Weblog based communication is still foreign and new to the majority of staff at the Polytechnic, and many struggle to see the value to them personally and professionally, or how they may begin to develop strategies to manage the time it takes to reading and/or writing weblogs.
It would be reasonable to accept that the majority of staff will not want to keep a weblog or will not actively monitor the blogging efforts of their colleagues. While there are demonstrated benefits to those that do, a communication disconnect may emerge between those that do and those that do not, which could prove counter productive to the organisation as a whole.
While it is possible to compare this development to that of the uptake of email some 10 years ago, weblogging (both reading and writing) could just as easily not be following the same path as email. The Polytechnic will need to continue thinking about and developing communication strategies that are effective and useful to all staff, and carefully consider ways to scale the benefits of blog reading and writing so as to avoid any disconnection. Suggestions aimed at bridging different communication channels and reaching a wider range of readers include:
- Public press releases on a blog as well as their normal email and static webpage broadcasts.
- Staff updates on a blog as well as the normal staff wide email broadcast.
- Meeting minutes on a blog (or a wiki) as well as in archived text documents.
- Service department updates on a blog as well as the PDF attachments broadcast through email.
There are methods with which these additional communication channels can be utilised without double handling the message.
At present the EDC's leadership in the use of Weblogs, popular media and Wikieducator is occurring without close and regular consultation with the Polytech's IT support unit, the web publishing unit, the marketing unit, or the human resources unit. While this enables rapid development, it of course posses a significant risk to all those units should some aspect prove counter productive to the brief of one of those units.
The solution relates in part to the need for a better communication strategy, and one that includes participation by all who are affected. How to achieve this breadth of dialogue is an important issue that needs research and consideration, but at present EDC makes an effort to attend and update as many cross unit meetings and forums as practical.
Working to develop digital literacy and online networking skills with teachers instead of or before students may be less productive than working with students directly. This is an interesting proposition made by Russell Butson 1 of the Higher Education Department of the Otago University working in similar areas to the EDC.
It is possible that a large proportion of the teaching staff will feel that they have more to lose by participating in this effort. It may therefore be productive to work with students who arguably have more to gain in developing digital literacy and online networking skills given the relative early stages in their career paths.
By working directly with students it may help to benefit their learning objectives and career aspirations sooner, while helping teachers to observe more objectively the benefits and pitfalls to these new literacy and communication skills. Discussions continue with Russell Butson regarding his research into this approach to Educational Development.
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