Long time no post!

So far, I'm fidning it hard to make posts regualrly to this blog about thoughts and issues concerning my professional context! Here are a few random thoughts and issues going through my head!

* Much e-learning development is tacit and based on many converstaiosn and interactiosn with staff.
* There are some practices that may be beneficial or limiting that I currently utilise *(always working with early adopters etc.) that may infleunce hwo other staff perceive e-learning.
* Hugely contextural practice!
* Almost impossible as a central support unit to have the depth and subtlty of association with all departments within the Univeristy.
* How will student pressure to develop more consistent quality of teaching across the university be seen by academic staff?

Academic culture

For this module (2) I'm going to focus on the current theory around cost/ benefit analysis of implementing e-leanring into HE. The research will focus on the cultural differences within academic departments and how this may effect the design of any cost benefit evaluation. A number of questions:

Even if you can develop a more meaniful representation of the costs and benefits for e-learning within a given academic context, will other cultural and social factors etc. still limit the uptake?

How does this research idea relate to general change management strategies?

Is academic culture that well researched to make this research valid?

Are there any philosophical or epistomological objections to using a cost benefit approach in the literature - is the term itself difficult in some academic contexts?

Module 2: university culture

Interesting dy running an e-learning network meeting. The group is proably a continuation of the formal network as part of the e-learning sub committee - gone from an informal network to a fomalised role within each academic department, back to a more structured but informal network in 7 years!!

Why does this organisation fidn it so difficult to understand and manage technology effectivly? Are we typical of many similar insitutiosn or are do we have a management team that has other priorities?

Is this institution too fragmented and diverse organisation to hav a single culture? Is the managment a different entity and culture within the organisation? Is there a clash of objectives and identities because of these different cultures?

Model 2: reflections on professionalisim

Just completed tasks 1 and 2 on Communities of Prcatice and epistomologies of practice (tacit & explicit knowledge etc.). Both discussions have got me thinking about the nature of being a 'professional' within an HE context. Certainly there is tensions between the different CoP's that I work with - staff within the University, learning technologists, staff developers etc. - how complex and to a degree fragmented series of profesional networks. My sense of professional identity is certainly not as strong as being a landscape architect - does this relflect the chartered 'right of passage' that this profession had compared the 'profession by default' of my current professional development?

Start of module 2

Module 2 starts today! Hoping that I will manage my time bettre for this one! Still lot going on at work with the impending curriculum reviews and at home with the new extension. This time I will aim to stay focused on the topic for each section of the module, and to add references etc. as I go along. Very happy wih the way I am managing my learning using RefWorks and VUE. I'm using VUE to help organise my conceptual thinking - ask questions for further reading as much as getting everything neat and tidy. This is working well for me - I'm able to change and re-organise things according to how I am visualising my understanding.

I will spend some time thinking through and planning the required input to the module for the summer - its' going to be difficult to get a long break this year.

Phew, finished the first module!

Absolutely exhausted after this first module! Happy with what I did with the first research project assignment, but there is still the lingering doubt about whether my work is good enough until I see the tutors feedback and grade! Very busy with other stuff such as the house extension and dance commitments which have taken a lot of mental and physical time and 'head space.' Take a lot of mental energy to retain complex dance moves - different part of the brain from academic work. Not sure how to use these 2 weeks before the next module - to have a complet break, or use the time for private study? So many interesting ideas to follow up, but not sure on the best focused use of my time at this stage!!

Getting excited about experiments I have been doing linking concept maps with my references in RefWorks. Explored using CMap, but now getting interested in VUE - much more of a visual medium than CMap. Looking for ways at a meta level to structure my understanding of what I am learning, and importantly where the gaps are in my learning at this stage. Very useful for generating questions about connections and meaning etc. Starting with capturing my learning from this first module on research, and then planning maps on theories of learning and theories of knowing that have influenced research paradigms. Exciting to find ways that support my preferences as a learner - hopefully we can generate some discussion with peers on the PhD to share how we all are learning.

Assignments are a scary business!

Submitted my first assignment this weekend. Got very tied working 7 days in a row to get it completed! Very difficult writing something that is part assignment and part research project within such a tight word limit of 4000 words - very difficult to balance how much to write in each section. Very scary seing all my colleagues assignments listed for peer review! Not a normal situation to see how good or bad your peers have done! At the saqme time its an interesting process to have a chance to get a fresh eye on my work and then be able to re-submit it. Focus is not on getting the assignment 'right' but the learning process.

Lots still to do with the module - lots of things to go back and build on. Big issue is about how to manage this work without being exhusted. Working early in the morning is working well to get time with the family in the evening, but its going to take more micro-management of my time, and more focsu to my time to use it effectively. Very easy to find lots of interesting avenues to go down with new things to discover and read about! Next assignment I think it will be useful to create a work plan in advance to balance my effort across all the aspects that will be needed - avoid missing out important issues such as understanding a critical issue such as validity etc. Will also try some sort of logic/knowledge map for the structure to the research as a backbone before geting deep into the writing process.

More questions than answers!

I'm just in the process of completing the data analysis stage for my first assignment on the programme. I've generally found that the process for this module has opened up more questiosn, sometimes than answers! I spent a few days looking at the different methods for qualtiative data analsyis - what is the difference between converstational, discourse, content, interpretive phenomenological and thematic analsyis?! All the way through the module I hav found that I am wanting to capture and explore a series of key questions - to get a better structure in my mind about how research, knowledge, truth is undertood from different philosophical perspectives. I'm looking for ways to model this thinking and learning - concept maps, knowledge maps, mind maps etc. - not found anything yet that suites my learning preferences!

Yesterday we had a great Skype meeting on the module assingment - great to hear colleagues voices in New York and Jerusleum all discussing similar issues we are having with our research.

3 months in!

OK, this is my first blog post for my PhD, which I started in Feb. 2009. It's amazing how quickly I find you can adapt to a new big thing such as a PhD, and how quickly it becomes the 'norm.' Reflecting back on the last 3 months, there are 3 things that stand out - how good and diverse the cohort is, how much I'm enjoying the content (much more than I originally thought!), and how much confidence I've gained from an in-depth study of research methodologies.

It has meant some big changes to fit in with my work and professional like. Probably the most radical change is the realisation that I will need to re-structure my work time - by default I'm a late worker! This has meant eating into family time, not just because I'm physically working, but also because I'm mentally pre-occupied with what I have just been reading. So, a big shift to working early in the morning on the PhD. This has meant that it the first thing I work on each day and not the last. Means that I can go home and be with the family more - more evening badminton tournaments in the garden!!!