The role of networked learning in academics’ writing (original) (raw)

This paper explores academics' writing practices, focusing on the ways in which they use digital platforms in their processes of collaborative learning. It draws on interview data from a research project that has involved working closely with academics across different disciplines and institutions to explore their writing practices, understanding academic literacies as situated social practices. The paper outlines the characteristics of academics' ongoing professional learning, demonstrating the importance of collaborations on specific projects in generating learning in relation to using digital platforms and for sharing and collaborating on scholarly writing. A very wide range of digital platforms have been identified by these academics, enabling new kinds of collaboration across time and space on writing and research; but challenges around online learning are also identified, particularly the dangers of engaging in learning in public, the pressures of 'always-on'-ness, and the different values systems around publishing in different forums.

This paper explores academics' writing practices, focusing on the importance of digital platforms in their processes of collaborative learning. It draws on interview data from the first phase of a research project working closely with academics across different disciplines and institutions to explore their writing practices, adopting the perspective of understanding academic literacies as social practices. The paper outlines characteristics of academics' ongoing professional learning, demonstrating the importance of collaborations on specific projects in generating learning in relation to intellectual and disciplinary aspects of writing, writing strategies and structures, and using digital platforms. A very wide range of digital platforms have been identified by these academics, enabling new kinds of collaboration across time and space on writing and research; but challenges around online learning are also identified, particularly the dangers of engaging in learning in public, the pressures of 'always-on'-ness, and the different values systems around publishing in different forums.

Almost every aspect of an academic’s role involves specialised forms of writing, and the range of digital platforms used to produce this has increased. Core genres such as the journal article and monograph remain central, but the ways they are now commonly produced via file-sharing software and online submission systems are changing them. Digital media also allows academics to stay up to date with their field, connect with others, and share research with wider audiences. Furthermore, academics are increasingly expected to maintain online identities via academic networking sites, and to create and disseminate knowledge via hybrid genres such as tweets and blogs. However, these platforms also represent a potential threat to academics’ values and sense of identity. This paper reports on an [name of funder] research project investigating the writing practices of academics across different disciplines at three English universities. Through academics’ accounts of their experience with and feelings about the role of digital media in their professional writing, this paper explores the factors that complicate their engagement with new genres of writing. The findings reveal a tension between the values of social media, which see knowledge as user-generated and decentralised, and the forms of knowledge creation that are rewarded in academia.

Research productivity indicators tend to ignore online and social media writing of academics, nevertheless, many academics for instance tweet and blog. It thus seems that there is additional value for writing in these genres. This study sets out to explore what roles writing in these hybrid online genres plays in relation to academics’ research activities. Drawing on in-depth research interviews with 29 academics with various L1s from three different disciplines, the study focuses on the participants’ perceptions of tweeting and blogging, and how they value writing in these genres in relation to core research-writing genres in their fields. Besides some differences in the evaluations between the disciplines, in general the academics expressed a strong orientation towards evaluative regimes related to writing in their core genres, particularly institutional merit systems and peer review systems. At the same time, the hybrid genres seemed to gain value beyond these systems in providin...

How do digital humanities scholars approach collaboration, and why should they put forth the required time and effort? Although these questions are not new to the field of computers and composition, Laura McGrath addresses the challenges of conducting collaborative field research in Collaborative Approaches to the Digital in English Studies. McGrath, associate professor of English at Kennesaw State University, has compiled an anthology of essays reviewing the role of collaboration in digital writing, online learning, and faculty development. She explores how compositionists have used collaborative approaches to frame their research by examining both qualitative and quantitative methods. She analyzes the ways these scholars have collaborated to successfully develop research projects at instructional and institutional levels, including online writing curricula and digital writing initiatives. Although it may seem repetitive to examine projects that have already been put into place, McGrath has three main goals in doing so: 1) to examine digital tools and texts as multimodal collaborations; 2) to demonstrate the potential of generating digital user practices through collaborative approaches; and 3) to raise discussion about “long-standing stereotypes about the lone humanities scholar” that accompany integrating collaboration into scholarship (1).

The proliferation of “literacies” in educational discourse reflect a diverse array of interests, encompassing computer, information, technical, media literacies, and also forms like academic, financial, and health literacies. As digital literacies have become a concern for the higher education curriculum, there has been a tendency to define it as a practical type of operational know-how. This paper sets out a university-wide,holistic and critical approach that breaks from the legacy of institutional framings that narrow digital literacies to a set of skills or competencies. In developing a Digital Literacies Framework, La Trobe University articulated a shared understanding of digital literacies as the capabilities and attitudes that are needed by staff and students ‘in a digitally connected world’. This marks a shift from strategies that primarily deploy institutional curriculum mapping and measurement approaches; rather it argues for an institutional approach that requires collaboration and strategic engagement of students and academic and professional staff in order to meet goals related to building digital capability. The La Trobe Digital Literacies Framework takes a whole of university perspective that integrates policy and practice, providing a rationale for the critical importance of digital literacies in domains of life, work and learning, addressing an implicit ‘Why?’ question from staff and students. The University Library coordinated the Framework development. It was a scholarly undertaking that gathered evidence and reviewed international best practice. In this endeavour, the La Trobe University Library is a leader in the implementation of a university-wide strategy for digital literacies in Australia.