Shaping up my research ideas.

We are now on unit 2 of the module and it is time to really shapen up our research ideas. I don't know if everyone else has this problem too but the more I think about an idea for my research, the more new ideas pop into my head. At the moment my rough list looks like this:

• An evaluation of blended and online education in secondary schools.
• A comparison of the use of blended and online education in higher education in North-Rhine Westphalia.
• A concept for BYOD m-learning at the Fachhochschule Südwestfalen.
• A concept for the integration of online education with a new textbook.
• Development of a blended learning concept for students learning with franchise partners.

 Keith's initial advice was to consider which topic interested me most. They are, of course, all interesting, otherwise I wouldn't have put them on my list. Looking at them  logically though, I think it is possible to see some pros and cons in each one:

External

1. An evaluation of blended and online education in secondary schools.

This topic relies on the cooperation and permission of secondary schools to do the research. Just obtaining this permission could take a long time which might be beyond that available for a Masters dissertation. Education in Germany is also not a federal issue which means each state can do (more or less) what it wants, this would therefore also limit the generalisability of the results.  In addition, the German secondary school system includes five different school forms. Including all five in the study in any sort of representative way would also surely exhaust both the time and manpower available.It would therefore seem necessary to restrict the research to just one school form.

On the other hand, as I have a child who is going to start secondary school next year I am very interested in exploring the blended and online education offered in schools. If it is not possible to do this as my dissertation next year I will get the chance to experience it first-hand as a parent.

2.  A comparison of the use of blended and online education in higher education in North-Rhine Westphalia.

This topic is similar to number one with the distinction that higher education in North-Rhine Westphalia is only split between two forms - universities and universities of applied sciences. Nevertheless finding the correct person and gaining permission to do such a study could take time and carrying out the research in addition to a fulltime job could be difficult.

On a positive note, this kind of study would allow me to compile best practice examples from the institutions involved. It could also supply useful examples of what to do and what not to do in order to improve our own system.

Internal

The remaining three ideas all fit together in relation to projects that can be completed within my own institution.

3.  A concept for BYOD m-learning at the Fachhochschule Südwestfalen.

At the moment the Fachhochschule Südwestfalen where I teach does not have a written policy on either e-learning or m-learning. This project would be a chance to address that by producing a concept for m-learning using the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) method. As I have already completed a couple of smaller projects within the MSc BOE program in this area, doing more work on m-learning would be a natural progression.

On a less positive note, although many institutions now have policies on e-learning I am not sure how many have extended that to m-learning so it may be that there is little existing research to draw on.

4.  A concept for the integration of online education with a new textbook.

This idea is a project which I am already involved in although it is still just at the planning stage. This means that the research would be work-related and valuable to my job as well as my studies. We use our own textbooks at the Fachhochschule and I have just been given a contract to update the existing book on Technical English written by myself and an ex-colleague. It is the wish of the professors in charge that as a pilot project three books which are being revised should include links to additional content online. My idea would be to include QR-codes at the appropriate points in the book which wold link to mobile-friendly resources, such as audio files, videos, apps or quizzes.

The positive aspect of this project is that I am already involved in it and the outcome (in the form of the new book) will benefit my students directly.

Without having done much background reading I fear a negative aspect could be finding enough basic research on this topic to provide a foundation for my own work.

5.    Development of a blended learning concept for students learning with franchise partners.

This is an idea which I also touched on in a previous module.  As well as our normal, fulltime students on campus, we also indirectly offer the opportunity to study elsewhere through franchise partners. These students live in a "parallel world" to the regular students which includes their lack of access to the e-learning resources  provided by the Fachhochschule. The idea behind this project would therefore be to create a blended learning concept for use by the franchise partners in their own institutions and elearning systems.

Providing a concept for an entire degree programme would surely be outwith the capabilities of a Masters dissertation. It is also unclear how happy, or unhappy, the partners might be about someone from "head office" coming to them with a new teaching concept.

The positive aspects of this project would be the creation of a (workable) blended learning concept for the partners as well as advice on implemtation.

Conclusions

Having reflected on my ideas before and during the writing of this post, I can say that topics 3 and 4 now interest me the most and seem most doable. I look forward to my discussion with Keith and any comments from other course members about which idea they find best. In the meantime, I will carry on with the latest tutorials and hope they help me to make my ideas even more concrete.