Publishing, Co-authoring And New Media In The Professoriate

Dec. 2, 2009 - PRLog -- As many of us in higher education progress through our careers, we continue to share our knowledge and master our respective areas of expertise. In a guided effort to do so, here is my two cents:

Publishing is one of the more traditional ways to spread our knowledge. Authoring is likely the single most important role we undertake when we become part of higher education. Highlighting our expertise not only to our students, but to other educators, as well as, the general public is our responsibility and our duty. Publishing in journals, handbooks, and text books not only provides information for all who are exposed to them, it is also a way for us as professors to truly excel in our fields and constantly push the envelope on thought provoking ideas, theories, and methodology.

With the advent of new media such as social networks, online magazines, and internet blogs, there is a whole new medium for experts to share their knowledge. These efficient information technology tools are clearly a means for all educators to advance education into the future.

Publishing a personal blog is a great way to quickly become someone of interest among academia and the general public. Blog posts are seen as a window into one's personal views, expertise in subject matter, and much more. Blogs are also a great medium for discussion as they allow readers to comment and give editorial feedback, or act as a forum for discussion between reader and author or between readers themselves. These comments give the ability for a piece of published work to really become a living document.

I have found that Co-authoring is a great way to publish writing because it gives you the ability to bounce ideas off other like minded people within your specialty field or group. This makes for really exciting discussion which can lead to excellent published works. The trouble in the past was finding these like-minded people. Where do we as academics find fellow specialists to converge with? This has been the trouble for most looking to find co-authors or just academics within their specialty areas. We have, in the past, been limited to colleagues working within our given school departments or working within educational institutions geographically accessible to us. Reaching out to published authors has been difficult for all of us.

http://www.facultyrow.com/profiles/blogs/publishing-coaut...

It is for these reasons that FacultyRow.com was created. The ability to find other educators with similar understanding and specialties with ease and connect with them on a personal level has never before been achieved. Finding a co-author or a group of co-authors has now become as easy as typing a search query for a specialty or a topic for which we would like to gain knowledge.

Publishing our works for students, academics, and the world, allows for the advancing of real knowledge which is our main goal as educators. Advancing and using tools of new media is as important for us, if not more important, than that of any other field. Our profession is based solely on information and the ability to spread that information. Up until this point, our use of information technology has been limited to, for the most part, the website of the educational institution with whom we are currently employed. As an academic, we need to embrace the future of education and use technology to advance in all aspects of life. We have the ability now to connect with one another on a more personal level without the boundaries of geographic borders or time constraints placed on us by inaccessibility.

Whether you are a seasoned author or a recent graduate looking for direction, publishing with the help of your peers and using new media as your springboard, you now have tools that have never been accessible before.