Clarity and alignment in research reports

I don't know about you but I seem to be reading Master and Ph.D. theses and dissertations that are not as precise, concise or crystal clear in what the research was all about.

Two theses I read recently needed to be aligned in terms of what was said in the abstract, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and the rest. For example, in the abstract, the research was about x but in Chapter 1 it was about x1, a slightly different version of what was studied.

Please remember that it's all about being consistent in stating what the research is all about, not being creative about how it's said in different parts of the report.

Still, I look forward to reading other theses and dissertations. If at all, it's a clear indication that one usually has to go through a learning process while writing up a research report the first time. All the best to all of you first timers. There's still hope.

Case Study Research

I was reading a thesis the last few days. It was a case study.

Just in case any of you want to do the same, it helps if you know what a case study is, how to design one, and so on. Robert K. Yin, Ph.D. has written a few books on case studies. Based on what I read at the amazon.com web site, the following seems to be worth reading, "The Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Third Edition, Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol 5" by Sage Publications.

It's a 2002 publication but still relevant.

Curtis Bonk

If you're interested in instructional technology or eLearning, one outstanding personality is Curtis Bonk, a professor at Indiana University. He was recently chair of the eLearn2008 conference and managed it so well that it attracted over 1100 participants from 65 countries!

What I admire most in him is his energy, enthusiasm and passion for learning! And to think that he started out his career as an accountant! Check out his blog at http://travelinedman.blogspot.com/

George Siemens

I don't know if you're familiar with Siemen's connectivist learning but having met him at the recent eLearn conference in Las Vegas, I appreciate his thinking and work more. Many believe connectivism is a theory of learning for the digital age....you may or may not agree. Nevertheless, I personally believe he will be one to watch and his ideas will make a very huge impact on where we go in terms of learning.

He has blogs, wikis, online forums you can follow. If you're interested in learning and technology trends, visit elearnspace, everything elearning at http://www.elearnspace.org/

SEAAIR 2008, 4-6 November, Surabaya

We had the 8th annual SEAAIR conference in Surabaya last week.

It was a spectacular conference! Hosted by STIE, Perbanas, I thought the range of papers and quality of research done has vastly improved since the first conference in Kuching in 2001. This indicates the maturity of research and the researchers.

I thought I'd share with you a picture I took during our post-conference tour of Mount Bromo, taken at sunrise. Mount Bromo is an active volcano and the five hour journey from Surabaya by bus, van and jeep was, simply put, worth it!

eLearn 2008

I cannot think of a better conference that has lots to offer the educator who is interested in keeping abreast with the latest and finding success stories to bring home.

Whether you're attending the eLearn conference or not, follow the blog as the events unfold. It's a five-day conference, packed with a variety of sessions and brings together an interesting group of speakers, many of them known in the field. Visit:

http://blogs.aace.org/elearn/

Research on mLearning

My current research project is on mLearning and for those of you who are keen on moving ahead with mobile technologies for learning, a good place to start is by reading the resources at:

http://www.m-learning.org/knowledge-centre/m-learning-research.htm

Challenges for Educational Research

This book is a good read for those who want to update themselves of some of the latest challenges in educational research. Check it out at:

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=EE8A7OCFJhsC