Breadcrumbs
Integrating technology into researcher training: A Vitae NW Hub good practice workshop27 May 2010
Post event resources
To view the posts about this event on Twitter, click here.
Welcome:
Case study presentations:
The idea behind this session was to draw on examples of good practice from both within the researcher development agenda (transferable skills) and more specific research skills development. We had a broad range of presentations which each highlighted a different way of supporting researchers using web 2.0:
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It's not about technology, it's about a better way to do research: Engaging researchers in the social web through Vitae's Digital Researcher (Dr Tristram Hooley) |
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| The Digital Researcher is a one day training programme designed to engage researchers in the use of social media/web 2.0 technologies. The programme is underpinned by the idea that digital literacy is a key skill that researchers will need to develop both their research and their careers. The programme is designed to make the case about the value of social media for researchers and to give them an experience of utilising research social media for research purposes. The course ran for the first time in March 2010 and will be running again in the Autumn. This session will therefore offer some initial reflections on what work, what didn’t work and where we go next. |
| The slides from this case study presentation can be found on the Adventures in career development blog |
| Skills developed: Transferable skills |
| Method: One-day training event for researchers |
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Research Students eWriting Programme (Dr Daniel Soule and Ms Jo Spiller) |
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The collaboration between Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow is developing an open access interactive online writing programme for research students. The programme is designed to be either taken as a composite course for either doctoral or masters options, or individual learning objects can be taken out and scaffold within different virtual learning environments to support face-to-face workshop and/or distance and part-time research students. The programme is freestanding and no tutor support is required. The programme facilitates students in developing research writing skills during their studies. Phase I is complete, which allows students to try a variety of writing exercises which promote critical and reflexive thinking about their own project and the supporting literature, and helps students generate and manage writing towards their thesis or dissertation from the beginning of their studies. This is not a ‘remedial’ course, rather it focuses on higher level skills, such as critical reading and writing, project management, structuring and editing, and understanding writing within research and institutional contexts. Writing generated during the programme is stored in a ‘Record of Achievement’ which acts as an archive, enabling students to measure their progress, and generating editable documents, such as research paper reviews. |
| Skills developed: Research skills |
| Method: e-learning interactive tool |
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Teaching and Administering Graduate Training in Historical Methods: Using a Ning Network at Edinburgh (Dr Adam Budd) |
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This presentation opens by pointing to an increasingly prevalent challenge for lecturers and postgraduate students at UK research universities: how to make best use of Web2.0 technologies to support pedagogically-successful and administratively-effective learning experiences--particularly when students are working on a wide range of sources and arrive with a range of research skills. As instructors we are committed to providing skills training of the highest standards, yet these standards must relate to the students' own skill-sets and research needs in a meaningful way. The presentation proceeds by introducing our successful experience using the flexible web-based social networking platform offered by Ning (http://www.ning.com) to integrate weekly web-blogging for graduate-level seminars; to enable simple cross-seminar and cross-course collaboration among colleagues and students; to create and maintain a user-friendly research portal of peer-reviewed closed-access resources; and provide a reasonably secure means of receiving course materials from students for assessment. The presentation closes by referring to student feedback on the use of these networks; comparing its practical and social functions with Facebook and WebCT; and by outlining risks using this particular technology for improving the provision of research-methods training for postgraduate students in various disciplines across the Humanities. |
| Skills developed: Research skills |
| Method: Social networking platform for dissemination, discussion and collaboration |
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A shared space for learning about your and other people’s research (Ms Cristina Costa) |
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Social Networks, Communities of Practice, Personal Learning Environments or Personal Learning Networks are buzz words of the moment. We are all most likely becoming overwhelmed with its constant used when wanting to express new interactive, learning contexts. People are not deserted islands. We learn better in company. And we have learned in social spaces since humankind is humankind. Researchers are no exception. Yet, doing PhD research can sometimes resemble as an antithesis of this, as it is, in fact, an individual project. Nonetheless, it should not be seen as a lonely one. How can we complement the experience of research students? That is probably where technology can help. Not because it is a new fad we all should be trying to look modern, but because it can assist us in our learning. And research, indeed, is about learning and understanding the phenomenon we chose to observe. Learning should be a shared process. Providing spaces for informal discussions about related themes, and stimulating reflective writing about our own research may help. This case study will report about the benefits, and also the implications and barriers, of creating a shared space for research students and their ‘mentors’ to socialise, exchange *their* ideas and personal reflections about their own projects. |
| The slides from this case study presentation and comments on the event can be found on the Learning journey blog and University of Salford postgraduate research team blog |
| Skills developed: Research skills |
| Method: Online spaces for informal discussion and reflective writing about research projects and the process of being a researcher |
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Blogging for Researcher Development (Dr Emily Bannister) |
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| This case study aims to introduce delegates to the benefits of using blogs to engage researchers with transferable skills training and development. It will explore issues such as writing blog posts to engage a researcher audience, advertising the blog and blog posts, using blogs to develop resources on researcher development and also how blogs complement face-to-face research training. |
| Emily has created the PGR Doc Blog to support researchers |
| The slides from this case study presentation can be found here |
| Skills developed: Transferable skills |
| Method: Encouraging engagement in transferable skills training and dissemination of skills-related information |
Practical session:
A chance for participants to practice using web 2.0 tools. A practical workbook was used to guide participants although this time could be used for practising any tools.
Discussion session:
Participants in small groups were asked to discuss the following:
- Focus refinement – integrating technology into researcher training
- Why do we want to integrate technology into our training?
- How can we achieve the benefits?
- Is the best option technology to achieve the benefits?
- What's stopping us from integrating technology into our training?
- How can we overcome the barriers?
- Why do we want to integrate technology into our training?
- Other People’s Views (OPV)
- Who do you need to influence?
- Step into their shoes, what would influence them?
- Action planning - What can you implement…
- This week?
- This month?
- Long term?
Outcomes:
A blog post on this event can also be found here.