Session Information
06 SES 09, Seminar.net - Evaluating an E-journal
Symposium
Time:
2008-09-12
10:30-12:00
Room:
AK2 134
Chair:
Mart Laanpere
Discussant:
Brian Hudson
Contribution
The e-journal Seminar.net was launched in 2005 and was supported by an international group of 23 academics serving on its editorial board. Several of the participants of Network 6 are members of the board. The editors consist of a group of academics belonging to the Lillehammer University College, and an adjunct professor also related to the college, and University of Southern Denmark. These academics represent a wide spectre of institutions that have a profound interest in the special topics that the journal addresses. The aim of the journal was described as a “journal, which publishes refereed articles dealing with research into theoretical or practical aspects related to the learning of adolescents, adults and elderly, in formal or informal educational settings. The use of information and communication technologies in general in these settings is a vital field of interest for the journal.
The aim of Seminar.net is to raise critical issues as to how ICT and media are used in education and in society, in order to promote democratic values, equity and justice in the field of education. The journal will publish philosophical, analytical and empirical contributions, addressing various fields coined as adult education, higher education, distance education, flexible or blended education, lifelong learning, human resource development, organizational learning etc. Seminar.net will seek a role as an influential source for the promotion of participation and reflexivity in the social construction of the development of educational technology.”
The text suggests that the field is in need of a journal that aims at presenting contrasting material that is critical to the status quo and to values taken for granted in mediapedagogy, technology and lifelong learning as an academic field. In general, academic journals request critical articles from its authors in line with the high prose of the value of criticism, rethinking and inquiry in academia.
Since its inception, a number of 22 articles have been published, representing a number of 30 authors, and the site has been visited 1400 times each month at its most. The unique possibilities of tracking how readers of seminar.net behave when entering the site give the editors significant information on how topics are received. The symposium will address some patterns that are detectable and analyse this in relation to what types of topics authors address and how they communicate their message. Another unique feature of the e-journal is to communicate in other media than textual. Seminar.net is alone on the academic marked in the field of presenting an abstract of the paper in a video format. Little is known about how this is being received and if it increases the interest and significance of the paper.
The symposium will raise questions about how Seminar.net manages to raise critical issues and attract interest for reappraisal of initiatives in mediapedagogy.
Expected Outcomes
We expect to find critical issues regarding the further development of the journal
References
www.seminar.net
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