Tseen Khoo and Jonathan O'Donnell
The increasingly pressured environment of academia has led to many toxic manifestations within sector cultures, such as hyper-competitiveness, erosion of research integrity…
Abstract
The increasingly pressured environment of academia has led to many toxic manifestations within sector cultures, such as hyper-competitiveness, erosion of research integrity, workforce attrition and increasing instances of burnout. The aim of The Research Whisperer (RW) blog is to level the research career playing field by providing honest, informed and compassionate perspectives about contemporary academia that reaches across institutions and internationally. We seek to counter the pervasive negativity with alternative perspectives on academic life that are realistic and prioritise kindness, generosity and a holistic approach to valuing research and researchers. The blog and its associated social media channels have cultivated a significant community of international researchers and research support professionals. This chapter discusses RW's strategies in growing and managing its global researcher community (through blog posts, social media, workshops and conferences), issues around its sustainability and what having such a community means.
Details
Keywords
Kylie Budge, Narelle Lemon and Megan McPherson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the growing use of Twitter in academic and artist practices. The authors explore commonalities, overlaps and differences within the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the growing use of Twitter in academic and artist practices. The authors explore commonalities, overlaps and differences within the reflections on the initial and ongoing motivations, usage and learnings the authors have encountered whilst immersed in this environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors locate the particular inquiry by drawing on the literature surrounding digital identities, academic literacies and digital scholarship. Departing from other studies, the focus is on a narrative inquiry of the lived experiences as academics and as artists using Twitter.
Findings
Academics use of Twitter plays a distinctly social role enabling communication that connects, and fostering accessible and approachable acts. It enables a space for challenging norms of academic ways of being and behaving. In addition, the authors draw conclusions about the “messiness” of the interconnected space that incorporates multiple identities, and highlight the risk taking the authors associate with using Twitter.
Research limitations/implications
Academic practice is ever changing in the contemporary university. This initial study of academic and artist practices and the use of Twitter suggests future developments including participants using similar questions to elicit notions of practice to engage in a deeper understanding of motivations and behaviours.
Practical implications
In using social media tools such as Twitter, individual academics and their practices are modified; the impact of this practice is visible.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to emerging discussions and understandings about academics, social media and identity. The authors argue that by participating in the use of Twitter, the authors are part of the collective process of challenging what it means to be an academic and artist.
Details
Keywords
Narelle Lemon, Meg Colasante, Karen Corneille and Kathy Douglas
This chapter introduces an emerging innovative technology known as MAT (Media Annotation Tool). MAT is an online tool that allows students to annotate video, thus improving…
Abstract
This chapter introduces an emerging innovative technology known as MAT (Media Annotation Tool). MAT is an online tool that allows students to annotate video, thus improving student engagement and reflection. This chapter outlines the history of the development of this tool and provides analysis of data provided from a range of course integrations. From idea inception the goal was to render video active and collaborative for learning rather than traditional passive learning. In the multiple-case study it was found that students reported higher engagement/satisfaction with MAT in cases where there was learner-to-learner collaboration, teacher feedback and assessment linkage. This chapter focuses on the undergraduate cases of the study, from the disciplines of teacher education, medical radiation and chiropractic, and also references a postgraduate case from the discipline of law. The data from these cases points to the success of MAT as dependent on two key factors: learning design and the technical effectiveness of the MAT technology.
Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what can be learnt about early career researchers through a narrative self-reflection of two academics’ moving towards the end of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what can be learnt about early career researchers through a narrative self-reflection of two academics’ moving towards the end of the early career into middle career stage.
Design/methodology/approach
The two academics’ share their experiences as self- study reflective inquiries, specifically as a want and need for “more” through this respective involvement in critically thinking about and planning their career trajectory. Using Schwab's (1969) flights from the field as an interpretative tool, this event is the trigger used to story and re-story the personal experience of the academics through a reflective inquiry approach.
Findings
Looking across the reflective self-studies, the final analysis reveals similarities, differences and tensions of the lived experiences of early career researchers’.
Originality/value
Through listening to the voices of early career academics insights are gained that highlight the need for active agency in the academy while learning from others to focus on building research profiles.
Details
Keywords
Peter Adds is Associate Professor and the current Head of School for Te Kawa a Māui (the School of Māori Studies), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has worked in…
Abstract
Peter Adds is Associate Professor and the current Head of School for Te Kawa a Māui (the School of Māori Studies), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He has worked in Māori Studies at Victoria since 1984 following on from attaining a Master's degree in anthropology and archaeology, and he teaches Māori and Polynesian history and Māori customary concepts. He is on the executive committee of the Māori Association of Social Science. He is of Te Atiawa ki Taranaki descent and is in their Claim Negotiation team, having led the Waitangi Tribunal research for the Taranaki land claim. He is currently engaged in negotiations with the Crown seeking a Treaty settlement for his tribe. A former Ministerial appointment to the Board of the NZ Historic Places Trust and a member of the Maori Heritage Council, Peter has a strong background in heritage issues and was the keynote speaker at the NZ Archaeological Conference in 2010. He is an internationally recognized researcher and scholar and has extensive consultancy and training experience in areas relating to the Treaty of Waitangi.
Laura A. Wankel and Patrick Blessinger
The chapters in this book focus on using different types of multimodal, multimedia, and transmedia technologies to create technology-rich learning environments that have the…
Abstract
The chapters in this book focus on using different types of multimodal, multimedia, and transmedia technologies to create technology-rich learning environments that have the potential to enable higher levels of academic motivation, participation, and engagement. Developments in relatively low cost and abundant digital technologies, coupled with the improvements in contemporary learning theories and pedagogical practices, are quickly enhancing and transforming the way we teach and learn in the 21st century and changing our understanding of what it means to teach and learn in a highly web-based multimedia world. At the individual, group, and institutional levels, these technologies are being used in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes. In teaching and learning, they offer promising and innovative ways to create more interesting and enjoyable academic environments and offer more meaningful and authentic ways to better engage the senses of learners. Mayer (1997) states that multimedia-based teaching and learning offers many benefits to educators (e.g., a variety of instructional options, more effective learning, and more efficient use of instructor time especially for very large classes). This is based on the core multimedia principle posited by Mayer (2005): people tend to learn more deeply with both words and images than from words alone.