Introduce yourself!

[Janet Salmons]

Why are you interested in online research? Please introduce yourself! Let us know if you are an instructor, mentor or committee member, independent or student researcher, or other research-related role.

[Janet Salmons]

Hi! I will get things started by introducing myself. I am an independent researcher, writer and consultant working through my practice Vision2Lead, Inc. (http://www.vision2lead.com). I am a graduate instructor in the Capella University School of Business and Technology, where I develop and teach courses in leadership and team leadership, and mentor doctoral learners.

We need new knowledge to help explain and solve complex, global issues.I am interested in online research because I believe the rich media Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools now available can and will extend the reach and approach of scholarly inquiry. Researchers will need to experiment and explore ways to appropriately and ethically use emerging ICTs for empirical research.

I look forward to interacting with all of you as we share our questions, ideas and resources, and help each other troubleshoot problems.

Warmly,
Janet

[Janet Salmons]

Don’t be shy! Tell us about yourself. What are your interests, what are your questions…what do you hope to learn from others?

[Merlien]

Hi Janet,

I’m Jasper Lim, I’m a director of Merlien Institute. Our mission is to provide qualitative researchers and practitioners a unique platform to brainstorm new ideas and learn best practices in a highly interactive conference environment.

Having said this, we are looking for an inspirational speaker to give a talk or a brainstorming workshop at our upcoming conference on Qualitative Research in Web 2.0 on the 25 & 26 March in Berlin. Would you be interested? You can take a look at our programme and confirmed attendees on our website at: http://www.merlien.org/upcoming-events/qrweb2010.html

Kind Regards,
Jasper Lim
Merlien Institute
http://www.merlien.org

[Pamela Whitehouse]

I am an assistant professor of Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) at West Virginia University. My research focuses on how teachers learn, especially in online networked professional development environments. I teach teacher education students as well as IDT grad students. I did my doc work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and trained in qualitative methods with some great researchers–Wendy Luttrell, Ellie Drago-Severson, and others.

Right now I am doing research with Globaloria WV (google this and you can see all about it). I focus on teacher professional development in networked learning places. I do a lot of interviews using GoToMeeting, and I have found it works really well, even with those who are not tech savvy.

I have recently begun a research project in virtual worlds that is focused on how to integrate multiple learning environments in teaching middle school science here in West Virginia. So I do a lot of research in and about online environments.

I am looking for more groups to talk with about methods and outcomes, and this looked like a good place. I look forward to getting to know the group, and share experiences.

Best,
Pam

[Janet Salmons]

Pam,

I am interested in methods and outcomes of e-research, and hope others are too.

I would love to hear more about the interviews in GoToMeeting. Are they structured, unstructured, semi-structured or a mix? Do you use the space mainly for audio, or do you use visual components as well?

I am also interested in your virtual world research– in Second Life? I would love to hear about and even see what you are doing. If appropriate, perhaps we could find a time to meet in world and have a little informal show and tell? I am guessing others here might like to join us if that is something you’d like to do?

Janet

[Pamela Whitehouse]

Hi Janet,
The interviews in GTM were semi-structured. I chose GTM because it works even for those with dial-up modems, and I rarely have technical problems with it, although this year my interviewees did have troubles. There is no video component, but the audio is very good quality. I just click record, and the audio file is automatically downloaded to my documents within about a minute of stopping the recording. The first year I did this, the teachers I interviewed were on time, and no issues. This year, our second year was fraught with difficulty for new interviewees–several just didn’t show up for the appointment (said they “forgot”), some couldn’t figure out how to click on the link to take them to the meeting space. I had a GA who began setting up the appointments by phone rather than email, and she would get on the phone with them to get them into the meeting space a few minutes before the interview was set to begin. She was great at putting the interviewees at their ease. Some used headphones with mike, others used their phone for audio. Either works well, as long as they do not try to use speakerphone! I do not know why the teachers from this year had more tech problems than last–although calling them tech problems may be stretching it. There seemed to be less buy-in on the importance of participating in the research project. We’re gently investigating to see what is going on.

I would love to meet you and any others interested in Second Life. We are doing some revisions of the space over the next two weeks, and after that we can set up a time and you all can come and explore what we’ve done!

Best,
Pam

[GIUSEPPINA]

Dear Janet,

I am interested in methods and outcomes of e-research, and hope others are too.
My field of search is Dental Materials and Dentistry in the Catania University. I am a Doctoral of search.
Best regards, Giuseppina

[Janet Salmons]

We have some new group members– Please introduce yourself! Tell us about your research or research interests. What kinds of online tools do you want to use, how?

Let us know if you are an instructor, mentor or committee member, independent or student researcher, or other research-related role.

[ILA ALLEN]

Hi Janet,

I am an online doctoral student at Capella University. I am currently working on my chapters 1 & 3 drafts which is not an easy feat but trudging along.  My area of research is virtual communities of practice and my methodology will be a netnography (online ethnographic research) created by Robert Kozinets. My professor (and old mentor/Martin Leahy)  recommended your book since I was taking the online route so needless to say it stays at my side and helpful as I read.  I am fascinated by how the Internet has grown and reached into the education and research arena so I decided to research it further. I am still in the learning process trying to determine what qualitative software to use if any, how to conduct my interviews (your book), ethics/biases for I will be a participant-observation in the virtual communities being studied, and the overall presentation so I am learning as I do this.  My other questions are centered on what approach should be taken in terms data collection and how to analyze it and just learning how to become acclimated to to the whole research process. I am excited to be a part of this group and hopefully in the long run will be a contributing source.

Cheers

Ila

[ILA ALLEN]

Hi Pamela,

Have you ventured into Second Life yet?  I am new to this group so I am reading through the posts.  I have peeked around SL but have not learned to navigate it that well.  If you have a place let me know for I would like to check it out.  I find it quite interesting but I need to take the time to learn how to move my Avatar around better.

[Author]

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