Marguerite Koole, PhD
A secret is heard from the 11th floor.
It hurries down the stairs to spread the word.
The Snooper grabs a pen and paper to write down the secret, then suddenly, so delicately crumples and throws the paper away.
“What am I thinking” the Snooper says quietly.
This is a secret, it should not be told.
The secret rushes back up the stairs and now remains unknown.
This was written by my friend’s daughter. Wonderful.
The International Institute for Qualitative Methodology is pleased to announce that this year the 17th Qualitative Health Research (QHR) Conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from October 25-27, 2011.
There will be a pre-conference workshop on October 24th, 2011. Please reserve these dates in your calendar.
CALLS FOR ABSTRACTS ARE NOW OPEN!
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS MAY 16, 2011
QHR is the premier international and interdisciplinary conference for the dissemination and discussion of developments in qualitative health research. All conference papers will be peer reviewed, and we welcome presentations from scholars in a range of disciplines exploring health-related issues and experiences.
Abstracts are invited from scholars engaged qualitative health research in such disciplines as public health, nursing, medicine, social work, psychology, sociology, information science, education, human ecology, anthropology, dentistry, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and many more!
Click here to submit an abstract<https://iiqm.gobigevent.com/prothos/onware.x/conference/web/index.p?!=public=12985845498149=14=56115563&Conference=75159> or visit the QHR webpage for more information at: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/iiqm/QHR2011.cfm
This year the AQM conference will not be held in conjunction with QHR. AQM will be postponed to 2012 in an effort to revitalize and introduce some exciting new initiatives. In the interim, individuals that were planning on submitting to AQM are encouraged to submit abstracts on Qualitative Methods to QHR. A series of multi-disciplinary sessions on methods will be offered at QHR and will be highlighted as advanced sessions.
CONFERENCE FEATURES
Yes, I am geeking out. Even if I weren’t to achieve any of my goals for my PhD research, this R & S leave (sabbatical) is plenty fruitful.
I’ve been scouring the Web looking for interesting tools that my students will be able to use to create interesting projects for MDDE 615 starting at the end of April.
The one that caught my attention today is MobileNation. I’ve been playing with the interface. My goal to create two pages with one linking to the other. That’s it. I just want to see how to create a couple of pages. So much can be done with so little. I’ve been testing it on our decrepit old iPod Touch. No phone, no camera, and only 8GB of memory. Being somewhat paranoid, I haven’t wanted to re-install iTunes on my main computers. So, I’ve dusted off my decrepit old Sony Vaio (great computer when it was new; too old for an OS upgrade to Windows 7). I’ll have to do several hours of updates to the security and anti-virus. Then, I’ll have to do a firmware upgrade on the iPod Touch, etc., etc., etc..
In the meantime, I’ve been trying to see if the output from Mobile Nation would work on my HTC TYTN II, now 3 years old. (I have not yet succumbed to purchasing an iPhone nor an Android. I had to install a QR Code Reader (NeoReader was compatible).) To read this “link” to my MobileNation page, which I creatively called “one”:
QR code linking to my first MobileNation page
Anyways, my HTC cannot read the page. So, I’ll have to try on the iPod Touch.
What else have I been doing besides WordPress? Well, I have been installing and testing WordPress plugins. Love the mobile one that allows me to write blog postings from my phone.
And, today, I have been checking out some pushpin maps and Cluster Maps. I really like the how modifiable the pushpin map API is; however, it would require data to be transferred to a 3rd party somewhere in the world. I try not to do that with my students. Now, that I think about it, so does Cluster Maps, but there is so little data (no cookies or spyware) that I think it is better.
On a side-note, I have also been reading some of my classmates’ PhD thesis proposals. I’m starting to formulate some questions for them.
Busy day.
Gale (my PhD supervisor) and I did our presentation today for CIDER. Gale got to do the tough stuff. 🙂 I think it all went very well, except when my home telephone began to ring. I found it terribly distracting. I will have to make sure I shut off the ringer next time.
Facilitator: Marguerite Koole
Institution: Athabasca University
Date and time: Mar 02, 2011 11:00 AM
As learners interact in online networks of learning, how do they come to know one another? Building on the work of Goffman (1959) and Foucault (1988), the Web of Identity (WoI) model shows how online learners may use dramaturgical strategies to create and negotiate their personal identities in a continuous flux of presentation and interpretation. Philosophically, the model is highly social constructionist and places a great emphasis on relational dialogue. For practitioners, the implications include finding ways to aid learners to improve their use and translation of WoI strategies. Such skill, theoretically, should help them to enact their unique personalities, lessen their sense of fragmentation, increase their sense of belonging, and gauge authenticity of others. The researchers, Marguerite Koole and Dr. Gale Parchoma, will then discuss some preliminary research projects on identity in networked learning and future research in the field.
No Comments on Recording for my presentation today: The Web of Identity
Yes, methinks ’tis time for some fun tomorrow!
(Oh wait . . . -32 celcius tonight and chilly tomorrow; it’s just not fair! I have one friend in Kenya and one in the Canary Islands. It sucks to be me.)
I’ve just submitted the first draft of my proposal for peer review. And, I’ve downloaded a couple others to read and offer friendly critiques.
And, we have just been notified of our official thesis supervisors. Good news. Great supervisor.
Now the work to pass the confirmation (candidacy) panel is approaching. The game is afoot.
No Comments on PhD studies update: draft proposal submitted . . .
Got up early this morning, dropped hubby at work and went to my favourite coffee shop. Task one: review course materials for masters course I will be teaching this April on Human Factors in Educational Technology. I jotted down all kinds of ideas for online presentations, resources and discussions. I’m really hoping to make it interactive and useful for the students.
Now, onto re-reading my proposal so far. I’m a little over in word-count, so I’ll have to pair it down somewhat.
Then, back home to prepare a minestrone soup in the slow cooker for supper tonight.
Although it is cold today, it is bright and sunny. A very nice day to work at the coffee shop.
No Comments on Ahhh . . . now, this is the PhD student life!
Writing the first draft of the proposal has felt like a very slow process. Each section, paragraph, and some sentences have felt like quicksand. But through raw perseverance, I waded through. Finally, today, I reached the timeline section. I found a nice little Excel template online that allowed me to quickly create a nice timeline to map out my thesis. And, poof! I’m so close to getting the draft done and submitted. I felt like celebrating. Unfortunately, the temperature has sunk into the -20s, with an expected low of approximately – 30 according to Environment Canada. So, here I am sitting in my office watching a television show about raccoons (The Nature of Things). Just when I’m feeling spry, good old-man Winter has me captive.
Anyhoo, I thought I’d upload my timelines:
I’m kinda wondering if I should plan some holiday and break time. But, perhaps I should schedule it for a warmer time of year–or better–perhaps I should get a plane ticket for a warmer clime. Oh . . . Big Bang Theory is on. Gotta run.
No Comments on To celebrate or to hybernate, that is the question
It feels as if I have been doing a lot of nothing lately. But, in retrospect ideas have been percolating in my head. If only the ideas would bubble faster than the drip of my old coffee pot.
I have spent several days now considering, reconsidering, writing and rewriting three basic questions upon which my PhD thesis will form. I have come to a point where I am relatively happy with the questions—not doubting for an instant that I will continue tweaking them.
So, onto a justification for using a qualitative approach, specifically a phenomenographic approach. I just wrote two sentences in the last 1/2 hour. I am relatively happy with these sentences. Alas, I had to laugh when I heard myself mutter, “Gosh. That was hard.”
Back to the salt mine . . .
No Comments on Agonizing over researchable questions and justification of methodology
I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and not enough writing. That said, I have my introduction, theoretical framework, purpose & context, and research questions (which need more thought) pretty much written. But, every time I look at it, I do a ton of editing. It is a very iterative process.
I’ve just done a skeletal outline of the research plan. Tomorrow, I plan to sketch out the methodology and justify it. Then, onto the procedures, population, instruments, data collection, and analysis sections. Once I get through all that, I will have a much better basis upon which to think out the timeline.
And, of course, I’m wondering how my classmates are doing. Everyone is so invisible right now. Helloooooooo out there!
Today I participated in my first #phdchat in Twitter. To be honest, it felt a bit chaotic. But, I had the sense that there were more participants than normal. It’s a strange way to communicate. At 140 characters an utterance, one must consider how to best use those characters.
Nevertheless, the #phdchat group provides leads to some very good resources.
How to find this group:
Information about this group:
The phdchat daily:
And the phdchat wiki:
When: Wednesdays at 12:30 pm (MST/Edmonton time)
