Edutechnicalities

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Jon Becker of Virginia Commonwealth University discussed his experiences with emergent scholarship from the varied perspectives of scholar, faculty practitioner, policy developer and administrative support. Emergent scholarship has seen significant engagement since Ernest Boyer’s call for expanding the domain of scholarship, but the support of this scholarship in formal education spaces has not kept up with rate of adoption. What are the various roles and responsibilities for faculty, staff and administrators in supporting, promoting and amplifying the growth of emergent scholarship? ABOUT JON BECKER Jon Becker is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University. For four years, he served as the Director of Learning Innovation and Online Academic Programs, and was integral in forming VCU’s Academic Learning Transformation, or ALT, lab. Jon also holds a Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School, and both his scholarly and practical work exist at the intersection of emergent teaching and public policy. His administrative, scholastic and blogging work can be found at jonbecker.net

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. George Veletsianos of Royal Roads University (Canada) discussed his experience as a renowned scholar working not only in the scholarship of discovery but also in teaching & learning, integration and application. George discussed the pressure points in his experience as a researcher, author, editor and committee member in the formation of knowledge, specifically where he saw obstacles and opportunities for the further development of emergent scholarship. ABOUT GEORGE VELETSIANOS George is a Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology at Royal Roads University, where he is a Professor in the School of Education and Technology. His research aims to understand and improve teaching, learning, and participation in emerging digital environments. His administrative, scholastic and blogging work can be found at veletsianos.com

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, David Kernohan of Wonkhe (UK) discussed his experiences as a developer, collaborator, designer and amplifier of scholastic production. How does the manner in which knowledge is created relate to its engagement in culture and society, where is higher education improving in amplifying research and practice to a wider audience, and where are the areas more improvement is needed? ABOUT DAVID KERNOHAN David Kernohan is Associate Editor of Wonkhe. His key areas of wonkishness include teaching quality enhancement policy, funding policy, sector agency politics and history, research policy, and the use of technology and data in Higher Education. His blogging and critical approaches to educational technology can be found at followersoftheapocalyp.se

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani discussed the relationship of the open education movement with emergent scholarship. We discussed Rajiv’s work as a renowned scholar in the psychology discipline, and how that work in the scholarship of discovery coupled with his later faculty work in advocacy for open education, leading to administrative positions as a champion for top-down open education efforts and adoptions. What lessons can emergent scholarship learn from open education, one of the prime examples of successful emergent scholarship? ABOUT RAJIV JHANGIANI Rajiv Jhangiani is a Special Advisor to the Provost on Open Education and a Psychology Instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia. I am co-director of the Open Pedagogy Notebook and serve as an Associate Editor of Psychology Learning and Teaching and an Ambassador for the Center for Open Science. His research, practice and speaking schedule can be found at www.thatpsychprof.com

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Bryan Alexander of Bryan Alexander Consulting discussed his experiences as a scholar and practitioner involved in scholarship production in a multitude of roles: as a professor, as a non-profit reserach fellow working with institutions, and as a higher education consultant. Bryan has worked with hundreds of academic institutions on matters directly related to the production and dissemination of scholarship and how scholarhip is treated in promotion, tenure and review. Where are the opportunities for faculty in today’s scholastic landscape, and what obstacles still exist to the acceptance of emergent scholarship? ABOUT BRYAN ALEXANDER Bryan Alexander is a futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education. Some of the areas of his focus include social media, digital storytelling, mobile devices, gaming, pedagogy, scholarly communication, forecasting, and the future of academia. His work can be found at bryanalexander.org

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Bonnie Stewart of The University of Windsor (Canada) discussed her research of networked publics and the intersectionality between the activity of a scholar and the production and dissemination of scholarship. In this we discussed the difficulties for more traditional practitioners and accreditory bodies to engage the scholarship coming from these domains, in part because of the incongruence between historical models of scholarship production and emergent forms of communication and collaboration. ABOUT BONNIE STEWART Bonnie Stewart is an Assistant Professor of Online Pedagogy and Workplace Education at the University of Windsor. In an era of rapid change and increasing complexity, Bonnie’s work investigates the intersections of knowledge, technology, and identity within educational programming and policy. Her administrative, scholastic and blogging work can be found at bonstewart.com

As part of our special series on emergent scholarship, Dr. Martin Weller of The Open University (UK) discussed the movement of emergent forms of scholarship, notably the changes and obstacles he has noticed since 2011 publication of his book The Digital Scholar. Our discussion focused on five main themes coming out of Martin’s work and how they relate to Ernest Boyer’s four domains of scholarship, as well as the manner in which education metaphors move educational conversation and policy for better and for worse. ABOUT MARTIN WELLER Martin Weller is Professor of Educational Technology at the Open University. He chaired the OU’s first major elearning course in 1999 with 15,000 students and has led many of the strategic technology developments at the University, including being the first VLE Director. He is currently the Director of the OER Hub research team, which examines the impact of open educational practices. His interests are in the changing nature of open education, digital scholarship and open educational practice. He blogs at edtechie.net

This special podcast series on emergent scholarship is designed to inform, advise and inspire higher education constituencies in their approach to and actions involving the production and dissemination of scholarship, with a keen eye on what we have defined as emergent scholarship, or scholarship of historic rigor but not historically considered or valued by governing bodies. These podcasts are entry points into the conversation; you can start with the first one or engage based on topic or guest, and can access as few or as many as you desire. The hope is to develop a foundational understanding of the topic, its current trajectory, and manners in which progress in supporting emergent scholarship can unfold. ABOUT THE HOST Dr. Rolin Moe is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Academic Innovation at Seattle Pacific University. His research sits at the confluence of technological engagement, educational methodology and sociocultural values. As a practitioner, his work seeks to not only inform and develop but to model practice through high-quality interaction. More on Rolin can be found at rolinmoe.org