Slides of my presentation at the keynote debate on Digital Scholarship of ED-MEDIA 2011. The debate followed an Oxford-style 'competitive debate' format, where a motion is put forward and two debaters argue, one in favor of the motion and the other against it. Martin Weller, from the Open University, UK, had the task of arguing for the motion. I had the task of arguing against it. Following our presentations, we have briefly responded to each others' arguments, after which the debate has been open to questions and comments from the floor. At the conclusion of the session, the votes from the audience have been cast. The results have been as follows: For the motion - 33%; Against the motion - 67%. I will be blogging about this debate very soon, and I'll keep you informed.

1. KEYNOTE DEBATE
In the next decade,
digital scholarship (in
open journals, blogs, and
social media) will
achieve the same status
in academic settings as
traditional scholarship…
☐ Yes
Lisbon, Portugal — June 27 - July 1, 2011
ED-MEDIA 2011, World Conference on Educational
☐ No
 No
Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications

2. I come from the University of Coimbra
Founded in 1290 (721 years ago)

3. The University of Coimbra is also
known for its early adopDon and
engagement with new technologies
I have been personally
involved in contribuDng to this
process since the early 1980s
But what I would like to suggest, in
the metaphor that follows, is that
tradiDon and high‐tech can go
hand‐in‐hand very successfully

4. The iTunes U page of the University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra is also
known for its early adopDon and
engagement with new technologies
I have been personally involved
in contribuDng to this process

5. DEBATE STATEMENT
“In the next decade, digital
scholarship (in open journals, blogs,
and social media) will achieve the
same status in academic seLngs as
tradiDonal scholarship…

6. 1. DECLARATION OF INTEREST:
I am biased in favor of open access
scholarship (namely ‘green’ OA).

7. 2. DECLARATION OF BELIEF:
Open access scholarship will not achieve
in academic seLngs, in just a decade, the
same status as tradiDonal scholarship.

8. 3. DECLARATION OF CERTAINTY:
Blogs and social media will take
much, much, longer than a
decade to gain widespread
acceptance in academic seLngs.

9. WE ARE NOT ARGUING ABOUT:
The desirability of open
access scholarship.
We can all agree it is desirable!

10. WE ARE NOT ARGUING ABOUT:
Whether open access scholarship
will, someDme in the future, reach
the status of tradiDonal scholarship.

11. WE ARE NOT ARGUING ABOUT:
The likely scenario where, instead of
fighDng each other, they will
transform each other, to emerge as a
combined new form of scholarship.

12. WHAT WE ARE ARGUING ABOUT IS:
Whether open access scholarship +
blogs + social media will become an
alternaDve form of scholarship that
will predominate within a decade!

13. SOCIOLOGY OF INNOVATION:
Academic systems can be
seen as networks of actors
that reinforce each other
into stable configuraDons
These stable configuraDons
tend to prevent change

15. In such conservaDve echo‐systems
it is very difficult to produce
innovaDons with lasDng effects
the inerDa of the system dilutes
or distorts the innovaDons
and converts them
to the reigning uniformity
It is like pouring water in the desert

16. EXAMPLES:
THE USE OF ICT IN EDUCATION:
Three decades later, can we talk about
significant pedagogical progress?
THE LECTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION:
The lecture, used in the Middle Ages to
propagate the word of the classics, keeps being
(over)used, many centuries later, in spite of the
much befer alternaDves now available

17. Fortunately, the alternaDve
network of open access
scholarship has also been
gaining momentum
And there are signs of reconciliaDon between
the two networks, which may eventually mix up

18. Blog scholarship and social network
scholarship are enDrely different things
Their quanDtaDve indicators are sDll
at a stage of early debate and are
likely to remain so for many decades
A variety of scholarship combining open
access scholarship with blog scholarship
and social network scholarship is
unsustainable, and will be so for decades

19. KEYNOTE DEBATE
In the next decade,
digital scholarship (in
open journals, blogs, and
social media) will
achieve the same status
in academic settings as
traditional scholarship…
☐ Yes
Lisbon, Portugal — June 27 - July 1, 2011
ED-MEDIA 2011, World Conference on Educational
☐ No
 No
Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications