Why to blog?
Well, here we go. It´s about time for me to start writing a blog. As someone with background in research (even though a relatively short one), I should justify my blogging, if not for anyone else, at least for my self!
Some time ago, I – like perhaps many others – believed that blogging is for people who believe they are so important, interesting and intelligent, that their thoughts should be visible for all to see! Or for people who wanted to publish their everyday activities online for their friends to see. Well, I do see these people still around the blogosphere. Many academics, especially younger scholars still seem to feel that blogging makes them kings or queens of the Internet, and just about everyone reads their blogs! If you ever feel that way about my blog, please let me know!
Well why then? Recently, as part of my job as a “senior consultant” at the Sibelius Academy, I have been reading a lot of research papers on academic blogging and on using blogs in learning. Perhaps I will write another post about that, but it seems, that blogs can be seen as very reflective tools for knowledge building and thus for learning. And I have found my self getting more and more of the meaningful information I read (and learn) from distinguished bloggers, instead of published and printed Journals. So, I feel that blogs are the future (and actually pretty much the present) of academic publishing, scientific discourse and especially networking. If I would now write a reflective article about blogging (no doubt a more grounded one, with theoretical background, references, etc. etc.) it would be published in print around the summer of 2008 and perhaps available online during 2009. I do not believe it makes any sense to do that other than for reasons of getting “points” for future applications for funding. In fact, I think everyone should sign a petition to support open publishing!
There is no doubt that blogging is an egoistic activity, no matter how academic or “scientific” the blogs are. Every time I write about something, I learn. So, I hope this will become a learning tool for my self, but perhaps also for other people interested in same areas as I am. Maybe even a part of a knowledge network. It will become that if my writings interest someone who will give me feedback and perhaps evoke new thoughts in me, bring out new information available for me to think about etc. And perhaps my writings will evoke some thoughts in others. The field of music education technologies is so small that we cannot afford to be isolated. As I feel that I benefit so much from other blogs, it is my duty to pass on the interesting information I find.
Finally, as someone who is constantly trying to evoke a change in the way people learn (and teach!), I think it would be truly hypocritical not to use the tools and ways of learning that I feel and praise to be most suited and promising for active and collaborative learning. For this spring (2007) blogs are used at the music education department of Sibelius Academy in pilot projects. If you wish to become a commentator in my blog, pleas send me an email. (firstname dot lastname at siba dot fi).
But don’t you think there is still a difference in writing something to be printed somewhere even if it happened in the year 2008 and something to be used/passed quickly in the net? Or, do you write with the equal thoroughness whether it is a matter of your blog or an article in a journal?
Of course I think there is a difference. And I certainly write with more thought. But for instacne it would make sense to report interesting findings in my research NOW in a blog rather than in 2008 when the information is not as meaningful. The right solution would be that the universities would form online journals, where the referee and editing processes become much faster and especially the information (often produced with tax-payers money!) would become free for everyone.
It is not just speed vs. quality issue. Rather, I think blogs and journals do complement each other. The reflective and often reciprocal thought in blogs can be beneficial in the future articles. A blogger with a community around him/her benefits enourmosly from the comments by fellow scholars. (Like I do here from Heidi’s comments).
But the current slow process of having articles published in online journals is also hurting those writing their phd-theses as article compilations. And those of us, who work on year-to-year-basis.
Still, refereed publications have in principle been “checked” by your professional collegues. In a blog, in principle you can “publish” anything you like. Different procedure, even if, in practice, it did not feel like that.
Yes, but why does the academic field still seem to value printed journals which have been published by professional publishing houses? And which are terribly expensive? Why can´t they form communities which administer refereed online journals? Blogs can be meaningful in both presenting results of empirical research and engaging in theoretical discussion prior to their publication in (online) journals. This would be much more reflective and collaborative procedure than publishing in printed journals, because of the time it takes for others to read the results and perhaps respond to the theoretical discussion.
[...] Please join me in welcoming Miikka Salavuo, from the Sibelius Academy in Helskinki, to the music education blogosphere! The first blog post and the discussion that follows it in comments, raise some very interesting points on the implications of blogging in higher education, the future of refereed journals and how the internet will shape how we learn and network in the future. [...]
[...] February 4 Dr. Miikka Salavuo’s blog starts out with Why To Blog? [...]
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