Lisa's Research 3rd Oct 2011

Looking beyond the tyranny of the 3* journal
Lisa Harris
3rd October 2011

Why?
The purpose of this slidedeck is to introduce myself and the projects I’m currently working on, to both new students and members of the Strategy and Innovation Research Group.
As the title suggests, I believe there is more to university life than propping up the creaking 20th century business model of academic publishing…as I hope these slides will indicate.

About me…
10 years in banking industry and MBA @ Oxford Brookes makes me a “pracademic”
PhD @ Brunel, investigating case studies of technological change in banking industry
Teaching @ Brunel and Director of MBA programme
Teaching @ Soton and development of new MSc programme in Digital Marketing
Qualified tutor University of Liverpool e-MBA

In a nutshell…
I’m interested in the innovative applications of technology on education, business and society
In particular, I’m currently involved in projects investigating:
Digital literacy
Social activism
Social CRM
Social shopping
Social learning
But first, a bit of background…

“No more disruptive innovation, please”

I like these quotes…
“…alternatively, you can ignore this advice, close the blinds and gaze lovingly at your peer-reviewed papers. All I would say is: remember Betamax.”
(Dan Stern in Times Higher, warning of the need for innovation in universities)
“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less”
(General Eric Shineski, US Army Chief of Staff)

The times they are a changing…
Availability of free content (e.g. video of lectures) by global experts both in education and industry from the likes of MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Oxford
University reliance upon the ‘Russell Group’ arrogance – but this is a 20th century brand.
Expectation from students of flexible evening/weekend/online learning options, as they seek to maintain job and family commitments
Accessibility and breadth of information now available online alters the traditional role of the lecturer as gatekeeper to relevant knowledge
Difficult economic conditions and higher fees adjust the risk/reward calculation of attending university
Student profile increasingly international and with a wide range of ages and work experience
Princeton Uni now prohibits staff from signing away the copyright of their papers to academic publishers
Currently there are calls to boycott reviewing for non-open journals

How many of these existed 10 years ago?
John

First cohort of 300 students from 100 countries started in Sept 2009 http://www.uopeople.org/groups/milestones

Open Scholars (Anderson, 2009)
Archive their own work in a public space (egePrints repository)
Filter, curate and share content with others (via blogs, social networks etc)
Publish in open access journals
Write open textbooks or lead open courses
Lobby for copyright reform
Act as change agents in their institutions

My current work
Growth of social shopping (Facebook project, with Charles Dennis)
Challenges of social CRM for small businesses (with Paul Harrigan)
The role of social technologies in activism (with ThanassisTiropanis and Chris Peathean, ECS)
New course development: blended learning modules (with Jean Leahand Madeline Paterson)
Embedding digital literacy into the curriculum (Soton SIG)
Promoting multi-disciplinary work via Digital Economy USRG (with Graeme Earl)

1. Social shopping
Exploratory investigation of interactions between young consumers and consumer products/services on social networks.
Focus on social shopping behaviour; namely product/service recommendations and retail purchase activities.
A ‘nudge’ in the form of recommendations from friends appears to be influential in changing online shopping behaviour
Ahierarchy of trust scale ranging from ‘real’ friends at the top down to reviews on retailers’ websites may be positively associated with intention to purchase.
Example early adopters: Asos, Malaysian Airlines

2. Social CRM
CRM systems tend to over promise and under deliver
Success is more likely when focus is on culture change rather than the technology itself
We propose that 1) the participative, personal and real time approaches and 2) the access to customer data facilitated by social media are critical to effective CRM
Example: Dell Social Media Command Centre (video, 3 mins)

3. Online activism
Aimed to investigate what metrics are available for measuring success of marketing via social media, and how both charitable organisations and activist campaigns can use this style of marketing.
Higher awareness of a cause does not necessarily mean higher levels of engagement
Engagement metrics such as click through rates and content analysis are proposed to distinguish activism and ‘slactivism’

4. Social/blended Learning
The “constructivist” or “communities of practice” or “action-based learning” approaches focus on group discussion, debating and sharing contrasting points of view, both online and offline
Contrast to traditional approach which is based upon individual contributions where sharing is discouraged and students see no work other than their own
Example:
Blended learning modules for MSc top up programme
University of Liverpool online MBA

5. Digital Literacy
“Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organise, understand, evaluate, and analyse information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current tools and an understanding of how they can be used”
“The active management of online activities such as collaboration, networking , reviewing, content creation and curation in order to ‘stand out from the crowd’ in today’s job market”
“An ability to respond positively to change”
Examples:
Digital Literacy Special Interest Group (workshops and conferences)
Input to Curriculum Innovation Programme (CIP)

The “digitally literate” student
be proactive, confident and flexible adopters of a range of technologies for personal, academic and professional use
use appropriate technology effectively to search for and store high-quality information
curate, reflect and critically evaluate the information obtained
engage creatively and productively in relevant online communities
be familiar with the use of collaboration tools to facilitate groupwork and project management
be aware of the challenges inherent in ensuring online privacy and security
Have developed appropriate communication skills for peer and tutor interaction within an ‘always on’ environment

Educational opportunities of using online tools
Generically known as “social technologies” which are built around participation and collaboration – essential aspects of ‘action-based learning’
Communities such as Facebook or Ning for communication and collaboration
Blogs and micro blogs to generate content, access information on latest trends, or access global networks of expertise
Wikis for collaborative working and editing
Bookmarking sites such as Delicious or Digg to save, rate and organise material

Classmates
Friends
Family
Teachers
Experts
Coworkers
Contacts
Video Conferencing
Evaluating Resources
Locating Experts
Microbloging
Scholarly Works
“Life-wide” and “life-long” learning
Synchronous Communication
Information Management
Library/Texts
Instant Messaging
Mobile Texting
Open CourseWare
Subscriptions readers
RSS
Social Networks
Blogs
Wikis
Social Bookmarking
Podcasts
Wendy Drexler (2008)

Curtin University
“Triple-i Curriculum” is way ahead of the UK in the integration of online portfolios
Aims to produce highly-employable global citizens with expertise beyond their primary discipline
Emphasis on inter-disciplinary, intercultural and international awareness to foster global citizenship
“Life-wide” learning recognises that life experience and extracurricular activities can differentiate students from others with similar degrees
“Life-long”component fostered as community membership extends to alumni and prospective students

Personal Development Portfolios (PDP)
An online diary (blog) for posting reflections on set tasks
Topics form the basis of discussion in tutor/tutee meetings
A record of progress and achievements throughout the course.
‘showcase’ work to tutors, prospective employers, business partners etc
Real time feedback to tutors on what students like/dislike about their programmes

Blogging benefits for students
Easy to use
Personally configurable
Widgets to integrate content from elsewhere
Portable
Reflective spaces
Build online presence and social capital

Useful links
The Networked Student (5 mins)
For examples of students from last year who really embraced the approach, see Natasha’s blog and Maria’s blog.
Student experiences through the whole programme: student course summary

Digital Economy USRG
Encourages collaborative research on all aspects of the Digital Economy via networking meetings, conference papers, project bids
Monthly lunchtime meetings with guest speaker, all welcome
Champions innovation and change within the University (eg Create Your Campus, Digital Literacy SIG)
More information here

Thank you!
You are welcome to follow me on any of my social media sites:
www.lisaharrismarketing.com
www.delicious.com/lisaharris1
www.twitter.com/lisaharris
www.linkedin.com/in/lisajaneharris
www.slideshare.net/lisaharris
www.netvibes.com/ljharris

Lisa's Research 3rd Oct 2011

by lisa harris

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