Thesis Daunt - PBworkscarolsdoctorate.pbworks.com/f/Confirmation+Daunt+09… · Web viewCarol Daunt. Dip T, Grad Dip Dist Ed, B Ed, M Ed (Research) N1006771. ... However, there

EDUCATORS USING MICROBLOGGING FOR SELF-DIRECTED PROFESSIONAL

LEARNING

Confirmation Portfolio

Carol DauntDip T, Grad Dip Dist Ed, B Ed, M Ed (Research)

N1006771

Supervisor: Dr Alan Roberts

Teaching Team Member: Dr Radha Iyer

Faculty of Education

Queensland University of Technology

Submitted as proposed study for the degree of

Education Doctorate

Faculty of Education

Queensland University of Technology

NOTES TO ALAN:

1. Ignore APA abnormalities – I’ll attack Endnote this week & sort those out.

2. Ditto the weird footers

3. Ditto Figure numbers – will sort those for final doc

4. Stop at 2.2.6 – I’ve put a large STOP there just in case you’re tempted to go further!!!

ABSTRACT

The World Wide Web (the Web) has grown into a global information space with more

than a billion users and is entering a new, more social and participatory phase where people

configure and manage online content rather than just viewing it. The Web is a place where

people communicate knowledge, share resources and participate in social networks. Online

social networking sites provide tools that allow people to identify, meet, connect, share

information and collaborate with other people. This study proposes a multiple case study

using a qualititative research methodology to investigate the use of microblogging (an online

social networking tool) for self-directed professional learning by educators.

The research design is based on a conceptual framework that uses activity theory as an

organizing structure and draws on concepts from constructivist learning theories, affordance

theories, systems theories, and self-regulated learning theories to support and elaborate on

the structure provided by activity theory.

Page i

Table of Contents

Page ii

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

Page iii

Chapter 1: Introduction

See: http://jolt.merlot.org/vol5no2/berge_0609.htm

New forms of interactive software that can connect people directly with each other have

changed people’s social interactions and the trend of people connecting with and depending

on each other online is accelerating (Li & Bernoff, 2008). The World Wide Web (the Web)

has grown into a global information space with more than a billion users and is entering a

new, more social and participatory phase (Anderson, 2007) where people configure and

manage online content rather than just viewing it. The Web is a place where people

communicate knowledge, share resources and participate in social networks (Ding, Jacob,

Caverlee, Fried, & Zhang, 2009). Community structures and culture are evolving through

this electronic interaction and new patterns of social interaction and interchange have

emerged (Keeble & Loader, 2001).

A networked society is developing, one in which working, studying and collaborating will

require new skills and competencies (Hakkarainen, Palonen, Paavola, & Lehtinen, 2004).

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

(2005) identified that the competencies needed by individuals for a successful life and a

well-functioning society are to be able to use tools interactively, interact in heterogeneous

groups and to act autonomously. In expanding the notion of using tools interactively, the

OECD (2005) noted that an increasingly diverse and interconnected world is being created

and that individuals need to master changing technologies in order to function well in this

world. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the Archbishop of Canterbury stated that

increasingly we are not only citizens of the world but also citizens of the World Wide Web

(Bates, 2000). The underlying culture of the Web is one of sharing, decentralisation and

democracy; making it an ideal platform for groups to self organise and combine their ideas

to create social networks (Leadbeater, 2008).

Greater access to the Web and the development of Web 2.0 applications have enabled

new forms of relationships and patterns of communicating and learning; where learners are

active participants, creators of knowledge, and seekers of engaging, personal experiences

(McLoughlin & Lee, 2008b). The Web has changed our experience of learning by changing

the spaces and times in which community based learning can take place (Kendall, 2004).

Confirmation Portfolio, Carol Skyring 4

http://jolt.merlot.org/vol5no2/berge_0609.htm

This learning landscape potentially extends beyond the boundaries of classrooms and

educational institutions and involves a blending and merging of informal and formal

learning (McLoughlin & Lee, 2008a).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of microblogging (an online social

networking tool) for self-directed professional learning by educators. Through a qualitative

research design using multiple case studies, it seeks to provide an insight into how and why

educators might engage in microblogging and the value they place on microblogging as a

professional learning tool.

Professional learning is a long term process characterised by self-evaluation, reflective

practice and continuing personal and professional development (Neil & Morgan, 2003).

Educators, like other professionals, can no longer rely on their original professional training

and are required to maintain dynamically changing network connections and transit from

work to education and back again (Hakkarainen et al., 2004). Networking is not new to

educators, they have networked for many years in order to share practice; valuing contact

with colleagues in similar and different settings (GTCE, 2005). What is new is the fact that

the Web has facilitated networking across greater geographical distances (Sliwka, 2003) and

individuals are personalising their own social networks with the help of the Web (Wellman,

Boase, & Chen, 2002). Not only are these online social networks being used for social

connections, but they have been used to support professional learning networks (PLNs)

where groups of people are using the Web to communicate and collaborate in order to build

and share knowledge (Harasim, Hiltz, Teles, & Turoff, 1995). It is the notion of this use of

online social networking to support PLNs that will be the focus of this study.

1.1 BackgroundThe researcher’s interest in this topic emerged from her own microblogging activities.

She found herself connected to a group of teachers and teacher educators from the USA,

UK, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. This group used microblogging to

share ideas and resources and to ask each other for professional help and support across a

variety of topics and issues. Members of the group began referring to the group as their PLN

and an online discussion ensued as to whether the “P” in PLN referred to one’s “personal” or

“professional” learning network. PLN is variously used to mean personal or professional

learning network in the literature.

On further investigation, it was found that research into the use of online social

networking, and microblogging in particular, was sparse and it was an emerging field for


investigation. In a survey of 550 educators who were active users of telecommunications

technology for professional development and student learning, Honey and Henriquez (1993)

found that one of the major benefits reported was the opportunity to communicate with other

educators and share ideas. This researcher wonders whether microblogging has the same

benefits for educators in the 21st century? The study will focus its attention on the

professional aspects of online social networking, and specifically microblogging, through

investigating how educators communicate and share knowledge with one another.

1.1.1 Networks and communities: A distinction

Communities of practice (Wenger, 1998) is an approach that in recent times has

increasingly been associated with professional learning. It is important, however, in this

study, to draw a distinction between the aims of communities of practice, communities in

general, and those of a network. This study is concerned with peer exchange of information

through online social networking (specifically microblogging) and adopts the definition put

forth by Johannisson (1987) that social networks are “comprised of various independent

actors who develop relatively loose relationships between each other to pursue some

common goals” (p. 9).

Brown & Duguid (2002) referred to networks that link people who work on similar

practices but who may never get to meet as “networks of practice” (p. 141) and

distinguished them from communities of practice. Cummings and van Zee (2005) examined

the similar phenomena “networks for learning” and “communities of practice” (p. 8) and

distinguished the different traditions and strands of thinking from which they each

emanated. In describing communities of practice, Wenger (1998) noted that the term is “not

a synonym for group, team or network” (p. 74).

Downes (2008) distinguished between groups and networks based on four dimensions:

i) groups emphasise sameness, networks emphasise diversity;

ii) groups emphasise order and control, networks emphasise autonomy;

iii) groups emphasise borders and membership, networks emphasise openness;

iv) groups emphasise additive, cumulative knowledge, networks emphasise

emergent knowledge.

This study is concerned with a professional learning network which is i) diverse, ii)

autonomous and iii) open, with iv) emergent knowledge. However, there are aspects of

“community” embedded in social networking and it is inevitable that the word “community”

will be used at times in this study.


1.2 ContextInformation and communication technology (ICT) is becoming a ubiquitous tool in the

workplace and at home, impacting on personal communication, organisation of activities,

information management and the organisation of team and community learning (Go & van

Weert, 2004). Reinforcing this notion, the OECD (2005) stated that:

information and communication technology has the potential to transform

the way people work together (by reducing the importance of location),

access information (by making vast amounts of information sources

instantly available) and interact with others (by facilitating relationships and

networks of people from around the world on a regular basis) (p. 11)

Online social networking sites began to appear in 2002 to foster the development of

explicit ties between individuals as "friends" (Downes, 2005). There are a variety of online

social networking sites that virtually link individuals and enable rapid exchange of

knowledge, high levels of dialogue and collaborative communication through text, audio

and video (Siemens, 2006). Microblogging is a form of online social networking that allows

users to post short messages of 140 characters or less on the Web and viewing of these

messages may be restricted to certain individuals or made public to anyone using the Web

(Costa, Beham, Reinhardt, & Sillaot, 2008; Grosseck & Holotescu, 2008). Microblogging is

used to communicate actions and projects, to put questions, to ask for directions, support,

advice, and to validate open-ended interpretations or ideas (Grosseck & Holotescu, 2008)

and is becoming a tool for use in informal learning and networking (Costa et al., 2008).

Traditionally, education has been seen as a pedagogic relationship between the teacher

and the learner, typically, with the teacher deciding what the learner needed to know and

how knowledge and skills should be taught (Hase & Kenyon, 2000). Computer technologies

can, however, significantly alter this traditional relationship as these technologies may be

used by learners as tools for analysing the world, accessing information, interpreting and

organising their personal knowledge, and representing what they know to others (Jonassen,

1994).

The focus of this study will be the use of microblogging (an online social networking

tool) for self-directed professional learning by educators. While people of a wide variety of

ages and backgrounds participate in microblogging, this study will explore the relationship

between microblogging and professional learning by focusing on the activities of educators

who use microblogging. The study participants will include teachers, teacher educators,


school principals and technology support officers. In studying this particular group of

individuals and their involvement with microblogging, questions regarding how these

individuals relate and collaborate will be explored.

1.3 Research aimThe aim of this study is to examine the use of microblogging for self-directed

professional learning amongst educators. In examining how and why individuals engage in

microblogging and the value they place on microblogging as a professional learning tool, the

study will focus on the questions:

Why do individuals participate in microblogging?

What is the nature of participation in microblogging?

How can microblogging support professional learning?

What value do individuals place on microblogging as a professional learning

tool?

1.4 Research methodologyIn order to explore the nature of microblogging and to understand its use for

professional learning, this study will use a qualitative methodology: a multiple case study

approach (Yin, 2003b). Data gathering will begin with a survey of a large number of

educators who microblog. From this data themes will be identified and these themes will be

explored in detail through a number of case studies of microbloggers identified from the

survey group.

The research emerges from the theoretical framework of social constructivism, a theory

which posits that learner construction of knowledge is the product of social interaction,

interpretation and understanding (Vygotsky, 1962). Adams (2006) adopted a constructivist

viewpoint to propose that new technologies offer exciting ways to understand and repopulate

professional discourse on learning and teaching. This study is interested in human to human

interactions with the Web as the medium rather than human interaction with the Web itself.

1.5 SignificanceAccording to Barab, Kling and Gray (2004) many educators are creating intentional

online communities to support learning but these efforts often end with fragile, even

fractured groups that communicate intermittently. The introduction of social networking


sites has introduced a new organisational framework for online communities, and with it, a

new research context. boyd* and Ellison (2007) maintained that methodologically, the

ability of online social networking researchers to make causal claims is limited by a lack of

experimental or longitudinal studies, and although the situation is rapidly changing, scholars

still have a limited understanding of who is and who is not using these sites, why, and for

what purposes. *boyd prefers her name to be in lower case.

The importance of online social networking, both for practitioners and researchers is

noted by boyd and Ellison (2007). Furthermore, they acknowledge that “vast, uncharted

waters still remain to be explored” and that “scholars still have a limited understanding of

who is and who is not using these sites, why, and for what purposes” with research needed

to “aid scholars’ ability to understand the long-term implications of these tools” (p. 224).

Much of the literature relates to the use of computer-mediated conferencing in instructional

learning environments (Hult, Dahlgren, Hamilton, & Söderström, 2005) and seemingly,

much is still unclear about the use and role of online social networking in general, and

microblogging in particular, for professional learning networks. The assertion by Harasim et

al. (1995) that tens of millions of messages are exchanged across the Web daily by

academics, students, scientists, researchers, professionals and educators indicates that this is

a large field for inquiry.

Several studies have investigated the use of online social networking for the purpose of

strengthening a community (Prell, 2003) but there has been little research into the formation

of professional learning networks through online social networking. Carmichael, Fox,

McCormick, Procter and Honour (2006) noted that a significant recent change that had

occurred in the United Kingdom was the development of thinking about networks and

networking and this had led to considerable interest in how educational networks might be

the means by which a range of professional learning could be enabled. Although the

investigations by Carmichael et al. (2006) revealed electronic aspects of networking to be a

minor part of teacher and school networks, a picture of intra-school and inter-school

networking emerged that was supported to differing extents by electronic and other means.

This study will build upon the notion of using networking for professional learning by

investigating how and why educators are using microblogging to support their professional

learning.

One of the most challenging problems facing builders and facilitators of networks is to

create and sustain social engagement among members (Millen & Patterson, 2002). Barab et

al. (2004) identified that there is much to be learnt about building online communities in the

service of learning. Mason and Rennie (2008) acknowledged that student engagement with


digital learning resources and online social networking are strong forces in education and

there is a need to examine how these resources can be best used by educators and course

designers. Mason and Rennie contended that the popularity of a wide range of social

software has led many educators to believe that this practice and enthusiasm could be

harnessed for educational use. Through investigating the use of microblogging for self-

directed professional learning this study will uncover certain aspects of social engagement

that may have wider implications for educational use.

Hakkarainen et al. (2004) asserted that educational institutions will be required to find

new models and practices for facilitating the creation and sharing of knowledge and they

will need to develop new technologies in this endeavour. Millen and Patterson (2002)

identified that there is growing research literature investigating various aspects of online

communities (Cherny, 1999; Curtis, 1996; M. A. Smith, 1999) but that much of this

research has been descriptive, focusing on the nature of the social interaction and reporting

about the various activities of the members and visitors. This study will take an in-depth

look at the use of microblogging for self-directed professional learning and thus reveal the

value of this form of knowledge creation and sharing.


2Chapter 2: Literature review

This study aims to examine the use of microblogging for self-directed professional

learning amongst educators (see Section 1.4). To achieve this aim, an understanding of the

evolution of online social networking and the concept of microblogging more specifically, is

useful. Furthermore, an examination of the ways in which individuals engage in

microblogging will establish the place of microblogging in educators’ professional learning

networks. This chapter examines the existing literature pertaining to online social

networking and the emergence of microblogging (Section 2.1) and the characteristics of

professional learning networks (Section 2.2). Through a review of the existing literature an

examination of the use of microblogging in professional learning networks is undertaken

and the implications from the literature impacting on this study are highlighted.

2.1 Social networkingSee: http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2539/2242

Understandably, many forms of social networking existed long before the Web and

people have used the social network metaphor for more than a century to describe complex

sets of relationships between members of social systems, from interpersonal to international

(Freeman, 2004). A social network is a set of people (or organisations or other social

entities) connected by a set of social relationships, such as friendship, co-working or

information exchange (Garton, Haythornthwaite, & Wellman, 1997). Similarly, Dieu &

Stevens (2007) described a social network as a collection of individuals linked together by a

set of relations. In examining social networks, researchers have been concerned with how

people make friends, how many friends they have and the reliance on social networks for

social support (Golder, Wilkinson, & Huberman, 2007).

In their examination of networking more broadly, Wellman, Boase, and Chen (2002)

highlighted the debate about the impact of the Web on community, with community being

defined as “networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a

sense of belonging and social identity” (p. 153). Community was traditionally based around

villages/towns and urban neighbourhoods and connection with others was limited by how

far one could travel on foot. With the advent of transport, communities were no longer

confined to a geographical area, and social networks developed further afield. According to


http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2539/2242

Sliwka (2003), electronic means have facilitated networking across greater geographical

distances and are increasingly important to networking. Thus, social networks might be

locally bound, as in traditional neighbourhoods, or global as in those formed using online

social networking sites.

A fundamental change is occurring from place-to-place community to person-to-person

community, where people are personalising their own social networks with the help of the

Web (Wellman et al., 2002). In networked societies, boundaries are more permeable,

interactions are with diverse others, linkages switch between multiple networks, and

hierarchies are flatter and more recursive (Castells, 2000; Wellman, 1997). Rather than

relating to one group, people live and work in multiple sets of overlapped relationships,

cycling among different networks (Wellman et al., 2002).

Networks have a certain degree of self-management and are organic, dynamic

structures, changing in terms of type and number of participants and their roles, with the

participants in networks sharing a common purpose and staying active in the network only

as long as it delivers a profit for them (van Aalst, 2003). Electronic means both underpin

and enhance networking but networks are essentially human, operating with a high level of

human respect and built trust.

2.1.1 Social networks for learning

According to Engel (1993), almost all networking is characterised by four types of

activities: the provision of services, learning together, advocacy, and management. It is the

process of using networks for learning together that concerns this study. van Aalst (2003)

observed that learning in networks represented a special mode of knowledge production and

described four advantageous features of networks for learning:

Networks open access to a variety of sources of information.

Networks offer a broader range of learning opportunities than in hierarchical

organisations.

Networks promise a more flexible but also more stable base for co-ordinated

and interactive learning.

Networks help to create and access tacit knowledge.

Hopkins (2003) identified the common characteristics of networks in education as

being “the reduction of isolation; collaborative professional development; joint solutions to

shared problems; the exchange of practice and expertise; the facilitation of knowledge

sharing and school improvement; and opportunities to incorporate external facilitation” (p.


154). As previously noted, this study is interested in interactions amongst educators for self-

directed professional learning. However in order to give a context for the study, an overview

of online social networking and the emergence of microblogging is provided.

2.1.2 Online social networking

boyd and Ellison (2007) defined social networking sites as:

… web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or

semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other

users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list

of connections and those made by others within the system. These sites

allow users to post a profile, to invite their friends, to join a variety of

‘groups’ with like interests and to make new ‘friends’ through searching for

others with like interests. (p. 211)

Online social networking sites provide tools that allow people to identify, meet,

connect, share information and collaborate with other people. Individuals are linked because

of their common interests and together they produce, collect, share and re-mix artefacts

(Dieu & Stevens, 2007). These sites enable interactions that may occur for professional,

learning and/or social reasons, but which also allow for relationships to be established

between people who would not otherwise ordinarily be in contact (Rablin, 2008). Online

social networking has focused on sharing information about one's personal life, however

online social networking also has the potential to connect learners to new resources and to

each other in new ways and to integrate online and offline experiences (Mejias, 2006).

Wellman (1999) described these personal communities as “an individual’s social network of

informal, interpersonal ties, ranging from a half dozen intimates to hundreds of weaker ties”

(p. 355).

After joining a social networking site, users start to build up their network by linking

with others – commonly termed “followers”, “friends”, “contacts” or similar. Most social

networking sites require a confirmation by both parties for the link to be made. Connections

are usually made public and this is an important component as it allows users to extend their

own networks by linking to “friends of friends”. It is common practice to search the linkages

of your connections to find new connections for your own network, thus extending the

network in a nodal fashion. Once connected, people can freely exchange messages, however

many of these exchanges are publicly visible and writers often write with the public

audience in mind - described by boyd and Ellison (2007) as “offering users an imagined

audience to guide behavioral norms” (p. 220).


(Rheingold, 2008) identified three common, interrelated characteristics of participatory

media such as online social networking. These being that:

every person connected to the network can broadcast as well as receive from

every other person;

the value and power of these media derive from the active participation of many

people; and

information and communication networks enable broader, faster, and lower cost

coordination of activities in social networks.

2.1.3 History of online social networking

The idea of connecting people by using networked computers in order to boost their

knowledge and their ability to learn, dates as far back as Licklider (1960) who foresaw

interactive computing. The predecessor of the Internet appeared in 1969 with the emergence

of Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET), a network developed and

used by the United States Department of Defense (Hart , Reed, & Bar, 1992). This nascent

Internet flourished during the 1980s and was opened to commercial interests 1988 (Leiner et

al., 2000). However, it was not until the 1990s that the Internet became widely available and

used, due to the work of Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau of CERN who proposed the

World Wide Web as a "web of nodes" storing "hypertext pages" viewed by "browsers"

which was launched in December of 1990 (Berners-Lee & Cailliau, 1990). Tim Berners-Lee

saw the Web as a collaborative workspace where everything was linked to everything and

the assumption was that everyone would be able to edit in this space (Anderson, 2007).

Rheingold (2000) was one who saw the potential of the Web for connecting people: “The

first time I saw the Web, I wanted to create communities there” (p. 334).

Parallel to these developments, computer bulletin boards that allowed people to read

and write messages to and from each other appeared in 1978 (Rheingold, 2000). This was

the beginning of the first “social” uses of the Web, which evolved during the 1990s when

tools such as listservs and discussion software were used to link people around the world

with common interests. The notion of online social networking first appeared on the Web in

the late 1990s, with services that allowed groups of people to coordinate and interact. The

first public online social networking site, SixDegrees.com, appeared in 1997 but the service

failed to attract a self-sustaining community (boyd, 2007). Many features of social

networking sites were available in differing formats before this time, but SixDegrees.com

was the first platform to combine all of these features. The uptake of social networking was

slow and it has been argued that it was not until 2004 that these sites became widely popular


(boyd & Ellison, 2007). A historical overview of the emergence of online social networking

sites (Figure XX) indicates the proliferation of sites – from the introduction of one site

in1997 to a total of 35 sites in 2006. REDRAW THIS

Figure XX: Timeline of the launch dates of major social networking sites (boyd & Ellison, 2007)


While there has been an expansion in the number of online social networking sites,

sites have also undergone a significant and important evolution since 2004. Hornik (2005)

described the online social networking sites that emerged in the late 1990s as not explicitly

social networks but as the underpinnings of users organising and communicating on the

Web through coordinated networks while the online social networking sites that have

emerged in the 21st century allow users to share conversations, ideas and music. Online

social networking has steadily been gaining momentum and will be a crucial element of

most online experiences in the future (Hornik, 2005).

The Web helps individuals maintain contact with members of their social network,

cultivate ties and garner aid and resources, including information (Kavanaugh, Reese,

Carroll, & Rosson, 2003) and also allows them to form ties across time, distance and

personal circumstance, connect with distant and local family, friends and co-workers, along

with strangers who share similar interests (Kraut et al., 2002). Online social networking sites

change the notion of the Web from the page metaphor to a model predicated on

microcontent; content blocks that can be saved, summarised, addressed, copied, quoted, and

built into new projects (Alexander, 2006). Such online social networking has been made

possible by the emergence of Web 2.0 and the affordances it offers.

2.1.4 The evolution of Web 2.0

The term "Web 2.0" was coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004 as part of a marketing

exercise for a conference (O’Reilly, 2005). Web 2.0 has been variously described as “a state

of mind, an attitude, a new business model, the next generation of Web-based software and

services, a set of development principles, a revolution” (Birdsall, 2007, p. 1). The

commonality among descriptions of Web 2.0 is the reference to the participatory role given

to users of the Web (Birdsall, 2007; Maness, 2006; Miller, 2007) and the underlying feature

of Web 2.0 software is that of harnessing collective intelligence (R. Mason & Rennie,

2008).

Web 2.0 is a set of applications that enable people to connect and contribute as much as they can consume, and these applications have changed the Web into a

participatory medium in which users are socially connected and can actively create,

evaluate and distribute information (Lerman, 2007). Web 2.0 enables users to collaborate and contribute to developing, extending, rating, commenting on, and distributing, digital content, and developing and customising Web applications (OECD, 2008). By changing the social interactions and the modes and

patterns of our lives, Web 2.0 can lead to changes in education (Aviram & Tami, 2004).


With greater access to broadband services and Web 2.0 applications, new forms of

relationships and patterns of communicating and learning have emerged; where learners are

active participants, creators of knowledge, and seekers of engaging, personal experiences.

(McLoughlin & Lee, 2008b).

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, maintains that Web 2.0 is

just an extension of the original ideals of the Web and it does not warrant a special label

(Anderson, 2007). When asked in an interview about the common explanation that

Web 1.0 was about connecting computers and making information available; and Web 2.0 is

about connecting people and facilitating new kinds of collaboration, Berners-Lee replied:

Web 1.0 was all about connecting people. It was an interactive space, and I

think Web 2.0 is, of course, a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it

means. If Web 2.0 for you is blogs and wikis, then that is people to people.

But that was what the Web was supposed to be all along. (Laningham,

2006)

This study will adopt the term Web 2.0 to mean a participatory medium that enables

users to connect and collaborate.

2.1.5 The emergence of microblogging

Microblogging is a form of online social networking which became available in 2006.

It enables people to share limited information about themselves via their profile and share

their activities in short posts distributed to the Web by instant messages, mobile phones or

email (Java, Song, Finin, & Tseng, 2007). Users are limited to 140 characters for each

posting which is displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who are

connected to them – variously known as “friends’, “followers” or “fans’ depending on the

microblogging service used. Senders can restrict delivery of their posts to those in their

circle of friends or allow anybody to read them.

Posts are made in response to the question "What are you doing?" In practice, that

question is usually interpreted as, "What interesting thought do you want to share at this

moment?" and the answers include messages of context, invitation, social statements,

inquiries and answers, news broadcasts and announcements (Makice, 2009). Many posts are

responses to other postings, pointers to online resources that the user found interesting,

musings or questions (Educause, 2007). Some common microblogging services are Twitter,

Plurk, Jaiku and Pownce. Figures xx, xx and xx illustrate examples of posts from two

microblogging services, Twitter and Plurk.


Figure xx: Example of Twitter posts

Figure xx illustrates various types of postings that are typical to microblogging:

Sharing professional resources as in post 1: Social Media Tip.

Musing as in post 2: Juno Beach 1944 and post 3: Night at the Museum.

Replying to another user as in post 4: Yes, indeed I am!

Sharing a picture as in post 5: Shoes, Amsterdam, May 09.

Imparting social information as in post 6 about the party tonight.

Venting about a technical problem and directing readers to an article on that

problem as in post 7.

Plurk is similar to Twitter in that users can make posts which appear in a timeline

(Figure XX), but each post also has a drop down discussion area where comments can be

made by the user’s followers (Figure xx).


Figure xx: Example of Plurk posts

Figure xx is an example of a Plurk timeline showing a variety of resource and

information sharing. The number beside each of the posts shows how many comments have

been made in response to that post. The posting to the left of the screen shows a drop down

discussion area containing responses to the initial post.


Figure xx: Example of responses to a Plurk post

Figure xx shows an initial Plurk post “Why use blogs with students?” and a selection of

responses to this question.

Although the exact number of microblogging users is not known, Peeters (2008)

reported that the number of accounts in one of the microblogging services, Twitter, had

reached three million and was projected to pass seven million in February 2009. Peeters

represented this figure and projections with the diagram below.

Figure xx: Number of Twitter users (Peeters, 2008)

Microblogging activity is exponentially higher than membership (Makice, 2009) with

Twitter registering its billionth post in early November 2008 (Makice, 2008) and currently

averaging ten million posts per day, as revealed in Figure XX.

Figure xx; Tweets – 7 day moving average (millions) (Reed, 2009)

Individually, most microblogging messages are trivial, but the value of microblogging

is the cumulative effect of ideas shared between numerous people (Thompson, 2007).


Comm (2009) believed that the power of microblogging was in its ability to build a network

of peers who share ideas and creativity and he stated that microblogging has brought him

advice and suggestions from experts he couldn’t have reached in any other way. This is

supported by (Makice, 2009) who felt that his connection with other people in his academic

program was constrained by time and space before he started microblogging. This ability to

keep in touch with people in a way that time and space normally make impossible was

described by Reichelt (2007) as "ambient intimacy".

Sarker, Sarker, Nicholson, & Joshi (2005) maintained that “conversations serve as the

vehicle through which knowledge workers discover what they know, share it with their

colleagues, and, in the process, create new knowledge for the firm” (p. 214). Woodruff

(1999) similarly suggested that, a “community is probably best defined as an amalgamation

of ideas” (p. 677). The exchange is a co-created context with value in the relationships

between parties who accept obligations within the network and reap the benefits of

participation (Lott, 2008). It involves a group of people who develop a sense of itself,

making possible feats of coordination (Parry, 2008) also described by Thompson (2007) as a

collectivist whereby one creates a shared understanding larger than oneself.

2.1.6 Microbloggers

Educators who are using microblogging would be considered innovators and early

adopters in Rogers’ (1995) diffusion of innovations theory which defines the five categories

of innovation adopters as innovators, early adopters, early majority, later majority and

laggards. This study will investigate how these early adopters are using the technology to

support their professional learning.

2.2 Professional learningSee: http://personal-learning-environments.wikispaces.com/

There is a shift away from single-source knowledge, that is, one learned “teacher”, with

learners turning to multiple knowledge sources (Masie, 2008). The true competence for a

learner of the knowledge society is the capability to stay connected and belong to digital

communities in which interests are continuously shared (Pettenati & Cigognini, 2007).

Learning is a social process in which interactions with the environment, both human and

non-human play an important role (Divjak, 2004) and it occurs not as a response to teaching,

but as a result of a social framework that fosters learning (Brown & Duguid, 2002).


http://personal-learning-environments.wikispaces.com/

Simons & Ruijters (2001) highlighted the importance of profession-related collective

learning and differentiated between collective learning, where learners consciously strive for

outcomes, and learning in social interactions. The second of these is the type of professional

learning of interest to this study, that is, where people undertake learning together without

any intended collective outcomes and which results in the learning processes being

collective but the learning outcomes being individual. This type of learning is referred to as

non-formal learning by Tissot (2000) and is described as learning resulting from daily

activities that are not organised or structured and, in most cases, unintentional from the

learner’s perspective. Others describe this type of learning as informal learning (see for

example, Conner, 2004; Cross, 2006; Shackleton-Jones, 2008). Shackleton-Jones (2008)

noted that in recent years organisations have begun to distinguish between formal learning, a

top-down approach, and informal learning and to realise the value of informal learning.

Conner (2004) found that informal learning accounts for over 75% of the learning taking

place in organisations today and happens through processes not structured or sponsored by

an employer or a school. What is apparent is that new technologies have enabled increased

opportunities for access to informal learning by anyone, anywhere (Divjak, 2004).

This study is concerned with self-directed learning undertaken as informal learning

within a microblogging environment. Self-directed learning implies that you are in charge of

your own learning activities and you are deciding what you will learn and how you will

learn it (Tobin, 2000).

2.2.1 Learning networks

Learning networks were defined by Harasim et al. (1995) as “groups of people who use

computer-mediated-communication networks to learn together, at the time, place, or pace

that best suits them and is appropriate to the task” (p. 4). Similarly, Koper, Rusman and

Sloep (2005) characterised a learning network as a self organising ensemble connected

through, and supported by, information and communication technologies. Learning

networks are particularly attractive to self-directed learners (Kester et al., 2006) as the

learners themselves can decide on their learning program and the timing, pace and place of

their learning.

Sliwka (2003) suggested that one of the positive elements of networking as being that

“it allows for the rapid exchange of information relevant for individual and organisational

development processes, bypassing red tape and hierarchies” (p. 53). Cross (2006)

maintained that learning is optimising our connections to the networks that matter to us and

that we use these networks to gather information and to learn things. Grabher (1993) argued


that networks afford favourable conditions for interactive learning and innovation and that

by opening access to various sources of information, networks offer a broad learning

interface. Online social networking sites support and encourage informal conversation,

dialogue, collaborative content generation, and knowledge sharing and are focused on

knowledge creation and community participation, allowing learners to access peers, experts,

and the wider community in ways that enable reflective, self-directed learning (McLoughlin

& Lee, 2008a).

Professional (or personal) learning networks (PLNs) are variously described in the

literature as: communities of professionals working to improve student learning by engaging

in continuous collective learning of their own (Hord & Sommers, 2008); groups of people

who use the Web to communicate and collaborate in order to build and share knowledge

(Harasim et al., 1995); and a place where we create our own classrooms, our own curricula,

and our own textbooks for our study of whatever it is we are passionate about (Richardson,

2008). Hord and Sommers (2008) noted that a major challenge to developing PLNs as

entities was a lack of time and space. These two dimensions are overcome by an online PLN

as learners can collaborate asynchronously in a virtual space (Couros, 2008).

Warlick (2009) emphasised the importance of harnessing new technologies to create

and grow PLNs and identified three types of PLNs: 1) personally maintained synchronous

PLNs which consist of people and places you consult with and which are enabled by various

tools on the Web that allow you to connect in real-time with others; 2) personally and

socially maintained semisynchronous PLNs, a term coined by Heppell (2008) to describe

connections that occur almost, but not quite, synchronously and are enabled by tools such as

microblogging; and 3) dynamically maintained asynchronous PLNs which connect the

learner with content sources as opposed to people.

Microblogging is a relatively new tool and has only just begun being used in PLNs.

However, it has been described as the perfect social networking application to monitor new

developments in your subject area on an international scale (Rigby, 2008) and one which

brings a steady flow of relevant content (Lopp, 2008). Microblogging is being used at Penn

State University in the US to enable people across campuses, departments and academic

colleges to collaborate and become a much more connected, intelligent, communicative

group (Ritter, 2008).

2.2.2 Knowledge sharing

Why do participants in a network interact? Johnston, Peters and

Gassenheimer (2006) maintained that participants interact in order to share knowledge and


to build new understandings. Knowledge transfer in PLNs is spontaneous and the value of

knowledge to be transferred is determined by the potential users who declare an interest in

the transfer (Buchel & Raub, 2002).

(van Aalst, 1999) argued that knowledge should be considered as what people invest in

terms of intuition, ideas, ideals and actions and that personal experience and knowledge

developed in groups and networks was gaining weight as compared with scientific

knowledge. Similarly, (Sliwka, 2003) maintained that networking was an important aspect

of creating, mediating and using knowledge. This study aims to investigate the ways in

which knowledge is being shared through microblogging and the value that participants

place on this method of knowledge exchange.

2.2.3 Participation and reciprocity

Building a PLN requires that you not only seek to learn from others, but also that you

help others in the network to learn (Plickert, Côté, & Wellman, 2008). Engel (1993)

identified three main characteristics common among participants of successful networks:

their ability to share, their ability to contribute and their commitment to networking. Field

(2003) pointed out that connections bring obligations to other people, but conversely, those

people then acquire obligations to you. Grabher (1993) maintained that the forms of

exchange in networks entail indefinite, sequential transactions within the context of a

general pattern of reciprocity and that these obligations of one to another are often implicit

rather than explicit. Wasko and Faraj (2005) proposed that electronic networks are sources

of learning and innovation because mutual engagement and interaction in the network

creates relationships between individuals and the collective as a whole. The aspect of

reciprocity will be interest in this study as part of the investigation into the nature of

participation in microblogging.


3Chapter 3: Research design

This chapter describes the research design and specific methodology to be adopted by

this study to examine the use of microblogging for self-directed professional learning within

an informal community of educators. The chapter describes the methodologies employed

and their application within the study and is presented in five main sections: Section 3.1

discusses the methodology to be used in the study and the rationale for its use; Section 3.2

details the participants in the study and the selection criteria used; Section 3.3 overviews the

data collection process; Section 3.4 outlines the timeline for completion of each stage of the

study; Section 3.5 discusses how the data will be analysed; Section 3.6 discusses the ethical

considerations of the research; and Section 3.7 considers potential problems and limitations

of the study.

This will be an interpretive study, that is, the study will be characterised by a concern

for the individual and will seek to understand the subjective world of human experience

(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007). The researcher will be focussing on intentional

behaviour and action in order to explore the ways in which, and the reasons why,

microblogging participants share their knowledge and experience in order to support their

professional learning. It is anticipated that the data will include the meanings and purposes

of participants and the researcher will interpret these sets of meanings in order to yield

insight and understanding into the use of microblogging for self-directed professional

learning. This approach will capture a detailed picture of the participants’ experiences,

attitudes and perceptions in using microblogging for self-directed professional learning.

Increasingly, online social networking can be seen as constructivist in its nature by the

way in which learners become involved as active participants and creators of knowledge that

is shared with fellow learners (McLoughlin & Lee, 2008b). Social constructivism is the

theoretical framework which will determine the design and conduct of the research for this

study.

3.1 MethodologyIn order to explore the nature of microblogging and to understand its use for

professional learning, this study will use a qualitative methodology: a multiple case study

approach (Yin, 2003b). Qualitative research involves collecting data and trying to


understand it in a particular context (M. L. Smith, 1987), and usually involves small

samples of people who are studied in-depth (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

As this study seeks to understand local behaviour and construction of meaning, the

primary data will be emic, that is, research carried out with an insider perspective (Patton,

2002; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). An interpretive study seeks out emic meanings held by

the participants (Stake, 2003) and the case study is the ideal instrument for emic enquiry

(Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The researcher will aim to identify themes that emerge from within

each of the case studies in order to test for commonalities across the case studies.

3.1.1 Qualitative research

Qualitative research is designed to address questions of meaning, interpretation and

socially constructed realities (Newman, Ridenour, Newman, & DeMarco Jr., 2003).

Qualitative data are a source of “well-rounded, rich descriptions and explanations of

processes in identifiable local contexts” from which the researcher can “preserve

chronological flow, see precisely which events led to which consequences, and drive fruitful

explanations” (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 1)

In qualitative research, sampling can be based on probability, that is, a random sample,

or on non-probability, that is, a purposive sample (Scott & Morrison, 2006). Non-

probability sampling requires the researcher to purposively select a section of the wider

population to include or exclude from the sample because they illustrate some feature or

process in which the researcher is interested, with the aim being for the sample to represent

itself rather than to seek generalisability (Cohen et al., 2007; Silverman, 2005). The

proposed interpretive study will utilise non-probability sampling. Participants purposively

chosen will exhibit common characteristics such as they: are educators, microblog regularly,

contribute resources and ideas to other microbloggers and they consider that microblogging

contributes to their professional learning.

Miles and Huberman (1994) outlined three approaches to qualitative data analysis:

interpretivism, social anthropology and collaborative social research. In this study, the

interpretation of meanings will be made both by the participants and by the researcher, with

the researcher bringing her own understandings, convictions and conceptual orientations

through being a member of the cultural group at this specific time (Miles & Huberman,

1994).


3.1.2 Case study approach

A case study is “both a process of inquiry about the case and the product of that

inquiry” (Stake, 2003, p. 136). Gillham (2000) defined the word “case” as “a unit of human

activity embedded in the real world; which can only be studied or understood in context;

which exists in the here and now; that merges in with its context so that precise boundaries

are difficult to draw” (p. 1). A case study is an empirical inquiry that “investigates a

contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context especially when the boundaries

between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (Yin, 2003b, p. 13) Case study is

a research strategy which involves detailed investigation of phenomena where the aim is to

understand how behaviour and/or processes are influenced by and influence context, and

where context is deliberately part of the design (Hartley, 2004). According to Stake (1995),

the case study researcher may be somewhat of a biographer focused on a phase or segment

of the life of an individual.

Yin (2003b) put forward that case studies are generalisable to theoretical propositions

and that the case study “does not represent a 'sample', and in doing a case study, your goal

will be to generalize theories (analytical generalization) and not to enumerate frequencies

(statistical generalization)" (p.10). A case study method would be used when the researcher

wanted to cover contextual conditions, believing that they are pertinent to the study (Yin,

2003b). A case study seeks a range of different kinds of evidence in order to answer specific

research questions (Gillham, 2000), focuses on understanding the dynamics present within

single settings (Eisenhardt, 1989) and can incorporate qualitative data only, quantitative data

only, or both (Yin, 2003b). Multiple methods of data collection are generally used and may

include participant observation, direct observation, ethnography, interviews, focus groups,

documentary analysis and questionnaires, with researchers remaining open to both

opportunistic and planned data (Hartley, 2004).

Yin (2003a) identified six kinds of case studies: single or multiple case studies either of

which can be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. This study will employ a multiple case

study approach which is descriptive, that is, it presents a description of a phenomenon

within its context. Such description will include the meanings and purposes of participants

and the researcher will interpret these sets of meanings in order to yield insight and

understanding into the use of microblogging for self-directed professional learning.

3.1.3 Multiple case study

Multiple cases are a powerful means to create theory because they permit replication

and extension among individual cases, that is, individual cases can be used for independent


corroboration of specific propositions and corroboration helps the researcher to perceive

patterns more easily and to eliminate chance associations allowing the researcher to draw a

more complete theoretical picture (Eisenhardt, 1991). The multiple case study approach is

said to suit a situation in which little is known about the subject area of the study (Laine,

2006) and this is particularly true of virtual communities which are a relatively new subject

for research. The cases in this study will be instrumental (Stake, 2003), that is, each case

will be examined in order to provide insight and cases play a supportive role by facilitating

understanding of the use of microblogging for professional learning.

Multiple case studies include two or more cases within the same study, each being

selected so that they replicate each other and either predict similar results (literal replication)

or contrast results for predictable reasons (theoretical replication). A multiple case study

approach can be used when the results attained from one case are wanted to be confirmed or

compared with other cases (Yin, 2003b). As this study is interested in a general

phenomenon, the use of microblogging for professional learning, it will investigate a

population of cases simultaneously before comparing cases in order to understand the

phenomenon (Stake, 2003). Each case will be based on an individual microblogger and these

cases will be investigated and compared to give a picture of the use of microblogging for

professional learning.

3.2 Participant profileThe selection of participants has implications for both data collection and the data that

are available for analysis (Burgess, Pole, Evans, & Priestley, 1994) and helps to define the

limits for generalising the findings (Eisenhardt, 1989). The participants in this study will be

chosen using purposive sampling (Cohen et al., 2007; Patton, 2002; Silverman, 2005). This

approach requires that the researcher thinks critically about the parameters of the population

from which the sample is to be drawn and chooses participants carefully on this basis

(Silverman, 2005). Accordingly, participants chosen will be educators who microblog and

who regard microblogging as a component of their PLN. The following sections describe the

sample size and selection criteria for the research.

3.2.1 Sample size

In trying to address the question of how many cases a multiple case study should have,

Miles and Huberman (1994) advise that the researcher must deal with the issue conceptually

rather than statistically, and consider how many cases would allow confident analytic

generalisations. In this study, interviews will be conducted with twelve individuals


representing people in various stages of their microblogging involvement, that is, early

adopters, mid-term users and those relatively new to microblogging. Four individuals will

be purposively selected to represent each group. The researcher considers that this cross-

section of educators who microblog for professional learning would allow for confident

analytical generalisations, that is, it includes those who are central to the activity (early

adopters and mid-term users) and those new to microblogging who constitute peripheral

samples (Miles & Huberman, 1994).

3.2.2 Selection criteria

Choices about who to interview are crucial for later analysis as those choices place

limits on the conclusions that can be drawn (Miles & Huberman, 1994). Participants for the

interviews will be purposively selected according to the “typical case sampling strategy”

(Patton, 2002, p. 236). This strategy involves selecting participants who exhibit typical, or

average, characteristics for the group being studied. The criteria to be used to define

typicality in this study are: they are educators, they microblog regularly, they contribute

resources and ideas to other microbloggers, and they consider that microblogging

contributes to their professional learning. These participants will be identified from a survey

of educators who microblog.

3.3 Data collectionThe emphasis in data collection is to develop research evidence systematically,

searching for a broad array of evidence which looks for both confirming and disconfirming

data (Hartley, 2004). Data collection and recording have implications for analysis which, in

turn, links to the process of theorising and writing (Bryman & Burgess, 1994a). This study

will use an online survey with a large sample to gain an overall picture of the use of

microblogging for professional learning and a more fine-grained analysis will be achieved

through the use of interviews with case study participants.

3.3.1 Survey

Qualitative research does not have a distinct set of methods or practices and may utilise

surveys as a technique for gathering data (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003). Surveys are used in

qualitative research to gather data at a particular point in time with the intention of

“describing the nature of existing conditions, or identifying standards against which existing

conditions can be compared, or determining the relationships that exist between specific

events” (Cohen et al., 2007, p. 205). In this study, a survey will be used to gain an overall


picture of the use of microblogging by educators in order to identify common themes which

can be further explored through multiple case studies.

The survey will take the form of a self-administered online questionnaire (Dillman,

2007) which will be offered to all microbloggers who are educators. At this stage the sample

will not be limited to participants who use microblogging for professional learning, as this

purposive sampling will take place for the case study phase of the research. Survey

respondents will be asked to provide information about their background, broad

understanding of PLNs and to comment on their particular use of microblogging. This

information will be analysed for common themes, which will then be further investigated

with case study participants.

Baym (2009) cautioned that the internet can provide large amounts of data and given

resource constraints, it is only possible to work with the amount of data that we can

reasonably interpret. Further, Cohen et al. (2007) advised there are three prerequisites to the

design of any survey: purpose of the inquiry, population of focus and resources available.

With this in mind, the online questionnaire will be limited to 100 responses as the researcher

considers that this amount of data will be sufficient to uncover common themes and to

identify participants for the case study research, while not being too large to interpret.

3.3.2 Interviews

Interviewing is a research method readily accepted by most participants due to their

familiarity with the technique and also because it often helps them to clarify their thinking

on a particular topic (King, 2004a). The disadvantage of the interview method is the volume

of data collected and the time consuming task of analysing transcripts, however there is

qualitative research software that can aid in organising and examining data (King, 2004b).

The interview is the most common method of data gathering in qualitative research and

the goal of any qualitative research interview is to “see the research topic from the

perspective of the interviewee and to understand how and why they have come to this

particular perspective” (King, 2004a, p. 11). Kvale and Flick (2007) describe the interview

as a conversation that has a structure and a purpose determined by the interviewer and in

which the researcher asks about, and listens to, what people relate in their own words about

their lived world.

In building theory from case studies, an initial definition of the research question is

important (Eisenhardt, 1989). The research questions for this study do not seek to quantify

individual experience, but focus on how participants describe and make sense of particular


elements of their lives (King, 2004a) that is, the use of microblogging for professional

learning. In examining how and why individuals engage in microblogging and the value

they place on microblogging as a professional learning tool, the study will focus on the

questions:

Why do individuals participate in microblogging?

What is the nature of participation in microblogging?

How can microblogging support professional learning?

What value do individuals place on microblogging as a professional learning

tool?

Patton (2002) identifies three types of open-ended interviews as basic approaches to

collecting qualitative data: the informal conversational interview; the general interview

guide approach; and the standardised open-ended interview. Each serves a different purpose

and differs in the extent to which interview questions are determined before the interview

occurs. The qualitative research interview generally uses an interview guide rather than a

formal schedule of questions to be asked verbatim in a pre-determined order (King, 2004a).

Such an interview guide lists topics and/or questions (to help participants focus on concrete

examples) and suggests probes (which may be used to elicit further detail from participants).

Interview guides may be modified through use with probes or whole topics being added as

they emerge during the interview process. Miles and Huberman (1994) advise that interview

guides can help the researcher to avoid an overload of data which may compromise the

efficiency and power of the analysis.

This study will employ the general interview guide approach to ensure that the same

basic line of inquiry is pursued with each participant. A set of issues to be explored with

each participant will be determined before the interview; however the interviewer will need

to be sufficiently open to explore previously unconsidered topics that may be introduced by

the interviewee. This will be achieved through establishing a conversational style between

both parties rather than a gathering of information by the researcher (Miles & Huberman,

1994). By delimiting the issues to be explored, the process will be systematic and

comprehensive and will best use the limited time available.

Interviews will be one-on-one conducted by a Voice over IP (VoIP) service with

follow-up communication conducted via microblogging. The reason for this is that

interviewees are geographically dispersed across several countries and this is the most cost-

effective means of communicating with them. All participants will be comfortable with this

form of communication as they are regular users of these technologies. Morgan and Symon


(2004) note that due to the increase in computer use, it is possible to use electronic

communications to interview participants in synchronous or asynchronous mode and that

such techniques are being used increasingly in educational research.

3.4 TimelineThe proposed timeline for this study is shown in Figure XX.

Figure XX: Timeline for collection and analysis of data

3.5 Data analysisWe then developed a framework of the determinants of learning effectiveness and

reported the results of a first study to empirically test it. Our study provides

The process of making data manageable for analysis and actually developing an

analysis are two distinct activities, however the two sets of activities may become blurred in

practice (J. Mason, 2002). In qualitative research design, data collection and analysis may be

simultaneous and continuous processes (Bryman & Burgess, 1994b). There is a need to

create clear links between theory and data collection and between data analysis and theory

with the researcher dealing with method and theory concurrently rather than sequentially,

that is, data collection and analysis is an iterative process (Hartley, 2004). An inherent

danger in this is that premature conclusions may be drawn, with the researcher having been

unduly influenced by unusual or interesting data (Eisenhardt, 1989). In order to guard

against this, the researcher will employ techniques advised by Hartley (2004) that is, careful

description of the data and development of categories in which to place behaviours, followed


by examination to see how they fit or fail to fit these categories, being mindful that

categories may need refining or events need to be interpreted differently.

This study will use analysis of within-case data coupled with searching for cross-case

patterns (Eisenhardt, 1989). Within-case analysis requires the researcher to discover unique

patterns within each case before generalising patterns across cases. Once patterns emerge,

cross-case analysis will be undertaken to search for similarities and differences. It is not

essential for case study research to make claims for generalisation (Scott & Morrison, 2006)

and accordingly, this study does not aim to draw conclusions that may be generalised

beyond educators who microblog. The study seeks to understand the actions of educators

who use microblogging for their professional learning.

In qualitative research, categorisation is a key process that is used to abstract main ideas

from complex data to provide a means for making comparisons across case studies (Scott &

Morrison, 2006). Data gathered from the interviews will be analysed for themes and indexed

into analytical categories (J. Mason, 2002). These categories will represent key substantive

topics in which the study is interested and will include, for example, reasons for

microblogging, types of microblog posts and type of information shared. Transcripts of all

interviews will be indexed in order to readily track and retrieve all mentions of any of the

categories. This aspect of the study will necessitate some interpretation by the researcher, as

participants are unlikely to use words with which the categories have been labelled.

The three concurrent flows of activity in qualitative analysis as defined by Miles and

Huberman (1994) are data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing/verification. A

general sequence of analysis would include:

Affixing codes to a set of field notes drawn from observations or interviews

Noting reflections or other remarks in the margins

Sorting and sifting through these materials to identify similar phrases,

relationships between variables, patterns, themes, distinct differences between

subgroups, and common sequences

Isolating these patterns and processes, commonalities and differences, and

taking them out to the field in the next wave of data collection

Gradually elaborating a small set of generalizations that cover the consistencies

discerned in the database

Confronting those generalizations with a formalized body of knowledge in the

form of constructs or theories (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 9)


3.5.1 Triangulation

Triangulation is a “process of using multiple perceptions to clarify meaning, verifying

the repeatability of an observation or interpretation” (Stake, 2003, p. 148). The researcher

uses triangulation to make data more objective and less subjective (Stake, 2005), to confirm

theories using different forms of data (Harper, 2005) and to strengthen the study through the

combination of methods (Patton, 2002). In this study, data will be triangulated within the

survey responses to clarify common themes which will then be verified through interviews

with case study participants.

3.6 Ethics(Kvale & Flick, 2007) caution that ethical issues permeate interview research. Potential

participants must be informed why the research is being carried out and what it hopes to

achieve, and they must be assured of confidentiality (King, 2004a; Morgan & Symon, 2004)

The researcher will be aware of the fact that privileged information may be given which

could be damaging if made public (Hartley, 2004).

Prior to the commencement of this study, ethics approval will be sought from the

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Human Research Ethics Committee.

Participants will be fully informed prior to the study about the potential risks and procedures

involved. Written consent will be obtained prior to participation in the interviews and online

consent will be obtained from respondents prior to commencing the questionnaire. The data

collection at all stages of the research project will take place in participant’s own

environment with the researcher linked via technological means, for example Skype or other

internet connection.

Participants will be free to withdraw from the study at any time without consequence.

Confidentiality will be maintained by not revealing participant identities in any published

material arising from the study. Identities will be protected by the use of pseudonyms. Hard

copies of survey data and paper copies of field notes will be stored in a locked filing facility

on the researcher’s premises. Only the researcher and research supervisors will have access

to the raw data from the study.

At the conclusion of the research project all participants will be given a brief summary

of findings for the purposes of informing practice in the use of professional learning

networks (PLNs). Risks to participants are minimal and can be considered equivalent to the

risks involved in their everyday work activities.


3.7 LimitationsCase studies have been viewed as a less desirable form of inquiry than experiments or

surveys (Yin, 2003b). The concerns Yin (2003b) noted for this view are: 1) lack of rigour in

case study research, 2) single case studies provide little basis for scientific generalisation and

3) case study research is a lengthy process resulting in large amounts of written documents.

This study will address these possible pitfalls by 1) ensuring that a rigorous process is

employed, 2) employing a multiple case study approach and 3) collecting of data over a

defined period of time and avoiding the collection of lengthy narrative. EXPAND THIS

(FROM YIN P.10-11)


Bibliography


Documents

Thesis Daunt - PBworkscarolsdoctorate.pbworks.com/f/Confirmation+Daunt+09… · Web viewCarol Daunt. Dip T, Grad Dip Dist Ed, B Ed, M Ed (Research) N1006771. ... However, there