Digital scholarship

The concept of digital scholarship emerged early in the 21st century. Digital scholarship is "discipline-based scholarship produced with digital tools and presented in digital form". It is a research agenda concerned with the impact of Internet and digital technologies that are transforming scholarly practices. These include social and technological factors. In the 2010s, research primarily took two approaches to the subject. The first was the impact of digital infrastructures (such as the Internet and academic libraries) on scholarship, which Christine L. Borgman researches. The second was the impact of digital scholarship on the institutions and organization of academia. According to Ernest L. Boyer in Scholarship Reconsidered, discovery, integration, application, and teaching are the four main aspects of scholarship. The growth of digital media allows the main areas of scholarship to each benefit from expansions due to the infinite sharing potential of digital content. In education, the main areas of relevance are science, technology, engineering, and math. The emergence of digital scholarship and digital media allows for another means for students to become engaged. Key areas of academia that digital media is used on are to illustrate concepts, model displays, and reinforce 21st century skills. Critics cite concerns about the legitimacy, accessibility, and verifiability of digital scholarship and the erosion of authors' rights as reasons to be concerned about digital scholarship. As scholarly communication evolves, controversy over the definition and value of the term "digital scholarship" is likely to continue. ==Intellectual property==

Concerns with how to regulate digital scholarship have arisen across universities across the world. The explosion in availability and creation of scholarly works has led many universities to adjust their policies on how they will manage scholarship in the future. These universities feel pressured to take action because digital technologies have led to the easy reproduction and commodification of these creations. Many universities are unclear how to address the copyrighting of online classes and media presentations. Current law does not cover these specific areas of media produced in the academic world. In the past any printed work done by professors was considered their intellectual property, but now the question stands as to who owns these different forms of multimedia. One of the main concerns of faculty is that universities will soon take ownership of this digital media. Universities have taken a growing interest in creations that have revenue-generating potential, like online classes or lecture slides, while also showing concern for products that may be used by comparable institutions, potentially reducing their competitive advantage. While this case does not deal with digital scholarship directly, it deals with the ownership of intellectual property of university employees when they leave. This case will set a precedent for future decisions with online classes, lecture notes, and outlines. ==National Education Association policy==

The National Education Association, the largest professional educational association in the United States, updated its policy on digital learning in 2013. The policy stresses that students need to develop "advanced critical thinking and information literacy skills and master new digital tools", as well as "the initiative to become self-directed learners while adapting to the ever-changing digital information landscape". The National Education Association also believes that digital learning creates an environment in which learning can be more individualized to meet the needs of each student. It mandates that all public schools must do their best to acquire necessary modern technologies and constantly revise teaching plans to incorporate technology where viable to best prepare students for the 21st century. The National Education Association's digital learning policy also states that technology must be used in an adaptive manner as to not become a distraction and to remain a tool, as well as that technology should not become a replacement for instructors, merely a supplement. ==References==