Blogging: Academia's Digital Divide?

Thanks to the quick eyes of a friend, Eric Mattson (making waves in the marketing blog/podcast waters with his Marketing Monger 1000 podcasted interviews and much more), I was recently sent to the "Unit Structures" blog authored by Fred Stutzman, a PhD candidate at UNC-Chapel Hill who wrote an intriguing piece on the "digital divide" created by blogging (vs. not bloggin) in higher ed.  Well worth the time to explore this much further. 

A snippet (read:  his abstract):

As academics, we are educators and communicators. For this reason, the ongoing debate over the role of blogs in academia is both illustrative and confounding. Fundamentally, blogs are communication tools - ones that when used in context become powerful tools for digital learning. Many in academia have effectively leveraged blogs to share their work and connect with students and colleagues, all the while spurring conversation and research. Why is it that so many of us are apprehensive about the role blogs play in academia, and particularly, the role blogging may play in our careers?

Seems that Fred's comments could work equally well for K-12 or corporate CEO's alike.  The 'fear' he mentions seems may have to do with the underlying purpose of sharing information. 

If it's meant to be 'finished' and inpenetrable to challenge, than blogging is too risky.  Hence, apprehension.  If it's meant to be one-way, then forget about it.  Scary stuff. If it's meant to be expert driven only, then blogging seems like a roadblock at best...and nothing your addrenaline needs.  And if it requires 500 years of esteemed academic principles and vetting processes to substantiate, then blogging ain't gonna be much of a value-add for most traditional researchers/academics.  And fear of change will dominate.

Or, maybe we're looking at something other than the ivory tower of old on the blogging horizon.  Either way, I love where Fred is taking the conversation.  Love the mash-up of the 'digital divide' motif, as well.  A nice spin on the way it's typically used, in my opinion.

Head over to Fred's blog, read the PDF article he links you to, and then tell him what you think about the 'apprehension' in academia when the blogging monster (or pocket-watch wearin' rabbit) comes out of the closet. 

Comments

[BrettPawlowski]

Interesting post. In my limited experience working with the academic community, I've had the sense that they saw themselves as keepers of knowledge, and those who wanted their knowledge bore the responsibility to seek it out. As a result, there was no interest in outbound communication: we're not going to push our knowledge out into the world, since those who want it will find us.

It seems that attitude is reflected in their use of blogging (or lack thereof). While there's still vigorous debate and information sharing within the walls of the academic community, there is still little interest in reaching past those walls to the rest of us.