academic

doctorate education gamification phd pokemon effect triforce

Why I Blog

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Why I Blog

Lupton’s short explanation of why she blogs is worth a read. Not only is blogging immediate and personal, but it breaks down academic walls which act to keep society and academia apart. I like the notion that academic though need not always be so formal, which is an attitude many academics (but few academic institutions) are embracing.

Mostly I agree with her assertion that it’s important to keep our writing away from academic paywalls. This is very high on the list of my pet-peeves – paying for scholarly works. While google scholar, academia.edu and other sites are helping to remove paywalls, too many sites are still profiteering from paid access to academic writing. 

I own my writing. It’s mine. As I progress through my studies towards completing my doctorate, I intend to make all my work free for anyone to read and share. This is the way the internet works and academia needs to get with the program

doctorate education gamification phd pokemon effect triforce

Shut Up and Write The Book!

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Shut Up and Write The Book!

Sometimes we focus so much on coming up with ideas, or thinking about what to write, or spend too much time making sure there’s academic value in what we’re doing … but sometimes we just have to stop messing around and just write!

Good philosophy and some nice tips for getting the writing flowing. For my own writing I’ve realised that I don’t do enough and that I’m not happy with my writing style. From now on I’m going to try and write more. I want to make my writing simple and approachable – none of this academic quasi-smartass mumbo jumbo. 

doctorate education gamification phd pokemon effect triforce

Open Badges

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Open Badges

If you want to ride the wave of what’s new and hip, then an emerging concept called open badges is worth checking out. Open badges have actually been around for a while but have recently garnered much attention – especially with Mozilla’s recent release of their open badges site for coding and web development.

The concept is simple, just like boy scouts receive a badge for proficiency of a skill, open badges are proficiency badges that are given by an organisation (such as Mozilla) or by peers. It’s a system where proficiency in skills can be legitimised by receiving peer recognition.

The idea is novel and has enormous potential to disrupt traditional educational institutes. Currently, the only legitimate education is through universities. However what would happen if open badges were legitimsed? What if companies started recognising open badges as ways of evaluating potential employees?

The impact of open badges is yet to be determined. However there’s a clear trend online (in social communities) where certain members are recognised as having skills. In online groups, some participants rise to the top and are acknowledged for their abilities – whether that’s organising the group, contributing, teaching others or whatever.

If we build skills by participating in social online communities, do they translate into workplace skills? Will future resumes be filled with badges instead of academic degrees?

doctorate education gamification phd pokemon effect triforce

Academic Assholes

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Academic Assholes

A bit of fun to point a finger at academia itself. the growing fame of the blog thesiswhisperer.com is making itself heard via the unorthodox ramblings of an academic on the edge of the system. a worthwhile read considering the entrenched attitudes undermining academic thought.

http://www.chrisbigum.com/wp/2013/03/04/of-whisperers-skunks-and-lemmings

In a follow-up to that is a blog post from one of my lecturers, Chris talks about the thesiswhisperer.com blogger (whom he met at a speech), skunks and lemmings. Skunks are projects that are undertaken by universities as an experiment and are often doomed to fail. These ‘fail early, fail often’ projects are doomed to extinction as universities take a lemmings approach to adopting new ideas.

The thesiswhisperer.com and Chris’ blog are radical and refreshing.

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