critcrim.org: The Potential for Internet
Scholarship
Kenneth W. Mentor, J.D., Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
University of North Carolina Pembroke
Published in The Critical Criminologist, 12(3).
The Division's website (http://critcrim.org) continues to grow, but has
struggled to reach its full potential. Our hope is that the site will
become a valuable tool in our efforts to educate students and policymakers
about alternative ways of looking at justice. The site is currently being
rebuilt, providing an opportunity for improvement. This essay includes
ideas about the direction of the site, a discussion of the philosophy
of the site, and an invitation to become involved.
The critcrim.org site has been active for three years. The site builds
on the vision of Jim Thomas, who founded and built the original site
and served as the first webmaster. The site currently averages over 4000
unique visitors per month. Some visitors stay for an extended period,
the majority stay for just a few minutes. It is not unusual for visitors
who find the site through a web search to quickly leave. However, we
hope to create a site that engages visitors who are willing to take the
time to learn more about the issues raised throughout the site.
Internet Scholarship
The redesign of the site is more than a rearrangement
of material. Many websites, even those claiming to be educational,
accomplish little more
than information transfer. "Content" is often limited to a list of links.
From the beginning, the Division's website has included full text articles
and other relatively rich content. In rebuilding the site we have the
opportunity to continue to provide valuable material while looking for
ways to encouraging interaction, critical thinking, and active learning.
"Scholarship Revisited," by Ernest Boyer (1990), serves as a guide in
our efforts to reconceptualize the website. Boyer encouraged academics
to consider a range of activities in their definitions of "scholarship." His
recommendations resulted in alterations, at least on paper, of the criteria
used to determine faculty merit. Boyer's definition of scholarship includes
four overlapping activities. These activities include: Discovery, which
is the creation and sharing of knowledge; Integration, which provides
meaning by placing knowledge into context; Application, which includes
active engagement with society, and; Teaching, which includes efforts
to help others gain understanding.
The internet provides an opportunity to integrate these scholarly activities
through the building of a learning community centered on a vision of
faculty, students, and policymakers working together to reach shared
goals. Participants in this community would take on new roles. The faculty
member's primary role shifts from delivering content to designing learning
environments and experiences. The student changes from a passive observer
to a learner who experiences active exploration and engagement. The policymaker
shifts from a consumer of information to an active knowledge builder
who understands the context, and consequences, of policy choices.
Theorists have debated whether the internet allows users a greater ability
to participate in, and influence, society. Arguably, this level of participation
would enable users to create online communities in which users have relatively
high levels of control over the activity of the community (Barlow, 1995;
Rheingold, 1993; and Talbot 1996). We see this idea being played out
as we examine the amount of activist activity being coordinated through
the internet.
It seems safe to assume that critical criminologists would be quick
to adopt an empowering and egalitarian tool in their efforts to work
collectively to alter the justice system. To date, we have not been particularly
successful at building our online community. A few extended online discussions,
and the adoption of site materials for a few classes, provide glimmers
of hope. However, in most cases our efforts have been restricted to information
transfer.
Building a Learning Community
The following list includes suggestions for content and activity that
could lead to the development of an active learning community. Boyer's
categories are used to help organize the ideas.
Discovery
- Publication
of working papers
- Online
collaboration and editing of works in progress
- Publication
of pieces in which copyright allows online publication
- Data
collection through online surveys or other processes
- Development
of collaborative work groups who would use the site for virtual meetings
and the collection and organization of materials
- Development
of a peer reviewed online journal
Integration
- Praxis
- Policy
analysis
- Examples
of policies that "work"
- Discussion
of the interaction of policy and race, gender, and other factors
- Discussion
and web activities that highlight the policy implications of research
- Data
regarding impacts and consequences of policy choices
Application
- Community
organizing
- Research
assistance
- Expand
division involvement beyond academic borders
- Collaboration
with other groups
Teaching
- Course
outlines
- Collections
of essays that serve as replacements for supplementary (and expensive)
course materials
- Online
activities that may be freely adopted by others
- Collaborative
teaching
- Guest
lectures
- Teaching
Forum
- Online
teaching portfolios
This is clearly not an exhaustive list. The redesign
of the site provides a chance to "brainstorm" about various ideas. Let me know if you have
suggestions. The mechanics of site design are not especially difficult
- the problem is content. The critcrim.org site continues to include
requests for content. These requests are being reduced as I fill the
page or find "page editors" who take responsibility for a small section
of the site. Ideally, the site would feature the work of, and be used
by, many division members.
Conclusion
The critcrim.org site is one of the Division's primary tools for providing
information that engages students and others. Unlike the journal, newsletter,
and listserv, this site reaches people who stumble upon the site. There
are ways to increase the chance that people will find the site and stick
around once they get there. However, without content, it is difficult
to build a site that will educate and enlighten site visitors. Division
members are encouraged to develop pages, offer essays, class activities,
websites that result from student assignments, and use the site for their
classes.
Finally, what kind of activities would define us as a community of online
scholars? I hope you will help us examine this question as the Division's
site is rebuilt. Please visit the site, reflect on the potential, and
provide feedback.
References
Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
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