WEB SEMINAR

Academics on the Web
by Ron Mader

PLANETA WIKISPACE
WEB 1, 2, 3 FORUM

There is no travel without learning and no learning without travel.
- Learning Notebook

PHOTO GALLERY: Globalize Yourself
SLIDESHOW

FYI -- This document is part of our popular Web Seminar. As such, it is always a work in progress and we welcome helpful editorial suggestions. If Planeta.com can assist you, please consider making a financial donation or organizing a webinar.

MAKING CONTACT -- Email sent to Planeta may be published. If you don't want that to happen, just let us know. Requests for anonymity will be honored. (Email Tips)

Academic researchers laud Planeta.com for our content-rich archives.

BACKGROUND

Each year we receive a few hundred (!) queries from students and educators. Most are seeking a quick answer and few offer any sort of financial contribution.

As result, most receive a polite response indicating that while access to Planeta is free, we do charge for seminars and webinars.

We prefer to work with web-savvy researchers, particularly those with a website, blog and/or flickr gallery. We invite teachers to re-imagine their role in developing responsible travel and ecotourism by walking their talk and making research and publication accessible and engaging.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM ACADEMICS

Question: How do I conduct research on this site?
Answer: Use our search engine.

Question: How do I cite Planeta.com?
Answer: Include the author's name, document title and the source of the document (the URL). You might wish to include a date when you viewed the document.

Question: Can we hire you to give a presentation at our campus?
Answer: Please consult the guide to speaking engagements and consulting.

Question: Can I write an article for Planeta.com?
Answer: Of course! Consult the writers' guidelines. Examples of academic articles we have published include Shapeshifting of Tourism by Ben Feinberg and Democracy and the Trees by Ross Mitchell. That said, if your article is already online, we would prefer to simply add a link.

Question: I am teaching a new course that discusses tourism from its earliest roots to its integration into late capitalist consumption practices. I like to have use a textbook that is critical of tourism in a practical way. Can you recommend a textbook or suggest a book that would explore the critical issues for a third year University course?

We recommend a number of books indexed online our Tourism Bibliography.

MORE FAQ

QUESTIONS WE ASK STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Do you have a personal web page?
Do you have a personal blog or flickr gallery?
If you do have an online page, when was the last update?
Does your department have a web page?
Does your department archive summaries of presentations made on campus?
Are presentations and lectures podcast?
Does your department website index student and faculty research projects?
Are students and faculty looking for research projects ideas?
Do you participate in online forums and conferences?

ETHICAL QUESTIONS (based on discussion from Sustainability Abroad)

What is the responsibility of academic programs to their host countries and communities?

How can educational programs reduce their environmental impacts and increase social equity through informed choices regarding food, transportation, and accommodations?

How can educational programs utilize carbon offsetting as a tool to educate students and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions?

What are the relevant environmental and social issues in having educational programs operating in particular regions? How can we best teach and address these issues?

Who benefits and who is impacted by study abroad? Is study abroad a reciprocal exchange? Is it 'fair trade'?

How can educational programs adapt and respond to climate change and peak oil?

QUESTIONS ACADEMICS NEED TO ASK

Who owns the course I teach?

BACKGROUND

Frequently we are approached by individual teachers and students with short-term deadlines. Our advice is generally the same. Resources are freely available, but we do charge for consulting. Fees help develop this site, plus we have the opportunity to provide feedback over time. This places value on continuity.

We encourage academics institutes, universities and high schools to arrange formal online seminar to get the most out of our resources, particularly those on ecotourism and sustainable development.

KUDOS

Among the kudos Planeta.com has received was from the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers which awarded our site the first Private Sector and Government Award "in recognition of contributions to enhancing and disseminating knowledge of the geography of Latin America through the Internet."

NATURAL WORLD

We are all on the learning curve. And it's not just about individual skills, it's about how to share what you know with others. I sometimes receive phone calls from academics who are in town and wish to meet with me. I sometimes decline until they send me an email. Why? It lets me to introduce the Planeta website, which I would probably discuss anyway. Plus, I have time to google their publications.

PLANETA FORUM

Students and professors are invited to use the Planeta Forum to post research questions and announcements. We insist that participants provide follow-up. Consult the guidelines.

ETHICS

What are the responsibilities of academics? Do northern academic universities have a responsibility in developing online resources from the south?

Should academics pay for interviews? This question is prompted by a tour operator who says he asks that student queries include a $100 contribution to a local charity.

During the 2006 Ethical Travel Dialogue, I chatted with one professor who confided that he thought his university was charging too much for consulting. "We could do this work at a fraction of the cost," he confided. He added that the institution had been accepted as a 'fair trade university' though he questioned the value of such a designation. "Are you able to discuss this in public?" I asked. His answer: no.

OBSTACLES

One of the frequent complaints about academia is that it is tends to be a late adopter of new technology, and in fact discourages faculty from using new technology. Does it have to be this way?