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The digital scholar

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More about this course

Digital scholarship is a shorthand for the intersection of three technology related developments: digital content, networked distribution and open practices. It is when digital, networked and open intersect that transformational practice occurs. In this free course, The digital scholar, you will explore the impact of digital technologies on scholarly practice.

In the following video Martin Weller gives an overview of the course content.

The digital scholar is a free course which lasts about 8 weeks, with approximately 3 hours' study time each week. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete another week's study. You can also take as long as you want to complete it.

Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.

Once you're signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition you can download and print your OpenLearn Statement of Participation which also displays your Open University badge.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

Learning outcomes

After studying this course you will be able to:

understand what is meant by the term 'digital scholarship'
recognise Boyer’s scholarship framework
consider new approaches to research afforded by digital scholarship
understand how digital, networked technology can influence public engagement
appreciate the influence of the recent MOOC development.

Earn this free Open University digital badge if you complete this course! The badge can be displayed, shared and downloaded as a marker of your achievement. The badge is awarded for completing the course and passing the quizzes.

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Week8

You can start this course right now without signing-up. Click on any of the course content sections below to start at any point in this course.
If you want to be able to track your progress, earn a free Statement of Participation, and access all course quizzes and activities, sign-up.

Course content

- Introduction and guidance
- Current section:
  Introduction and guidance
  The digital scholar is a free badged course which lasts 8 weeks, with approximately 3 hours’ study time each week. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week there is no problem with pushing on to complete another week’s study.Digital scholarship is a shorthand for the intersection of three technology related developments: digital content, networked distribution and open practices. It is when digital, networked and open intersect that tran...
  - What is a badged course?
  - How to get a badge
- Acknowledgements
- week1Week 1: Entering the digital world
- Current section:
  Introduction
  What is meant by the term ‘digital scholarship’? In the first week of the course you will develop some initial thoughts on how technology is affecting practice. You will also look at a framework for considering scholarship.Watch Martin Weller as he introduces Week 1:Unlike other weeks in the course, Week 1 is not based around a chapter of the book The Digital Scholar, but instead covers the themes addressed in the first four chapters. In this week you will consider what is meant...
- 1 Into the digital
- 2 What is digital scholarship?
- 3 How might digital scholarship look?
- 4 The nature of digital scholarship
- 5 This week’s quiz
- 6 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 1 practice quiz
- week2Week 2: Discovery
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Discovery is the first of Boyer’s scholarly functions. As you saw in Week 1, this is the creation of new knowledge in a specific area or discipline. In Chapter 5 of The Digital Scholar Martin Weller has broadened this out to mean research and this week you will look at some of the impacts of digital technologies on research activity.Watch the video now to find out more about this:By the end of this week you will have:developed an understanding of how researchers approach new technology...
- 1 Researchers and new technology
- 2 Changing research approaches
  - 2.1 The art of guerilla research
  - 2.2 Different approaches
- 3 This week’s quiz
- 4 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 2 practice quiz
- week3Week 3: Integration and interdisciplinarity
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Boyer’s integration function is concerned with making connections across academic disciplines. In The Digital Scholar Martin Weller considers the potential of networked technologies and then looks in more detail at two examples: blogging and Twitter. Watch Martin Weller describe this further:By the end of this week you will have:gained an understanding of how new technology can influence interdisciplinarityconsidered how open access publishing can influence interdisciplinarity.
- 1 Interdisciplinarity and permeable boundaries
- 2 Interdisciplinarity: on the rise or decline?
- 3 This week’s quiz
- 4 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 3 practice quiz
- week4Week 4: Public engagement and digital scholarship
- Current section:
  Introduction
  The third of Boyer’s scholarly activities is known as ‘application’. This can be taking academic knowledge and applying it to a problem, working on committees, liaising with industry, etc. The particular focus you will take this week is that of public engagement. The digital, networked environment offers many new routes to disseminate work, to engage with the public beyond the traditional channels of broadcast media, or writing popular books. Now through blogs, podcasts and...
- 1 The long tail
- 2 Engaged research
- 3 This week’s quiz
- 4 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 4 compulsory badge quiz
- week5Week 5: Teaching and digital scholarship
- Current section:
  Introduction
  Having looked at the creation of digital content as part of the core activities of a university it is time to look at one of those core activities. In this week you will be introduced to the last of Boyer’s scholarly activities, and arguably the one most directly affected by digital scholarship, namely teaching. Digital scholarship allows educators to include different resources in their teaching, to use different pedagogic approaches, and to teach different audiences. The learner can...
- 1 Economics of abundance and scarcity
- 2 MOOCs
  - 2.1 Pedagogies for abundance
- 3 This week’s quiz
- 4 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 5 practice quiz
- week6Week 6: Reward and tenure
- Current section:
  Introduction
  One reservation about digital scholarship that often arises is that whilst engaging in activities such as blogging, or using social media may be rewarding personally, it is not recognised by institutions. If you wish to progress in a career as an academic, the emphasis is on traditional activities still, such as publishing articles in recognised journals. It is this relationship with reward and tenure that we will examine this week.Watch Martin Weller discuss how scholarly work is recognised...
- 1 Recognition and reward
  - 1.1 Recognising digital scholarship
- 2 Best of both worlds
  - 2.1 Recognition
- 3 This week’s quiz
- 4 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 6 practice quiz
- week7Week 7: The downside of digital scholarship
- Current section:
  Introduction
  You have looked at how digital scholarship is impacting upon the four types of scholarly activity, and how it can relate to professional recognition. While you have considered the issues involved, there has largely been a positive stance on digital scholarship. However, it is important to consider some of the negative aspects. These are not necessarily reasons not to adopt digital scholarship approaches, but you should be aware of such issues, both for yourselves, but also for any impacts on...
- 1 The medals of our defeats
- 2 Examples of ‘openness’
- 3 Difficulties with identity
- 4 This week’s quiz
- 5 Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 7 practice quiz
- week8Week 8: Changes
- Current section:
  Introduction
  You have considered different aspects of digital scholarship using the lens of Boyer’s framework. In this final week of the course you will look at a method for considering how you, or an institution, can frame the impact of digital scholarship changes. You will also look at how those changes can play out when implementing a digital approach to scholarship.Watch Martin Weller discuss this:This week does not include an extract from The Digital Scholar but you will be directed towards ot...
- 1 Adopting a digital scholarship approach
- 2 Digital resilience
- 3 Reflection
- 4 This week’s quiz
- 5 Summary
- End-of-course conclusion
- Tell us what you think
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week 8 compulsory badge quiz

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