Academic Technology

Technologie et pratiques bibliographiques en milieu universitaire

by Gerald Kembellec

For Students: Dissertating on the Network

by Joe Moxley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What does online learning really mean?

by Mary-Helen Ward

An opinion piece about conceptualisations of online learning

An emerging economy of publications and citations

by Staffan Larsson

Awarded the Ahlström prize 2011 for best critical article by NERA - the Nordic.Educational Research Association.

Published in Nordisk Pedagogik, Vol. No 1, 2009

The Humboltian image of an independent academic is challenged by the recent developments
in the governance of... more The Humboltian image of an independent academic is challenged by the recent developments
in the governance of universities. Digital technology has produced new tools for the
surveillance and steering of researchers’ work. Researchers become actors in an economy
based on the disembedded symbolic tokens of publications and citations. Incentives are
produced, which make researchers subservient to the steering system. Bibliometrics offers the
technology, which is used. The general idea has its worldly application, which is forming the
rules for what is supposed to count as academic knowledge, i.e. a priviledged form of
knowledge in society generally. Educational research is in this essay used as an example,
where some possible implications is projected.

Mesolithic Europe a Historiographic Basis: The impact of media, research cultures and international collaboration on Mesolithic studies: past, present and future

by Pat Hadley

Dissertation presented in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Mesolithic Studies
Department of Archaeology, University of York September 2010

This project examines the effects of media technologies, research cultures, organisations and internationalism on... more This project examines the effects of media technologies, research cultures, organisations and internationalism on research output and research process. Specifically, it examines the Mesolithic studies community and its origins and how Mesolithic studies researchers communicate, collaborate and share information. The project focuses on the serial publication Mesolithic Miscellany. It assesses the potential of Web 2.0 technologies to the Mesolithic studies community as tools for formal dissemination (research output) and informal discussion and collaboration (aspects of research process).

Faculty Research and Development in the Technology Disciplines

by Patricia Sendall

Construcción de comunidades virtuales para la investigación

by Luis Arturo Avila Melendez

co-authored with Adela Miranda y Rocío Echeverría, 2009

We expose an advance on the analysis of the participation of three interinstitutional research groups in virtual... more We expose an advance on the analysis of the participation of three interinstitutional research groups in virtual platforms designed to share information between the members of each group. We analyzed the institutional conditions and the characteristics of the academic personnel, the tools of communication, and the difficulties for the investigators’ participation with the designed tools. Finally a reflection around the consequences of this situation for a research regional center with limited resources for the investigation is made.
Resumen
Se expone un avance del análisis de la participación de dos equipos de investigación interinstitucionales y una comunidad académica en plataformas virtuales diseñadas para compartir información entre los miembros de cada grupo. Se analiza las condiciones institucionales y las características del personal académico y de las herramientas de comunicación, y se intetizan las dificultades para la colaboración de los investigadores a través de las herramientas diseñadas para coordinar las actividades de investigación. Finalmente se hace una reflexión en torno a las consecuencias de esta situación para un centro de investigación regional con escasos recursos para desempeñar su función.

Digital Scholarship Audit Report

by Nick Pearce

This report will describe the audit of digital scholarship practices that was carried out over the period between 2nd... more This report will describe the audit of digital scholarship practices that was carried out over the period between 2nd November 2009 and 31st July 2010 as part of the wider Digital Scholarship project. The original proposal for the project included the intention to “conduct [an] exploration of current academic researchers’ practices in digital scholarship” and this document is the result of that exploration.

Digital Scholarship Considered: How New Technologies Could Transform Academic Work

by Nick Pearce

Co-authored with Martin Weller, Eileen Scanlon and Sam Kinsley and published in "In education" Volume 16 (1)

New digital and web-based technologies are spurring rapid and radical changes across all media industries. These newer... more New digital and web-based technologies are spurring rapid and radical changes across all media industries. These newer models take advantage of the infinite reproducibility of digital media at zero marginal cost. There is an argument to be made that the sort of changes we have seen in other industries will be forced upon higher education, either as the result of external economic factors (the need to be more efficient, responsive, etc.) or by a need to stay relevant to the so-called ‘net generation’ of students (Prensky, 2001; Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005; Tapscott & Williams, 2010).

This article discusses the impact of digital technologies on each of Boyer’s dimensions of scholarship: discovery, integration, application and teaching. In each case the use of new technologies brings with it the possibility of new, more open ways of working, although this is not inevitable. The implications of the adoption of new technologies on scholarship are then discussed

Technology Use Across a Campus: An Analysis of the Uptake of ICT Across Faculties Within a Single University

by Nick Pearce

This paper will discusses the relationship between disciplinary differences and the adoption of a wide range of... more This paper will discusses the relationship between disciplinary differences and the adoption of a wide range of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at a mid-sized, regional university at the end of 2007. Disciplinary differences have been shown to affect the adoption and use of ICTs across higher education, in e-learning, publication and collaborative writing. An analysis of US data from 1999 painted a more mixed picture of the effects of disciplinary differences on the use of e-mail and websites to communicate with students. The data presented here suggests that academic researchers use a wide variety of methods to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and that the choice of method varies significantly across faculty. In addition to this the use of wikis and blogs appears to be strongly related to the faculty in which a researcher is based. This might be due to substantially different cultural norms and values which might favour the adoption of one tool over another. The implications of this for the future adoption of e-infrastructure is discussed.

Supporting the Uptake of Cyberinfrastructure In the Social Sciences and the Challenges Faced.

by Nick Pearce

LogiLogi: Philosophy Beyond the Paper

by Wybo Wiersma

Ba-thesis for Philosophy

This paper sets out to show that philosophy has much to gain from the web, and explores what philosophy on the web... more This paper sets out to show that philosophy has much to gain from the web, and explores what philosophy on the web might be like. We argue that philosophers usage of the web will undeniably go beyond on-line journals, and the distribution of .pdf files. Historical attempts at making the web work for philosophy, and their limited success, are investigated and explained, such as the Xanadu and Discovery projects, and plain web-forums. LogiLogi, a working prototype of a philosophical discussion platform, is then introduced. LogiLogi is different from forums and wikis and tries to overcome their limitations. It does so by aiming for an informal middle-road between good conversations and journal-papers and by providing a form of quick, informal publication, peer-review, and annotation of short philosophical texts. The paper concludes with a tentative analysis of what philosophy on the web could be like, and how LogiLogi is tailored to such a conception of philosophy.

Two Scholarly Web-Agoras: The LogiLogi and Talia/Philospace Approaches

by Wybo Wiersma

Co-authored with Stefano David, Presented at European Computing and Philosophy Conference 2009

In this paper, we briefly introduce the LogiLogi and Talia/Philospace systems, two systems that aim at helping... more In this paper, we briefly introduce the LogiLogi and Talia/Philospace systems, two systems that aim at helping scholars and philosphers in their research. They represent two different approaches to combining traditional research in philosophy (paper and conversation based) with modern, web-based technologies. And as the systems are described in detail in Wiersma & Sarlo (2008) and David, Nucci&Piazza (2008), Morbidoni & Nucci (2008), we focus on their commonalities and especially their differences here.

LogiLogi: A Webplatform for Philosophers

by Wybo Wiersma

Co-authored with Bruno Sarlo, Presented at Digital Humanities 2008 conference

LogiLogi is a hypertext platform featuring a rating-system that tries to combine the virtues of good conversations and... more LogiLogi is a hypertext platform featuring a rating-system that tries to combine the virtues of good conversations and the written word. It is intended for all those ideas that you’re unable to turn into a full sized journal paper, but that you deem too interesting to leave to the winds. Its central values are openness and quality of content, and to combine these values it models peer review and other valuable social processes surrounding academic writing (in line with Bruno Latour). Contrary to early websystems it does not make use of forum threads (avoiding their many problems), but of tags and links that can also be added to articles by others than the original author. Regardless of our project, the web is still a very young medium, and bound to make a change for philosophy in the long run.

A Quest for Critical Mass

by Wybo Wiersma

Submitted, reduced version of LogiLogi: The Quest for Critical Mass

Social software needs an active user community before it becomes attractive to new visitors. We analyse and describe... more Social software needs an active user community before it becomes attractive to new visitors. We analyse and describe an attempt at attaining such critical mass for LogiLogi.org. LogiLogi is an experimental philosophical discussion platform that is different from forums and wikis. It provides a form of quick, informal publication, peer-review, and annotation of short philosophical texts. We have examined the limited literature on critical mass, and two usability studies were done. Then LogiLogi was improved in ways that would maximize its chances of attaining critical mass. Some of our conclusions can be useful to other applications as well.

LogiLogi: The Quest for Critical Mass

by Wybo Wiersma

Thesis for Digital Humanities MA

Social software needs an active user community before it becomes attractive to new visitors. We analyze and describe... more Social software needs an active user community before it becomes attractive to new visitors. We analyze and describe an attempt at attaining such critical mass for LogiLogi.org. LogiLogi is a philosophical discussion platform that is different from forums and wikis. It provides a form of quick, informal publication, peer-review, and annotation of short philosophical texts. We have examined the limited literature on critical mass, and two usability studies were done. Then LogiLogi was improved in ways that would maximize its chances of attaining critical mass. Some of our conclusions can be useful to other applications as well.

Online Vs. Face to Face: Is There a Difference In How Accounting and Finance Students Learn In An Online Vs. Face-to-Face Setting?

by Victor Ricciardi

Sipes, Kimberly A. and Ricciardi, Victor, Online vs. Face to Face: Is There a Difference in How Accounting and Finance Students Learn in an Online vs. Face-to-Face Setting? (March 31, 2006). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=894223

This is a PDF file of 'Online vs. Face to Face: Is There a Difference in How Accounting and Finance Students Learn in... more This is a PDF file of 'Online vs. Face to Face: Is There a Difference in How Accounting and Finance Students Learn in an Online vs. Face-to-Face Setting?' slides from a presentation at the Innovative Teaching Methods Conference of the American Accounting Association: Southeast Region on March 31, 2006 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Scholars in behavioral accounting, finance, and economics have begun to investigate how novices and experts learn in a wide range of accounting and financial settings. This session provided an initial discussion of the different learning processes for accounting and finance students enrolled in online vs. in-class (face-to-face) formats.

As educators, our primary goal is to facilitate the learning of our students. An emerging method of delivery known as online education, where the teacher and student may never have face-to-face contact; this online format is a increasingly provided by all different types of colleges and universities across the country. How does this alternate delivery method affect the learning process of students? Or does the learning technique of students have an influence on the way online courses are delivered?

The focus of this session was to review the main studies within the literature of learning as it relates to online delivery and face-to-face delivery of courses. One outcome of the session was to share with participants the main themes and findings from this collection of studies. This discussion presented scholars with a future avenue of research and a valuable source for improving their own teaching experience.

Note: SSRN is experimenting with enabling the distribution of different types of files: slides, spreadsheets, video, etc. This is an upload of a pdf file of an SSRN Workshop PowerPoint slides. We are interested in our users desires to distribute files that go beyond word processing text files. You can communicate with me on these issues via my email address below. We invite you to submit your own presentation slides.

Keywords: Online class, Face to Face, Internet Classes, Learning, Education, Accounting, Finance, Students, Behavioral Finance, Behavioral Accounting, Behavioral Economics

Sakai: An Environment for Virtual Research

by Sanna Rimpilainen

Co-authored with Patrick Carmichael; Published in an online Journal 'Ennen ja Nyt', 2006 (2).

Using a Virtual Research Environment to support new models of collaborative and participative research in Scottish Education

by Sanna Rimpilainen

Authors: Alastair Wilson; Sanna Rimpiläinen; Don Skinner; Claire Cassidy; Donald Christie; Norman
Coutts;... more Authors: Alastair Wilson; Sanna Rimpiläinen; Don Skinner; Claire Cassidy; Donald Christie; Norman
Coutts; Christine Sinclair
(Members of the Learners, Learning and Teaching Network, Project 1)
To cite this Article: Wilson, Alastair , Rimpiläinen, Sanna , Skinner, Don , Cassidy, Claire , Christie, Donald , Coutts,
Norman and Sinclair, Christine(2007) 'Using a Virtual Research Environment to support new models of collaborative and
participative research in Scottish education', Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 16: 3, 289 — 304
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/14759390701614413

Sakai: A Platform For Virtual Research In Education

by Sanna Rimpilainen

Co-authored with Patrick Carmichael; Paper presented at Annual Conference of the National Centre for e-Social Science, Manchester, 26-28 June 2006