My initial literature review led me to a very comprehensive article by Ke & Hoadley (2009), which was very much a centre-piece for my (admittedly still thin) literature review. Whilst I'm keen to continue using this and related articles, I'm now realising after the last few weeks of considering research methods that I need to dig a little deeper, and in a different direction. The problem is that the article focuses on evaluation research, whereas I really need some good pointers on action research, as I believe this will be of more benefit in the qualitative research project I actually intend to do.
One useful resource that I have come across is an overview of action research (O'Brien, 1998). Although this is a slightly older article, O'Brien covers a lot of the points made in my earlier reading, and with a slightly different perspective on how it might be used. He also gives case studies of early use of computer mediated conferencing, and how action research was utilised to give the practitioners and participants useful insights that improved practice. Most tellingly, O'Brien points out that action research in itself is becoming a vital tool for organisations that are increasingly interdependent in a climate of change, something that fits well with my worldview.
"If you want it done right, you may as well do it yourself"
Johnson (2001) offers a good overview of online interaction and communities, again slightly ahead of the review by Ke & Hoadley (2009). One point that immediately caught my eye, is the acknowledgement of attrition as being a key problem - within the workplace, simply getting people to participate in learning activities can be problematic, and online interactions even more so. There is also convergence with the works of Wenger, and of Palloff & Pratt, but again no mention of Salmon, nor of Anderson.
References:
- Johnson, C.M. (2001). A Survey of Current Practice on Online Communities of Practice. Internet and Higher Education, Vol.4 pp.45-60. Available at: <http://repository.maestra.net/valutazione/MaterialeSarti/articoli/Johnson-Survey.pdf> [Accessed March 2013]
- Ke, F. and Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating Online Learning Communities. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(4), pp.487-510.
- O'Brien, R. (1998). An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research. [online] Available at: <http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/xx%20ar%20final.htm> [Accessed March 2013]
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