the suggestion that technology isn’t playing a significant role in how people are communicating, working, constructing knowledge and socialising is to ignore a major influencing factor in a complex equation’ (Weller, 2011, p. 11).
- See also: Technological determinism is also mentioned in Jones, C. (2004) ‘Networks and learning: communities, practices and the metaphor of networks’ and in Veletsianos, G., and Kimmons, R. (2012) ‘Assumptions and Challenges of Open Scholarship’