Perceptions about ICT potentiality and use

Participants raised issues regarding researchers’ perceptions about ICT use in research communication. Some of the concerns had to do with the sense that there was unclear

perception about the functionality of ICT and its impact on researchers’ creativity.

Participants reported that there had been a tendency to regard ICT not as a facilitating tool but as an end in itself. The data point to instances where people thought ICT could perform functions that only humans can do, such as, for instance, creating, sorting and packaging the information to be communicated online and actually uploading it to the website:

... some of the centre directors were complaining that when you go to their websites you don’t see anything more than mandates of their centre on the websites. He then told them,

“if you don’t provide write-ups of what you do in your centres, what do you expect to find in your websites?”

This resulted from lack of or inadequate training or sensitisation on ICT use and potentialities, because most ICT initiatives were donor funded, with the donor agenda focussing on ICT infrastructure and tools, rather than capacity building and content.

This was said to be worse for those in remote locations with poor infrastructure.

The unclear perception about the functionality of ICT and ICT-mediated research communication led to lack of faith and, therefore, distrust of e-publications by institutions, which for a long time insisted on hard copy peer-reviewed publications for any promotions, as the following comment by a scientist illustrates:

And then it is like it is not so authentic [e-publication]... You know, it is like you have to convince the people that this paper is indeed authentic. … There is no longer that train of communication that you can show. It [e-publishing] has become so simple... So there is that lack of faith (RS1_G).

This discouraged many, especially older researchers, from ICT-mediated research communication.

Poor ICT perception withstanding, participants reported in institutions where ICT functionality had been clearly perceived they were populating their websites with useful information like detailed CVs and research publications. These provided information on research in Kenya and served to create collaboration platforms. It was reported that some centre directors and other senior researchers even had their own websites and the research outputs from their departments were already online.

However, there remained the perception that ICT-mediated communication could lead to stifling of researchers’ creativity. Some participants felt there was the danger of too

much focus on ICT tools at the expense of engaging in productive research. A scientist reported,

But I think we can also get obsessed. There is also a level of obsession with email that you have to be on email… There will always be obsession with the communication tool which would be negative aspect with communication… (RS3_F).

Another one argued it was easy for scientists to lose their creative edge in that Internet

“might hamper my creativity and thinking space” (RS4_E), needed to develop methodologies and originate and communicate useful research outputs “simply because I have a computer on all the time.” Another scientist added that researchers risked stifling of their creativity by “believing everything they get from there [Internet]. They should believe less and do more analysis” (RS1_G). Thus, researchers did not seem to be analysing or synthesising whatever information they got from the Internet, in order to meaningfully integrate it into their work.

The findings showed that obsession with the Internet was not limited to the scientific community, but also seemed to be affecting students in schools and the universities. A scholar reported “… the younger generation … is so much hooked on email, and other people’s creativity might stop them from being originators. But then they begin to copy because it is so easy. … kids will go to the Internet to cut and paste and write that essay and give it to you” (LR4_B). Thus, the young were not learning to compose and write.

This accords with literature that discusses the “Internet addiction disorder” where the young seem to be the greatest culprits (Young, 1998; Arunyanak, 2004; Buckingham, Whiteman, Willet & Burn, 2007). Bittman (2008 ) in his New York Times March 2008 article, "I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really,” argues that there is need for a “’secular Sabbath’… a day a week where I would be free of screens, bells and beeps,” which he terms “the latest in American problems, Internet addiction disorder” (n.p). He argues for “the need to turn off, to take a stab at reconnecting to things real rather than virtual…” Bittman reports that by taking time off the computer, “I felt connected to myself rather than my computer. I had time to think, and distance from normal demands.” He further quotes David Levy, professor at the University of Washington Information School, who coined the term “information environmentalism,” on the need for time off: “What’s going on now is insane. Living a good life requires a kind of balance, a bit of quiet. There are questions about the limits of the brain and the

body … Who would say you don’t need time to think, to reflect, to be successful and productive?” (Bittman, 2008, n.p). He also cites a spiritual consultant, Anne Dilenschneider, who holds that “Even many corporate leaders now believe you need time to hear the voice of the new inside.”

Thus, the concerns about ICT addiction usurping valuable time that scientists need to focus on research to produce results are real. There is need for early awareness on this and clear strategies and mechanisms to avoid stifling of creativity among researchers.