Selecting a Research Topic - the Result

After looking at many of the topics that others have chosen and reading feedback from the week, I have decided to go with the more complex issue of the two I had narrowed down to. So now to answer the questions in learning activity 1.2 in 400 words:

• STATE your research topic and identify the specific digital technology (or technologies). 

When two groups of staff in a New Zealand tertiary educational institution with differing perspectives and philosophies on the relative amounts of use of face to face and digital modes  in educational support provision are brought together structurally as a team, do changes ensue in use of and attitude to the balance of f2f and digital in the combined team? If so, in what areas does change occur?

There could be a number of digital technologies here, including learning management system, staff professional development workshops, website content etc. etc.

• WHY did you choose the topic? What interests you about it? Do you have an opinion about the issues involved? 

I chose this topic as I manage a team in which this merging has happened, and we have been observing some behaviours that may be integrally related to the topic of this course: change with digital technologies in education. I am generally interested in the ability of the team to operate, relationships between pedagogy and technology, how someone's philosophy of teaching affects their engagement with the digital environment, whether the adoption of digital solutions can influence or change a philosophy, and many other aspects. My opinion is that there are very many issues involved, and I would like to see if this investigation teases some of them out for further consideration.

• WHO are the information providers on this topic? Who might publish information about it? Who is affected by the topic? Do you know of organizations or institutions affiliated with the topic? 

 Ako Aotearoa should be a useful information provider, especially on the aspects around New Zealand tertiary sector, as one of their strategic themes is 'Promoting discussion and debate about the enhancement of tertiary teaching and learning.' I expect there will also be scholarly literature about the integration of teams, about the elements of change and about development of digital technology use. As there seems to be a trend for combining and recombining various combinations of educational support teams in New Zealand tertiary institutions, any NZ tertiary could potentially be affected by this topic. The institution that I propose to focus on is Lincoln University, and specifically the Learning, Teaching and Research team within Library, Teaching and Learning. Already, parts of this team are reflecting on the processes and outcomes of merging, and this research topic is an aspect of that wider contemplation. In choosing this topic, I acknowledge that further conversation with the team will need to occur in terms of what might be discussed in public on this blog as opposed to just submitted for course assessment purposes.


WHAT are the major questions for this topic? Is there a debate about the topic? Are there a range of issues and viewpoints to consider?
Some of the major questions have been referred to above under what interests me about the topic. Another question would be around the significance of such changes to the  team. I have already read that there several theoretical models around educator attitudes to technology, so I expect that determining an appropriate model may create some of the questions.

• WHERE is your topic important: at the local, national or international level? Are there specific places affected by the topic? 

This topic is important to me, but if some generalisation could be made from the investigation and conclusions, it could potentially be significant to a wider audience. As mentioned above, I am asking the research question generally about NZ tertiary institutions, but intend to focus on one specific team when providing examples for analysis.

• WHEN is/was your topic important? Is it a current event or an historical issue? Do you want to compare your topic by time periods? 

I intend to consider a couple of snapshot time periods prior to merging as the base from the change can be perceived but it is an ongoing current event.


Music listened to while creating this blog post: Rogers & Hammerstein's South Pacific.