It’s not about technology, it’s about a better
way to do research
iCeGS
Vitae’s Digital Researcher
Tristram Hooley
Head of iCeGS
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Careering through the web
<Shameless plug>
Hooley, T, Hutchinson, J and Watts, AG (2010),
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Careering through the web: The potential of web 2.0
and 3.0 technologies for career development and
career support service. A expert paper prepared for
UKCES.
Should be on the UKCES website in the next few weeks.
</Shameless plug>
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Academic/
professional
skills
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Digital literacy
Transferable Career
skills management
skills
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Digital literacy
• I don’t find the concept of “digital natives” very
helpful – but if it exists it seems clear that most
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researchers are not very “native”
• Digital literacy is a more helpful concept
Never turned Developing
on a skills and
computer knowledge
all the time
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The Digital Researcher
• A Vitae programme designed to develop
researchers digital literacy.
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• An amplified event (mainly f2f but with technology
integrated)
• Focused on (and marketed as) enhancing
research skills.
• However the development of digital literacy has
clear knock on benefits in the areas of career
management skills and transferable skills.
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Framing the day
How can you How can you How can you
How can you
use the use the use the
use the
internet to internet to do internet to do
internet for
save you better research
research?
time? research? differently?
The social web
The day focused on technologies which are
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• Web-based
• Collaborative
• Social
• Aggregators of knowledge
ie. Social tools which help researchers talk to more
people and add value to their research.
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The shape of the day
Plenary
Microblogging
Web 2.0 and the British Library
Understanding online networks
Group rooms
Mapping your PLE
Group rooms
Mapping your discipline Microsessions
Lunch
Plenary: Openness and disclosure
Microsessions
Group rooms: Presentations
Plenary: Bringing it all together
Microsessions
Petra kucha style presentations
• Microblogging (everyone)
• RSS feeds
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• Social bookmarking
• Blogging
• Social citation sharing
• Social networking
Send one person from your group to each session.
They should report back on what they find.
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What worked
• Loads of learning going on
• Group based learning created some mutual support
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• Provided an opportunity to set out the
conceptual/ideological framework within which social
research sits
• Provided a pretty comprehensive over-view of social
research tools
• Self-exemplifying pedagogy
• Created a buzz on Twitter that went beyond the room
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Challenges
• Never work with children, animals or computers
• Extremely wide range of levels of skill and experience
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• Lack of experience and enculturation on twitter
• Some participants did not bring a tool to access the web
• Disciplinary groupings and “the illusion of uniqueness”
• The petakucha format
• The microsessions created too much “headless chicken”
running around
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What we’ll change
• Dump petakucha
• Develop a stronger plan B for technical failure
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• Spend more time teaching the core technology (Twitter?
Friendfeed?)
• Move the technology focused sessions to the morning
and use the task to integrate things in the afternoon
• Sharpen the task
• Build on the positive group/peer learning dynamics more
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I think the reason we're so passionate, so fascinated by the Web
today is because it taps into something inside us that really,
desperately wants the world to be free, open and level.
Aleks Krotoski, The Virtual Revolution Blog
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When we change the way we communicate, we change society
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody
Perhaps the web isn't shortening our attention span. Perhaps the
world is just getting more interesting.
David Weinberger, Small Pieces Loosely Joined
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Continuing the conversation
• [Link]@[Link]
• iCeGS website [Link]/icegs
iCeGS
• Twitter – [Link]
• [Link]
• You’ll also find me living the dream on LinkedIn
and Citeulike
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