scholarly journals Technology Enhanced Learning, Research Impact and Open Scholarship

Author(s):  
Thomas Cochrane ◽  
Petrea Redmond ◽  
Linda Corrin

This guest editorial explores the potential impact of alternative metrics and social research networks to enhance Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) research and practice, particularly in the realm of open scholarship. Conventional measures of research impact are based upon a publications’ impact factor. Article or author-level metrics can provide a better view of the contribution to the field of research of a specific research project. However, metrics are based upon citation counts that can take years to accumulate.  This can result in a significant lag between the original research, communicating research outcomes to the wider research community, and research impact. TEL researchers are in a unique position to spearhead the growing movement towards open social scholarship and alternative metrics. Alternative metrics provide a powerful addition to conventional measures of research impact, facilitating a dynamic conversation around TEL research. Social media conversations provide the foundation for a collaborative open Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning as both an enhancement and alternative to conventional modes of research impact measurement. This guest editorial outlines key tools that are currently used to measure impact. We argue that a culture of open scholarship enhanced via social media and measured via alternative metrics creates an effective feedback loop between research and practice.

Gamification ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 1706-1733
Author(s):  
Peter van Rosmalen ◽  
Amanda Wilson ◽  
Hans G.K. Hummel

With the advent of social media, it is widely accepted that teachers and learners are not only consumers but also may have an active role in contributing and co-creating lesson materials and content. Paradoxically, one strand of technology-enhanced learning (i.e. game-based learning) aligns only slightly to this development. Games, while there to experience, explore, and collaborate, are almost exclusively designed by professionals. Despite, or maybe because, games are the exclusive domain of professional developers, the general impression is that games require complex technologies and that games are difficult to organise and to embed in a curriculum. This chapter makes a case that games are not necessarily the exclusive domain of game professionals. Rather than enforcing teachers to get acquainted with and use complex, technically demanding games, the authors discuss approaches that teachers themselves can use to build games, make use of existing games, and even one step beyond use tools or games that can be used by learners to create their own designs (e.g. games or virtual worlds).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Erskine ◽  
Sharief Hendricks

BACKGROUND Medical journals use Twitter to engage and disseminate their research articles and implement a range of strategies to maximize reach and impact. OBJECTIVE This study aims to systematically review the literature to synthesize and describe the different Twitter strategies used by medical journals and their effectiveness on journal impact and readership metrics. METHODS A systematic search of the literature before February 2020 in four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and ScienceDirect) was conducted. Articles were reviewed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) guidelines. RESULTS The search identified 44 original research studies that evaluated Twitter strategies implemented by medical journals and analyzed the relationship between Twitter metrics and alternative and citation-based metrics. The key findings suggest that promoting publications on Twitter improves citation-based and alternative metrics for academic medical journals. Moreover, implementing different Twitter strategies maximizes the amount of attention that publications and journals receive. The four key Twitter strategies implemented by many medical journals are tweeting the title and link of the article, infographics, podcasts, and hosting monthly internet-based journal clubs. Each strategy was successful in promoting the publications. However, different metrics were used to measure success. CONCLUSIONS Four key Twitter strategies are implemented by medical journals: tweeting the title and link of the article, infographics, podcasts, and hosting monthly internet-based journal clubs. In this review, each strategy was successful in promoting publications but used different metrics to measure success. Thus, it is difficult to conclude which strategy is most effective. In addition, the four strategies have different costs and effects on dissemination and readership. We recommend that journals and researchers incorporate a combination of Twitter strategies to maximize research impact and capture audiences with a variety of learning methods. CLINICALTRIAL


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-436
Author(s):  
Roger Watson ◽  
Ahtisham Younas ◽  
Salma Abdul Rehman ◽  
Parveen Azam Ali

Abstract Objectives To investigate what the most common types of articles that nursing journals purport to publish are and what they actually publish. And to investigate the extent to which academic nursing journals listed by Clarivate track alternative metrics. Methods Journals included in the nursing Journal Citation Report (JCR) journal category in 2019 described as nursing were identified and considered suitable for inclusion in the analysis. Instructions for authors were reviewed online and mention of each type of article is identified. The tables of contents of each issue of each journal published during 2019 were examined and the types of articles published were extracted to a spreadsheet into permitted article types and published articles. Likewise, the use of alternative metrics by each journal was extracted to a spreadsheet. Pearson's and Spearman's correlation analysis was applied to investigate the relationship between articles permitted and articles published. Results In the 2020 JCR, 123 journals were listed. The most common article type permitted was original research (n = 117), followed by review papers (n = 116), and discussion papers (n = 63). Original research (n = 7045); review papers (n = 1268); discussion papers (n = 1225); editorials (n = 793) and commentaries (n = 776) were the most commonly published categories of the article. Of journals examined, 108 (96.8%) tracked mentions on social media and the Altmetric score was most commonly used (75%). There was a strong correlation (r = 0.73; P = 0.002) between the numbers of articles permitted and published and a strong correlation (ρ = 0.86; P < 0.001) in terms of the rankings of the permitted and published articles. Conclusions There is a relationship between the most frequently permitted article types and those published, especially for the most frequent categories of both. Original articles, review papers, and discussion papers are the backbone of academic publishing in nursing with original articles vastly outweighing review and discussion papers. Most Clarivate listed journals now use some method of tracking alternative metrics indicating how seriously publishers take their social media profiles.


Publications ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Balaji ◽  
M. Dhanamjaya

Digital scholarship and electronic publishing within scholarly communities change when metrics and open infrastructures take center stage for measuring research impact. In scholarly communication, the growth of preprint repositories as a new model of scholarly publishing over the last three decades has been one of the major developments. As it unfolds, the landscape of scholarly communication is transitioning—with much being privatized as it is made open—and turning towards alternative metrics, such as social media attention, author-level, and article-level metrics. Moreover, the granularity of evaluating research impact through new metrics and social media changes the objective standards of evaluating research performance. Using preprint repositories as a case study, this article situates them in a scholarly web, examining their salient features, benefits, and futures. Moves towards scholarly web development and publishing on the semantic and social web with open infrastructures, citations, and alternative metrics—how preprints advance building the web as data—is discussed. We determine that this will viably demonstrate new metrics and, by enhancing research publishing tools in the scholarly commons, facilitate various communities of practice. However, for preprint repositories to be sustainable, scholarly communities and funding agencies should support continued investment in open knowledge, alternative metrics development, and open infrastructures in scholarly publishing.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Watson ◽  
Ashitam Younas ◽  
Salma Abdul Rehman ◽  
Parveen Azam Ali

Objectives To investigate what the most common types of articles that nursing journals purport to publish are and what they actually publish? And to investigate the extent to which academic nursing journals listed by Clarivate track alternative metrics? Methods Journals included in the nursing Journal Citation Report journal category in 2019 described as nursing were identified and considered suitable for inclusion in the analysis. Instructions for authors were reviewed online and mention of each type of article identified. The tables of contents of each issue of each journal published during 2019 was examined and the types of articles published were extracted to a spreadsheet into permitted article types and published articles. Likewise, the use of alternative metrics by each journal was extracted to a spreadsheet. Pearson and Spearman correlation analysis was applied to investigate the relationship between articles permitted and articles published. Results In the 2020 Journal Citation Report, 123 journals were listed. The most common article type permitted was original research (n=117), followed by review papers (n=116) and discussion papers (n=63). Original research (n=7045); review papers (n=1268); discussion papers (n=1225); editorials (n=793) and commentaries (n=776) were the most commonly published categories of article. Of journals examined, 108 (96.8%) tracked mentions on social media and the Altmetric score was the most commonly use (75%). There was a strong correlation (r=0.73; p=0,002) between the numbers of article permitted and published and a strong correlation (rho=0.86; p<0.001) in terms of the rankings of the permitted and published articles. Conclusions There is a relationship between the most frequently permitted article types and those published, especially for the most frequent categories of both. Original articles, review papers and discussion papers are the backbone of academic publishing in nursing with original articles vastly outweighing review and discussion papers. Most Clarivate listed journals now use some method of tracking alternative metrics indicating how seriously publishers take their social media profiles.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
Thomas Cochrane ◽  
Vickel Narayan

This case study critically reflects upon the development of a scholarship of technology enhanced learning (SOTEL) research cluster in clinical sciences higher education. The research cluster has grown from an initial community of practice established in 2015 in the context of Paramedicine education (Cochrane, Cook, Aiello, Harrison, & Aguayo, 2016), to a collaborative transdisciplinary research cluster that now encompasses: the School of Clinical Sciences, Journalism, the Centre for Teaching And Learning, the AppLAB, and international research partners (Cochrane, 2019; Cochrane et al., 2018). The MESH360 research cluster (initially standing for the Multiple Environment Simulation VR Hub, but now covering the growing body of immersive reality enhanced learning projects) focuses upon the common domain of the exploration of immersive reality to enhance higher education to develop student creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving capabilities.   The research cluster is built upon the shared ontology, epistemology, and research methodology of the wider SOTEL research cluster hub (https://sotel.nz/about-the-cluster/). We established an ecology of resources to support the research cluster (Cochrane & Narayan, 2018), and encourage open educational practice via social media, publishing in open access channels, and regular project showcases. Outcomes from the MESH360 research cluster include: innovative curriculum design, journal articles, conference proceedings, 2 Vice Chancellors teaching innovation awards, a Prime Minister’s research scholarship, and award of a variety of internal project funding. The activity of the research cluster is curated in a ResearchGate Project at https://www.researchgate.net/project/MESH360 and on social media via the #MESH360 hashtag. While the activity of the MESH360 has been predominantly within the Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, we are seeing wider impact into Schools within the other Faculties at the university, and potential national and international collaborations.   The SOTEL model includes the following main elements: An online hub - The SOTEL Research Cluster https://sotel.nz/ An annual Symposium showcasing SOTEL in practice https://sotel.nz The Pacific Journal of Educational Technology (PJTEL) The CMALT cMOOC and the MOSOMELT cMOOC A weekly webinar series Brokering international TEL networks such as the ASCILITE Mobile Learning Special Interest Group A series of TEL workshops and showcases   The presentation will outline the above elements of the SOTEL Research Cluster. We believe the MESH360 research cluster model can be applied to a wide variety of higher education domains. References   Cochrane, T. (2019). How AUT is Designing Authentic Student Learning Experiences with Immersive Reality. Paper presented at the 2nd New Zealand Digital Campus and Blended Learning Transformation From K6 to Higher education: Immersive AR/VR, blended learning innovations and next generation learning spaces, Stamford Plaza, Auckland, New Zealand. https://tinyurl.com/SOTELprojects Cochrane, T., Cook, S., Aiello, S., Harrison, D., & Aguayo, C. (2016, 28-30 November). Designing Virtual Reality Environments for Paramedic Education: MESH360. Paper presented at the Show Me The Learning. Proceedings ASCILITE 2016 Adelaide, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Cochrane, T., & Narayan, V. (2018, 25-29 June, 2018). The Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning: Reimagining SOTL for the Social Network Age. Paper presented at the EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology 2018, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Cochrane, T., Stretton, T., Aiello, S., Britnell, S., Cook, S., & Narayan, V. (2018). Authentic Interprofessional Health Education Scenarios using Mobile VR. Research in Learning Technology, 26, 2130. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2130  


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