Finally got a good feed and could watch the podcast in its entirety without it stalling or an error message coming up. So now to link this introductory research course with my profession, not sure really how to connect the two. What research I do is more product based, determine if the product is what suites our requirements, research vendors for it, then determine if we have the budget for it and process the order. I am not involved in research per say although I did participate in a research project but only as technical and logistical support. A paper was published on it and two of my colleagues involved with this project won best presentation at a conference held in Singapore (I was not invited to participate).
I don't know where or what the next move is for me when I finish in this part of the world, not sure where I will end up, doesn't matter I'm sure it will be the right place and position for me. As for using some of the research ideas I do I see myself using some of the research inquiries in my personal life as I have an idea for a book I am planning to write and will use some of the inquiries to support that work. Currently that project I have placed on hold as I do not have access to many of the materials I require for it while overseas.
Doing some more exploring on the topic of blogging in academia and have found some sites that may be of interest to some. I found an interesting site listing the top ten tips for an academic blog, I like what they list and it makes complete sense. Here is the link: http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2013/dec/13/how-to-academic-blogging-tips. They list some very good tips about blogging in the academic world, common sense tips such as  write about yourself, develop your own voice, be concise with what you are blogging about, be yourself, whether to be controversial or not plus five more, number ten is very true "Blog because you want to" if this is the case then the others should fall into place. Nice to have a reminder like these to keep you on the right track.
I also found a few more on writing on blogs, one is by the University of Richmond Writing Center. They have a site labelled Writer's Web which also contains some great tips on writing online, here is the link: http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/blogging.html.
There are many other useful sites to assist with writing online, Duke University has one as well: http://twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/academic-blogs.original.pdf.
Well there are many more tips on writing online that can be found, you just need to determine which fits your needs best. Happy writing.

Well getting tired of the reading, has been a busy course, not so much the course itself but to find the time to spend on it. Currently working in academia and have the summer off, so for the duration of this course I was in holiday mode, doing lots of traveling. I returned to Canada and with that all the catching and meeting up with family and friends, some that I have not seen since I went overseas. Add to that dealing with my Canadian life which is on hold as I am overseas, I needed to take care of a lot of administration items, property dealings, and then traveling throughout Canada from the West to Central to visit more family and friends. The course itself was interesting picked up several difference styles of research methods which I may or may use at some point in my life. I never say never as that is when you'll find you have to use one of the techniques. As well with the blog process, not really something I would do, prior to the course I did not even think about a blog page but now I have in mind a story board for a blog which I may do in the future. I need to do a lot of work before that even gets any consideration to be done. Nothing on it will involve research, it will be exactly what I said it would be, a story board. We'll see now it goes and when I am ready there may well be another form or method for documenting a story board. Right now I feel mentally exhausted, trying to think of things to write for this. Also spending time with my aging mother before I head back overseas, spend some quality time with her and my brother. Then before I know it back to work and some projects to work on and finish up. New product to train on and a new adventure to start. Well thank you to everyone who were patient with me as I moved about and was in and out of internet connections. Now time to wrap this course up and enjoy the last remaining days of my holiday before starting back at both work and the next course. At least when I am back in Doha for the next course I do not have as much traveling to do, just a conference in Madrid and then a rail trip to visit family in Holland for a week. Have a great rest of the summer to everyone, enjoy the time with family and friends before returning to work.   

Looking back on the assignments and reflecting on them,the first assignment on the culture of inquiry and where I see myself. I really don't know which culture reflects me the best as I am open and depending on what the project is I can adapt to use what I need to use to make it happen. I do have a project that I am planning that will use the historical research tool, but that project is on the back burner now as I need to focus on this course. Once this is complete then I will start on this and develop it maybe into a publication but more for myself. I have struggled with the group projects as to me I guess I am old fashioned in that I prefer face to face when working with a group. It is here that you get to see and meet the people, learn their strengths and weaknesses and you get to know them, develop a relationship between the members. Here it is all online and I don't feel a connection to anyone, just get in do it and get out. I struggle with the benefit of that, one benefit I have with the class section is you can meet your fellow students in person, online yes you meet people but I doubt that I will ever actually "meet" them. Articles I have come across in reference of doing online group work suggests the best way to facilitate that is that the members get together several times via different methods prior to the project to develop that relationship and bond and to learn about each other, find each others strengths and weaknesses, then to tackle the project. In this setting this is actually not feasible as time is very short and the projects need to be completed very quickly so to me the group project portion is a just do what needs to be done or required then move on. Also doing group projects is hard in that people are in different parts of the world so timing between dialogues is not conducive to a flowing conversation. People expect a reply within a reasonable time frame but depending on where one is located and what one's responsibilities and obligations outside of the course are can affect the timing of a reply. This can create animosity or even distension within groups mainly because we are an "now" society. In todays world everything is now, now, now, patience and understanding seem to have taken a back seat, this needs to be done now, so does this, oh and this. This is what we have at work, in family, in school and in society. Again I am still trying to get a feel for the group portion and make the best of it as it is what it is.
The critiques, that was interesting, looking at the different articles and completing a synopsis of each one then writing an critique on one specifically, going through it in detail and reading and rereading to ensure I am understanding what is being said, again my interpretation may be different from another's view point or the massage taken away may vary but it was very interesting in developing the writing of the critique, did I do what was expected? I'm not sure, I did my interpretation of the directions and completed what I thought was asked.
Now we get to the blog assignment, as I mentioned in a previous post I am not a blogger, I still struggle to see the relevance of creating a blog in conduction with research. I see it as a tool to develop a line of communication but again one needs to look at the audience. There was lots of discussion of from academic bloggers about how many "hits" or access to their articles they had, that just indicates that someone clicked on it, doesn't necessarily mean that the article was read. Also as well any responses that come to the site need to be carefully analyzed as to the source, credentials of the source etc, much the same that any blog entry you read you need to take all those factors into account.In the assignment there are questions that we need to take into account, the first of which asks who in my field may be interested in my blog? That is a very good question right now I honestly do not know who would be my audience, how do you chose your audience, a blog is open to anyone or you can select who can have the ability to read it. So in this sense as to who, it would depend on what the blog is about, my area is simulation so then I would target that audience.As for other interests or even if I develop a story line on something and just put it out there, how many people would read it? Very hard to say. Another question was what other blogs or sources that may be referenced in my blog? Again I don't have an active interest in specifically looking for blogs, for me I have other interests and concerns that I would rather spend my time on, exploring other blogs is not of high importance to me. If by chance I come across one that seems interesting I may look at briefly to determine the value of it and then decide whether to read further or to move on. It also asks for the best style and voice to serve my intended purpose in this forum, again it would depend on the content of the message or blog page. I prefer to be anonymous as you can not predict what the back lash to a comment that is made could happen. In one paper a individual was dismissed from their job for posting on a blog, also employers look at potential employees and their Facebook page and blog page (social media sites) as these can give an insight into the type of person it is that they may be hiring. Do they want someone like this in their employ? As for style and voice that would have to develop as the page is developed, again looking at your audience, if you write as an academic your audience may just be academic, if you want to reach a wider audience then you need to have a writing style that can reach all levels of education and understanding. I am still not convinced on the blog idea as a means for research, it does have potential advantages but also there are drawbacks as well. One has to really make an informed decision as if the blog will assist or hamper their research before developing or sharing an idea on a blog page. One must also be cautious of what is posted both as a blog and as a reply, it is hard to verify the author's credentials and even the content at times. When it comes to using blogs for research, one thing comes to mind to me and that is buyer beware, use due diligence when reading and replying to a blog.  

I have been reading the thesis paper by Kathleen Asselin entitled Blogging: The Remediation of Academic and Business Communications. In this thesis paper the author looks at how blogging can be used in academia and in business. In the introduction of the paper there is a comment there which says"Although the vast amount of information available on many blogs is not always verifiable, a growing number of blogs, primarily in academia, are being recognized for their quality and accuracy." (pg.6). I find this to be a valuable statement concerning blogs as before one takes the content as "truth", one needs to do homework not only on what is said but also on who the author is and their background. You shouldn't just accept what is stated at face value. There needs to be a process of verification which can be very time consuming. In the second chapter there is a discussion on the use of blogs within academia. There are descriptions of how various professors have used blogs within their class to create an open dialogue between the students. It goes on to describe the difference between an academic bolt and a personal blog, one instructor referred to the blogs as a hybrid blog, a balance of academic and personal writing.
The paper looks at what is an academic blog and lists some guidelines (pg. 12) of what makes up a academic blog. An interesting note that is mentioned is that in studies what was found was that students took more care when writing the blog in regards to grammar, spelling, accuracy and even liveliness of expression in their work. This was attributed to peer pressure, to have a good looking blog for their fellow students to follow. Another observation from the paper is that even when a new idea or technology is presented to the students to use, does not mean they will want to use it. I can relate to this comment as it may take some out of a comfort zone, they have to take it a small step at a time to become comfortable with how it works. The article goes on with the question as to whether blogging should be considered for a promotion to a tenure position. This is one area I am not convinced with, for me to be promoted one must have the ability to teach, not write a blog, I believe a promotion should be earned on the merits of what the customer (student) rates the instruction quality as. But institutions operate as big business and if the writing means more dollars (research grants) then that will potentially form a criteria.
The paper goes on to look at how blogs can be used in business as well. I believe one has to be very careful as to how it is utilized in business, it can produce negative results as well.The examples given were a post asking specific questions about certain ideas, promotions or services that were being considered, more to get a feel of what the customer would like to see. Accordingly the responses that were returned were a relatively small number so to base market research on that unless it can be augmented with other sources would not be beneficial. The other issue that was described is that industry can use employee blogs for grounds of dismissal, that is much the same as employers looking at a potential employee's Facebook page then determine from that whether they get the position or not.
Lots of ideas about the use of blogs in academia and business but still a long way to go, mind you the paper was written in 2008 so what has happened since then in this area. Have further inroads to acceptance been made? Are we still where we were then? Have we moved away from blogs that it was the in thing to do at that time and now something better has come along? A few questions to think about. 

Another beautiful day and experiencing some technical issues, laptop froze and had to restart it but now having network connectivity issues, ah the joys of technology, as we say in Qatar "It is what it is." Well read a couple more articles that I had printed previously so I'll comment on those in two separate entries. The first article I read was the blog page about the "Relationship Economy" wherein the author describes what he sees as the trend in consumerism.He starts out with the time frame the economy peaked, then goes on to describe how every aspect involving human activity became marketable like consumer products. Goes to describe how the media highway transformed from a one way road to a crowded two way road it is today. It mentions how barriers are collapsing in all aspects of the world and publishing is specifically mentioned in that it is getting easier to share information with other people. It goes on to mention that the Consumer Economy is on its way out and is being replaced by what the author refers to as the Relationship Economy which works very differently. Consumers are purchasing less and sharing more as the author says to reconnect and create a sense of community. Companies are now building "authentic relationships"with their clientele and not as a consumer relationship. In this relationship economy what becomes paramount between the customer and the company is trust, companies that are struggling to maintain a market share or consumer base will try to control and manipulate which is viewed as untrustworthy to the customer. There are many things the initial thought process was that corporations would build these but the trend is that these are now being created by a collective of people at a very low cost. This abundance changes the face of business where supply and demand no longer have a major role. Today according to the article it is more based on trust, whom you trust and who trusts you, this is the so called Relation Economy. The rest of the article is more about attending a conference and what will be presented at the authors talk. I see the changes that is referred to in this article and that the times are changing, but still has to account that the article is still five years old and there may be more trends or changes to the way consumers behave. Overall I found it very insightful, I believe he may be onto to something but times keep changing and we need to keep with the trends. Are we lead into this trends by way of manipulation, in other words is this the path the corporations want us to follow? More to think about.  

Another book review this time of Gary Hall's book entitled Digitize This Book! The Politics of New Media, or Why We Need Open Access Now, which looks at the world of publishing online. allowing for open access to publishing for everyone particular scholars at universities.The book looks at what may be involved to have an open access publishing from a university, the politics and administration that is required to effect such a change. The book according to the reviewer says that changes need to be made in order for there to be open access to publishing. There is reference that scholar's are the pawns in the institutions ways of doing things, maintaining their intellectual authority. There is a discussion that Wikipedia when quoted is met with scorn, blogging as well is not accepted as a means of sharing information. it goes on to describe hurtles in academia and that there are alternatives that are available which would open the floodgates of online publishing. Again the information herein is by technological standards outdated, the book itself was published in 2008, again there may be some information that can be utilized today but one really needs to way the information out to see if there is any value within it in todays digital age.  

Reading the book review by Lisa Spiro of the book Scholarship in the Digital Age: Information, Infrastructure and the Internet by Christine L. Borgman. Spiro begins by sharing what the book is about and how it makes sense of the digital transformation that is occurring within research and communication by examine the key components used. She goes on to provide a brief breakdown of the chapters and what each one consists of by providing a brief breakdown of the content of each chapter. The book itself appears rather comprehensive as it cover s everything from the technical dimensions  through to how the scholarly infrastructure should be built with everything in-between including copyright policies to data collection. There is a look at how scholars collaborate and how and why they do or do not. there is a balanced view of scholarship within a digital format. It is mentioned the strength of the book is also the weakness that being the broad scope it takes on. There is not much information in the book about blogging as a form of communication within a scholarly field. Overall I would say that the book does sound like a fairly good reference tool for the scholar in todays digital society. Although the book may be lacking in some areas it may provide information for others. The digital age is ever changing and by the time a book gets published some of the material may be already out of date. Although there are contributions that change at a much slower rate then say the technology, I believe the book can have some value as a reference book, but one has to look at it closely to determine the extent of it, this was written in 2009 and we are already six years farther ahead in technology. Technology changes at a faster pace then we can write and publish it, unless of course it is published online, but again it still may be too little too late in the ever changing digital world.     

The blog article "Giving Up Control in the Era of Open Business" was interesting in how it addressed the issue of how the entertainment industry was trying to control who and how music and video was dispersed over the internet. It speaks about "Trojan Mice" which are spokespeople from the industry who take a stand that provokes a challenge in the status quo. In the article Kevin Spacey is mentioned as a "Trojan Mouse" someone who spoke out about how the industry may indeed have to give up control to their audiences or risk losing them. The blog post was about the speech that was made and how the industry needs to re-look at how they think and do business. The conclusion is an encouragement to find the trojan mice within your own industry and to empower them to create changes.    

Reading the article entitled "Blogging and Academic Identity" by Heide Estes who introduces the article with "Writing in different platforms has to do with matters of identity." This caught my attention, she continues to say that as a blogger she has adapted a different persona, in this case a public one that she would be comfortable with family, friends and colleagues reading. She goes on to say she uses the blog as a platform to share ideas and opinions she is uncomfortable addressing in person. I question this as if she is using her own identity and addresses an issue she may be confronted with it outside the blog page if someone read it then brought it up when they see her. She goes on to describe her blog page is in two parts, once where she wears the environmentalist hat and one where she wears the disability hat. She goes on to share that she has negotiated to transition to online teaching should she be unable to teach due to her disability. She mentions that to share about her disability is emotionally, professionally and ethically difficult for her, I respect that but on the other I respect her more for sharing it as if she should experience an episode of the disability then people would know how to react and assist her. She goes on to describe how the blog can be an effective tool in communicating thoughts and ideas, and how she can use the blog to describe living with a chronic illness/disability and address environmental issues as well, at times bring ing the two together. She continues with how using the blog has influenced her academic pursuits and aided her in different scholarly contexts. I like the comment in the conclusion how academics should spend time writing for non academics as academia is a language on it's own, to be able to write to non academics opens up a whole new audience in which to share and learn from. From the first part of the article where she describes developing a blogging identity, I see how she has separated her identity into what is described in the conclusion a public identity and a academic identity. 

the article by Menachem Wecker titled Should You Share Your Research on Academia.edu? was interesting, the number of profiles on the site is quite substantive and with more and more joining each month. This a site where academics can post their own work, but some publishers don't like it when authors publish their work with an online source. There were some demands by publishers to remove work from the site but that had since stopped and it was a small percentage of the authors that were affected. The question remains should one publish their work online, I think that is a decision that needs to be thoughtfully and carefully made. One must look at both the pros and cons of publishing online, weigh it out and then make an informed decision. The article just mentions the appeal of reaching a greater audience but does not go into any legal or copyright procedures so one must use due diligence before subscribing and contributing to Academia.edu or any other website to publish. That is the message I take away from the article, to use due diligence when looking to publish online, which I believe is being very prudent and wise.

Now time to play catch up on the blog site, I am still not much of a blogger and after reading the articles on blogging, well still not sold on the whole idea, but I need to keep an open mind on the value that a blog may add. So let me look at section one, the mind map. A mind map can be a very useful tool and then again it can lead to more confusion. For me I like a mind map that is short, concise and to the point, which gets the idea that is presented across. A mind map should be easy to follow with the flow or movement of the map making sense. I have seen mind maps that are beautiful how shall I say pieces of art, lots of graphics, pictures, very colourful, just beautiful. The drawback is sometimes the flair for the artistic takes away from the idea the map is to portray. I find my eye is drawn more to the art work then to the message or idea that is being presented. Maybe that is me and I just need to focus on what is being rather then the artwork on the map. There are many different sites that provide a software package at a cost to develop and use mind maps so you really need to see what is out there and then decide which one works the best for what you want. But past that it is a very effective tool to show direction and flow of a subject or topic. I think these can be a great adjunct to any topic or subject to assist in creating a better understanding of it.

Well still trying to get an understanding of how the blog works in research, for me it is just a story board where you post a story of an event or something in your life, and others comment on it. I find it interesting as where I work there is a lot of research going on but I am asked to maintain silence on what is going on. There are a few reasons for this, what I have been told is that research is very competitive for projects and for dollars, for example an associate has had research ideas he was working on which he shared with others who then ran with it, this happened to him twice. Now he is adamant that if you have an idea you do not share it. Another reason is the shift in where research dollars are going, there is a look as to how and who will benefit from the research and the emphasis is now shifting to how it will impact the many and not just a few. More and more research dollars are going away from universities and going to colleges where the donors feel more will benefit from the studies at hand. An example is the university had submitted three research projects to the state and all were declined, the major teaching and research hospital submitted six hundred research projects and only got three approved, so you can see that there is very tight controls as to how the funding is decided.

Another point is that if you set up a blog to post your research there is no way to verify the credentials of the people posting to it. There are people who are I guess professional bloggers who look for blogs in which to just post, or have their voice heard. You have really no way of knowing if the person responding has the knowledge base or if they are just repeating something they read or heard. I think if you are going to blog about your research then you should implement a system of checks and balances to verify the contributions that are posted and maybe verify the credentials of the people who are posting.

I'm still not convinced this is a method to employ for research, once it is out there it is forever out there, you can't change anything once it is out there and you need to extremely cautious of the comments and feedback that you receive, which may increase your workload if you need to verify a comment but are chasing dead ends.

Well my first blog, not sure how I feel about it as I prefer to remain private or at least anonymous. I do recognize it is a form of dialogue but not a form or method I would readily choose. More to learn now with how to maneuver through the blog site, for example I tried to insert an image and the blog just posted itself to the page for all to read, no image, in fact the writing wasn’t complete at all either. Then to figure out how to fix that so that it becomes the page that I want. Not sure I have this sorted but at least it is a start. With my focus on the other assignments I put this to the back burner but I need to get this going now with a focus on the course, hence the first one is a long post. Now to came up with something to write about, but first I will put in a disclaimer that what I write here are my thoughts and opinions and if anyone disagrees with what I say, hey that creates dialogue. I expect that everyone will have a different view, I respect those views and they may change or form my view or my thoughts may change the view of others. 

I have to say I am feeling overwhelmed with everything, I am also finding it very hard right now to be focused. I am on vacation and trying to find time to work on the course as well as visit family and friends that I haven’t seen in two plus years. To find a balance is difficult, as everyone's schedule is different so to try to fit things in can be difficult. On top of that  I’m dealing with personal items that have been on hold for the last two years and trying to sort that out while I’m here. Then I fly to Ottawa and then on to Southern Ontario where my primary focus will be spending time with my 88 year old mother and doing things with her as I may not see her until next summer again. Once I’m back in the Middle East then I will have more time to focus on the courses. 

  

The focus of this blog covers the topic of research and is to be related to the introduction to research course. Again many different styles of research and our first assignment was to see which style or styles of inquiry fits our scholarly journey. For me I can honestly say “I do not know.” I have an idea of which ones I subscribe to: quantitative inquiry, historical inquiry and ethnographic inquiry. Are these the only ones that I may use, there are others that may be more suitable to the study so I do need to be open and knowledgable to the other forms as well. There are many different ideas and thought processes as to how to do research, but we need to look at what it is we want to research and then ask some pertinent questions. These questions should reflect the nature of the study, and look to answer the who, what, where, when, why and how about the subject. Then comes the task of analyzing the data that is collected and how to interpret the results for meaning to study. 

So far it has been interesting learning about the various research methods, I need to reread some so as to get a better handle on the processes involved, but overall I’m finding it interesting, sometimes overwhelming with all that has to be done, assignments and reading and on top of that dealing with real life as well. Well back to reading before heading to catch up with more people I haven't seen since I left to work in Qatar. Well off to another appointment, back soon.