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PhD Educational Technology

Posted July 26th, 2008 by chrishambly
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So I am thinking I need to get my PhD mind-set back on track.

It's been too long "off the boil" and now is a probably a good time to start working towards formalising more thoughts. I'm in a place where I can more than likely establish strong connections with study and professional practise.

My Masters is in the field of Educational Technology, specifically focussed on distance learning, and my PhD is likely to also be in a similar field, though possibly slanted with a little curvature towards non-educational environments too.

PhDs are not for the faint hearted, but my heart is strong and this is a challenge for me, not for you. I think it is very important to understand that, you know, the reasons we embark on journeys, what are the motivators, what is the point?

Understanding motivational reasons for study can in fact help you discover a great deal about yourself. For example study for me is basically concerned with two key motivators.

  • The research enables me to more effective in my career (both strategic understanding and practical doing)
  • The research gives me a sense of inner-challenge (I'm not interested in waving my qualifications at you, but I want to prove to myself I am capable)

    • Your own explicit or implicit reasons are something you can all ponder on..


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Comments

Tacit knowledge for academics

On July 26th, 2008 Jo (not verified) says:

I am trying to remember the name of the guy who has analysed why some academics are 7 times more productive than others. I have lent my copy of his book to someone else. Maybe google "First Time Faculty"

Where is my memory today? Ok got it. Also google Sternberg on Tacit Knowledge. I think it was him. He used academics to demonstrate the concept of Tacit Knowledge - what you will never know or guess if know one tells you.

I want to get students to develop online portfolios. I don't think I will hire anyone who does not have a portfolio of original work. Dissertations are no longer enough. I want to see sustained relation to purpose and a set of relationships built around that purpose. Will blog on it when I have sorted this bottleneck here.

Cultural Differences

On July 27th, 2008 chrishambly says:

I ran a degree some years back, a BSc, and in 2005 one of the modules was Cultural Differences.

Within that module I set up an assessment regime which asked the students to submit Blog posts, which were in fact their assignments. Partly to get them into the habit of being responsible to a wider network, and partly to bring about a sense of realism.

This raised a number of privacy issues. One particular student expressed significant concern for having her assignment work publicly available for all and sundry. She wanted the safe haven of academia to practise, and expressed her dislike of her work being made available to the public stocks.. I also did the same, asked the cohort to submit assignments to YouTube, and whilst most were happy to submit under their name, garnering public comments, this one student requested to not use her real name.

She had a point, one could argue..

Study..

On July 28th, 2008 Asha (not verified) says:

PhD is def not for the light hearted, so good luck with that..

Motivation is a bit of thing for me at the mo (as per my own blog) but although it was really tough towards the end of my studying, there is very little I would change. Getting back into education helped me better my career, shape the way I think and work and has given me more confidence. I liked the challenge I put on myself and it was brilliant to see it through….still ran a mile though :-))

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