Knowledge is power, let's share it more widely...

Dear Academics,

Firstly, I would like to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you. We probably don't appreciate you enough and the research, discussion, debates and curiosity that you demonstrate on a daily basis to help advance and increase our understanding of our world past, present and potential future is enormously valuable.

You will probably be fully aware that literacy rates in the UK exploded in the Victorian era, thank you Charles Dickens and others, following steady growth in the 17th and 18th centuries. Dr Matthew Ingleby highlights that between 1851 and 1900 British male literacy grew from 69.3% to 97.2% and for women 54.8% to 96.8%.

I am a naturally curious fellow and probably over focus on subject matter texts. I've not read a novel for far too long and when I do it seems to always be written by Jeffrey Deaver - any recommendations very welcome! Most recently, I have been delving into academic texts on philosophy, behavioural psychology and human resource management (I promise I do let what little hair I have left down from time to time!)

What I have noticed is that academic texts are really difficult to read, digest and then figure out how to apply the learning. At times it feels like it is deliberately written in another language and, for the record, I have a Masters and got an A in my English Language A level. My question is why? What is the point? It feels like we are stuck in a rut in always doing what we have always done but surely all of that research and time is not done for plaudits in academic circles. Surely, at least some of you want us to read your work and apply it in practice and in doing so impact the world in a positive way?

So my plea is can we stop talking about pedagogy and paradigms and instead share your thoughts on teaching and the patterns you have noticed or how they are changing. Write in a way that helps more of us find your brilliant work engaging, insightful and inspiring. Challenge us to do better by making your work more accessible and encourage your peers to think differently about what audience they could (possibly should) be writing for. There is stacks of brilliant and highly useful knowledge and information gathering digital dust rather than being actively used and shared through the internet. When I was growing up, I had to rely on leather bound copies of the Encyclopedia Britannica to shape my thinking or wait three weeks for a book I requested to land in my local library. Now I can access information in an instant wouldn't it be great if me and millions of others could easily understand it as well?

I am a huge fan of TED and the concept of 'ideas worth spreading'. In recent weeks I have wondered about what might happen if we took that concept and applied it to academic work? What if we balanced the rigour and importance of peer review alongside a YouTube/TikTok mindset of how many people have viewed it? What if we used a LinkedIn style 'Insightful' button to understand how many people had been influenced by the work? What if rather than closing it all off behind a paywall we made it all free to access in a user friendly website that helped us search more easily for what we needed? All this may already exist and I might just be in the dark so if that is the case could someone please turn on the light and steer me in the right direction. If not, I'm interested in hearing your views in the comments below, let's get a conversation started...