Brandon Hall Research has invited me to join their group of bloggers. Workplace Learning Today is a group effort by senior Brandon Hall Research analysts Janet Clarey, Richard Nantel, Tom Werner, Gary Woodill, and now yours truly, to provide readers with a daily summary of news, events, commentary, and research on all aspects of workplace learning.
Absolutely! This is somewhat of a career dream come true for me. Though the book contains the full list of acknowledgements, two key individuals were key in helping me accomplish this project.
Firstly, I will forever be grateful for having the wonderful Associate Professor Saul Carliner, from the Department of Education at Concordia University as my thesis advisor. He guided me whenever I had a question. He allowed this thesis to be my own work, but steered me in the right the direction whenever he thought I needed it.
Secondly, my deepest gratitude goes out to Ray Taylor who has been there for me as an informal sounding board for my half-formed ideas. He challenged me to interrogate my positions and statements and was there for me until the end, providing much needed edits under tight time constraints. Much gratefulness goes out to him now for being a very patient editor and publisher! I also am very proud to be the author of the first title published by his new venture’s Acorda Press.
What does it mean to be a blogger in the field of training and development?
In this innovative research project, Kristina Schneider takes an in-depth look at five edubloggers from an insideres perspective. Using a qualitative design methodology, Schneider paints a unique portrait, pitting bloggers against their readers, and uncovers the essence of presence, credibility and professional development in the blogosphere.
The result, based on cross-case analysis that took place over a four month period, identifies the key phenomena of motivation, writing style, community building and other general practices that define the professional who also happens to be a blogger. Finally a substantial set of questions emerge about the nature of blog content and readership.
I delivered a presentation on The eLearning 2.0 Survival Guide e Assessing the Credibility of Web Sources at the Brandon Hall Innovations in Learning 2008 conference which was held in San Jose, September 2008.
Presentation Summary
It is no surprise that integrating Web 2.0 tools to learning is an innovative practice that is catching on quickly. Pushing the Web’s potential for democratizing information, Web 2.0 social computing practices are well aligned with constructivist learning strategies. Enabling learners to develop multiple perspectives can foster analytical and critical thinking.
What is worrisome is the transition from a spoon-fed model of education to a self-directed and discovery model without reconfiguring the approach to learning. Are individuals applying fact-checking rigour to the content they access? What criteria are they using? What do they consider to be expert knowledge? Are they simply looking for other sources to confirm what theyeve found or are they actually analysing the source of the information? Are they aware that information, correct and otherwise, spreads like memes on Web?
My presentation was largely be based on research I have done for my M.A. in Educational Technology thesis which is a qualitative study of people who write blogs on training to be used in the professional development of people who work in the field. The question lies in the authority and credibility of these blogs, and by extension Web content in general.
A qualitative study of five authors of five blogs on training and development is my thesis which was defended on August 26 2008 and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts (Educational Technology), Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Abstract
This study analyzed what it means to be a blogger in the field of training and development—an edublogger—as well as the credibility of blogs intended for the training community. The specific research questions were posed from the insider’s or emic perspective. The objective of this study was to attempt to paint a portrait of an edublogger and uncover areas for further research.
A phenomenological qualitative research design methodology was used in an attempt to observe the connections between edubloggers and their readers, which is in harmony of the spirit of the blogs as well as to understand the essence of experiences in the blogosphere. A grounded theory was constructed from a cross-case analysis—case studies were developed using interview transcripts of the 5 bloggers and artefact analysis of each of their blogs over a 4-month period—with the intention of identifying key phenomena.
Common themes related to the edubloggers’ motivations, writing style, community building and other general practices were uncovered as. In addition, a substantial set of emerging questions specifically relating to readership and the qualitative assessment of blog content were noted.
