Research – Page 6 – Silence and Voice

Networked Learning Conference 2010 – Early-Bird Registration

Early registration for the Networked Learning Conference 2010, #NLC2010, in Aalborg, Denmark, in May is about to end (early-bird registration ends 26 February). As this conference is already a little pricy (and outright expensive from the US), every little savings helps.

As this conference is subtitled A research-based conference on networked learning in higher education and lifelong learning, I am really looking forward to learning together. It will be great to see some of my colleagues (again) there and getting feedback on my paper, Autoethnographer Communities of Practice, as well!

Public Transformations . . . almost done . . .

I am nearly finished with the DRAFT of my Public Transformations paper, which is due tomorrow. I do feel confident that my Introduction (with the research problem, significance, and purpose statement) is clear and concise.This is among the more important parts of the paper, and I think I was finally able to articulate it in an interesting and inviting way.

I have been increasingly anxious about the due date, how long the paper is taking, and how a lot of loose ends will simply not get resolved by tomorrow. Nevertheless, I started telling myself over and over that this is a draft, and I will get feedback from two of my peers, after which I will revise for the faculty review and assessment (as well as for a conference abstract I am thinking about). So, while I must submit this by tomorrow, I will still be working on it over the next few weeks (with the FINAL version due on March 8).

So, exhausted and with achy (from typing) arms, I am about to submit the result of all my efforts. Wonder if this is what the thesis (UK) / dissertation (US) is like? Will see THAT one soon enough.

An Elevator Speech for Research

I have worked in educational practice for as long as I can remember (or, more precisely, ever since the second year after college), and have often heard about (and even taught the importance of) the elevator speech. This is the short (30 seconds or so) answer to the question, “So, what do you do?” It is a mechanism for networking and searching for work, activities I know are important though have not been especially skilled at (at least not in the F2F modality, that is).

I have never really considered this before for research projects, especially for the dissertation / thesis. This idea originated from Cristina Costa’s recent blog post, where she discussed her PhD in minutes. What a healthy idea to help focus the idea, to try on the idea and feel how it fits, to help to make the process real by speaking it and bringing it into a dimension of reality.

I am sharing this as I want to try this when I work on articulating my doctoral thesis (dissertation back here in the US) later this year. I believe my current research project, Public Transformations: Adult Learners Who Use Social Media to Express and Understand Their Identities as Developing Researchers, will help me in the direction for my work. As I will want people to know about, offer suggestions for, and agree to participate in my research, I will need to be able to clearly articulate the ideas for my work, what I want to find, why I want to find it, and why you should care. Just can’t get away from the WIIFM!

She was in a hospital in serious condition. Imagine my relatives’ surprise when they saw viagragener.com on the list of the prescribed drugs.

Come to think of it, this process may be useful for every research project . . . . If a research project cannot be simply and clearly stated, then how well can we really engage in it?

Personal Reading of Transcripts

I am re-reading all of the transcripts of the 8 interviews I conducted for my research project, and am so overwhelmed with the stories that were shared. They are so personal, so strong, and seemingly so full of every element of human experience. In some ways, I feel I am peering into a slice of the lives of a group fascinating people who shared their stories with me for the sake of my research.

I hope I do their works justice in my findings. Perhaps the best justice would be giving somebody else an insight or idea that leads to some other action in service of research, self-knowledge, and advancing the benefits of a networked community?

Transcription Completion for Public Transformations Research

I have completed the transcriptions for my research (a bit later than I hoped, but it is moving forward), and am beginning to analyze it. Some of the transcripts for the 8 interviews I conducted still need to be sent to the research participants for member checking, but all that is underway.

My initial review of the interviews is wonderful; I believe I have a lot of rich stories that may reveal some very interesting things about the experience of Public Transformations.

However, I have to fight against the anxiety of feeling I am very behind where I hoped to be (my paper is due in another week). In some ways, I wish I had the luxury of being able to research without any other work, but it is a fact of my life that there are a lot of things happening. Regardless, I still expect to have the draft of this paper submitted by February 8, when it is due. Hey, what else is there to focus on at this time of the winter?!