Writing with Learning and Thinking

My thesis

2009-04-22T09:09:00.002+01:00

I am glad that my thesis has been in the White Rose Etheses Online now.

Finding your passion

2009-02-23T19:58:00.002Z

Those speeches were one/two years ago, but Randy Pausch's ideas are everlasting. Randy Pausch was a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. I adore him as a good computing scientist and an excellent educator. I like his speeches very much, for example, the sentence below,

"But remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

Here is his last lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams in both English and Chinese.

Interesting sources

2009-02-05T21:09:00.001Z

I haven’t blogged for quite a while because firstly, my job is something new and not very relevant to the original purpose of this blog; secondly, I am still thinking a direction of this blog.

New sources:

Google it...

2008-12-29T19:46:00.002Z

As I moved to a new city, I started to discover it. I like to lounge about the city when I finish my work, and see it's differences and similarities. I also like to ask questions about locations on local forums. However, I got some responses recently, like 'Google it, find the answer yourself'.

Yes, Google can help me find a place, seek for some information I want, however, I suddenly feel that Google is a good searching tool for getting information easily rather than a Q&A tool for exchanging life experiences on the forum. If everybody is good at searching information by Google, do they need to ask questions on a forum?

I suppose some people may say 'Google it first. If yu can not find an answer, going to forum and ask.'

A silly idea: Someday, we might not talk to each other any more or often because we all get information from the Internet or Google it. Just using the online huge information database...

Call for Papers and Special (Invited) Issues

2008-12-29T10:33:00.002Z

JCIT: Journal of Convergence Information Technology focuses on thetheories/technologies/architecture and its applications on the variousaspects of advances in convergence and hybrid Information Technology.

Christmas greetings

2008-12-24T17:55:00.004Z

Hi my friends,

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given to me all year long. It is a pleasure to be able to work with you and have lots of good memories in 2008.

Have a blessed and peaceful Christmas holiday. Happy New Year!

Boundless blessings to you all. Miss you all.

Jin

Viva day and viva questions

2008-12-04T23:08:00.000Z

It’s the early morning 9:15am, a normal winter morning. I had my viva. 12:00pm, I was pleased to get the result.

It was lucky that I got much better from the flu and got cough relief before the viva. It was nice to see a best of luck card on my desk before the viva. It was nice to see many of my colleagues in the common room waiting for me and to get their full-hearted hugs when I finished the viva. It was nice to get friends’ blessings from far distance. It was nice to celebrate with you all.

Thanks a lot to many people who help me and are with me during the three years. What I can do now is to share my viva preparation list. Here is a long list of viva questions that I collected and prepared. I hope it’s useful for you. Best of luck for you all too!

Two pieces of news

2008-12-02T17:49:00.001Z

The Learning Technologies Group at Oxford University Computing Services announced its eighth annual one-day conference on educational technologies: Shock of the Old 2009. It calls theoretical or position papers on new academic literacy in areas such as modelling, collaborative working, computer gaming, mash-ups, co-creation and open content.

The nomination for the annual Edublogs Awards of 2008 has been shortlisted.

Connectivism, a new learning theory?

2008-11-30T14:26:00.001Z

I was thinking the terms in learning theories. The researchers named them by different emphases, such as reflective, experiential, informal, virtual, active, inquiry-based and so on. Some of them have certain similar ideas and key points. Also, I com across this article “Connectivism: a learning theory for the digital age” written by George Siemens. I agree with him that learning theories have been developing from three dimensions: behavioursim, cognitivism and constructivism. However, for me, the view of ‘connectivism’ is more similar to the dimension of so-called ‘social/realist constructivism’ or ‘collaborative constructivism’. It is another term that stresses the ‘connective’ element in learning.

Juliet Corbin’s view of grounded theory

2008-11-24T15:15:00.001Z

I know that Juliet Corbin has finished the 3rd version of “Basics of Qualitative Research”.

In the literature, arguments between Glaserian and Straussian are continuing. I come across this article “Interview with Juliet M Corbin” wrote by Danny D. Meetoo. Through the interview, we may know a bit about Juliet Corbin, her work with Anselm Strauss, their view of ground theory and Barney Glaser’s view of grounded theory.

News

2008-11-19T10:02:00.002Z

I read an article “Give thanks for academic sleuths” this morning. There is an interesting statement that “Academic researchers play the critical role of financial watchdog.”

In addition, conference news for who are interested in:

International Conference on Academic Libraries
The 8th European Conference on Research Methodology for Business and Management Studies (ECRM 2009)

Conference news

2008-11-09T13:30:00.001Z

The 4th International Conference on Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning (IMCL2009). More details.

Also have a look Journal of Worlds Research if you are interested in it.

Conference news

2008-11-07T10:33:00.000Z

The 16th International Conference of the Association for Learning Technology, ALT Conference 2009 “In dreams begins responsibility: choices, evidence, and change”, Manchester, UK, 8-10 September 2009.

The ALT Conference 2008 review is here.

Reading for meaning

2008-11-05T09:50:00.000Z

If you like reading, you will always find interesting and useful sources for your reading. I came across the National Academies Press website; it provides some free online books.

Yesterday, I attended a study skills session run by the university ELTC. A research student should already have those skills, however, I went there to see what I do know and I don’t know, or only sketchy knowledge.

One and half hour session was very quick. Some interesting data about how much we can remember are below and what I remember now is the SQ3R method: Skim, Question, Read, Recall, and Review.

20% of what you read
30% of what you hear
40% of what you see
50% of what you say
60% of what you do
90% of what you read, hear, see, say and do!

Online research Methods workshop

2008-11-01T19:41:00.002Z

Yesterday I attended a workshop “An introduction to Online Research Methods” run by the University of Leicester.

I felt it’s very useful as it made me reassure what I had known, the online questionnaire method I used when I did my master dissertation project, ethic issues, and also I became aware of key online research issues and learned new ideas about online research methods by practising some useful online tools. This training helps researchers to choose a suitable method if they plan to do online research.

The online questionnaire tool BOS system hosted at the University of Bristol. It is very easy to use. I tried putting an URL in a question, but it does not support HTML, so the user cannot directly click the link. Actually, I tried it, because a few years ago, I used a free online survey service my3q. I wanted the user to go to another online questionnaire to test their personality first, then they told me their personality type and finished my questionnaire. At that time, it did not provide URL function by HTML, now it seems that the function is still a problem. It’s not a big issue, but sometimes, you feel inconvenience.

This questionnaire service has been used by many universities. But, University of Sheffield is not on the list.

The virtual interview (synchronous focus group) is very interesting and impressive. I felt that one to one online interview will be much easier. By this exercise, I felt that the interviewer has to (1) typing very fast (2) always focus on the question he/she wants to ask (3) control the pace (4) interrupt if the discussion has gone somewhere. The software we tried was through University of Leicester, university licence is about £400.

Many useful resources can be found through TRI-ORM website. In addition, one keen attendant suggested a book, it seems called “Interpret Inquiry” (need to confirm).

Library services

2008-10-30T12:01:00.001Z

I felt it is not good of the library service that I experienced this morning in the Information Commons. I borrowed a book a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t read it page by page because I needed it for the case of checking back the quotations or techniques from this book. Yesterday, I found a chapter missed in this book as I needed to read a page in that chapter. Why people stole this chapter? Why did not anyone report it? Why the librarian did not repair it?

This morning, I went to IC to report it before I went to the class at 9 o’clock. An officer from help desk told me that “you only need to return it through the return machine, we will repair it later”. I doubted that how could they know this book is lack of a chapter in the big trolley which is full of books. I asked her “are you sure, you remember this book? Please repair it before lend out.” She repeated what she said. It seems that I did not necessarily report.

Because of hurrying forward to the class, I did not ask more detail. However, I still don’t feel it’s good. I am not a librarian. I don’t know that how can they find out which book misses some pages or is damaged inside. Do they check every returned book before put it on the shelf?

A picture for our research life

2008-10-23T19:17:00.001+01:00

In the office, a picture from the news “a naughty colt stuck her head in a tree hole” makes all of us laugh because it quite vividly describes our research life. Like the small horse, we are curious to know what happened in the observed area, we are questioning and discovering. But we never know what will happen; risks are there. And always we need someone helps us out…

Also, I got the book evaluation SAGE 2008. It might be a reading list…

Online Information Conference

2008-10-15T14:31:00.002+01:00

I got this news: Online Information Conference 2008, covering a full range of online content and information management solutions, publishing and libraries, web search, conducting in-depth research and web 2.0 in information industry. I spot some names that I know from the Loughborough University and my university. The head of my department will give her speech in Track 3: Information Professionals Surviving and Thriving in the New Age on 3 December.

It is not cheap for students to attend, but there is interesting information on the website such as, new products, the free download podcasts and presentations of last year.

The magic square

2008-10-13T21:19:00.004+01:00

I read this chapter “Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning” (Brown et al. 1996) by chance. They give an example of Schoenfeld’s teaching of problem solving. Here is the interesting magic square problem: “Can you place the digits 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 9 in the box below, so that the sum of the digits along each row, each column, and each diagonal is the same? The completed box is called a magic square.” (Brown et al. 1996: 42) You may already know the answer. If you don't, may have a fun with it or check the answer.

OCLC and Chronicle

2008-10-10T19:02:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, Robin Murray, the vice president of Global Product Management, OCLC was invited to make a presentation about OCLC in my department. It’s a wonderful idea to make the libraries in the world visible and connected, isn’t it? I quickly browsed their website and found some membership reports are quite interesting.

Today, through my Google Alert, I come across an article written by Marie Kingview on the Chronicle of Higher Education. Although it’s mainly US based, it covers many interesting topics, such as Nonacademic Careers for Ph.D.’s.

A funny thing is: I feel that I am in an even worse situation than Marie Kingview. She asked herself, “Why do I have the awful feeling that the only person who is going to read my dissertation is my mom?” Actually, I feel that I even don't have my parents to read my thesis as it’s in English.

Searching information

2008-10-07T17:50:00.001+01:00

Information searching skills are crucial for students in Information Science subject. Actually, it is important for everyone, especially people who use digital information often. For example, today is my typical information searching day.

I got an email from the library which said that my ordered book on interlibrary loan cannot be traced because it is not available at British Library. Thus, I searched the book through COPAC again, printed out the source of reference and asked for a librarian’s help.

I helped two sessions of information searching skills today (mainly about how to use Google). Each time, I felt that I learned something new. As the lecturer said, do what you want the search engine to do rather than it wants to do.

I also came across a webpage which provides some searching tools. I want to recommend trying the tools, such as Highbeam (I run a random search ‘grounded theory’ on it and got many interesting articles of grounded theory research study) and zoominfo (useful for getting business information and competitive intelligence research).

We search information every day. We actually use information searching techniques every day. The skills help us to get the information we want by specifying searching conditions as well as save time on not browsing irrelevant information.

Generation X

2008-10-06T17:03:00.004+01:00

I wrote something about Generation X before. Recently, I found a book randomly, «Developing Information Leaders: harnessing the talents of Generation X» written by Marisa Urgo (2000) in the library. Actually, not only as I expected to know more about ‘Generation X’, but also the book tells me a whole picture of information professionals, in particular, librarianship and information managers. There are some interesting statements below. I didn’t think these are Generation Xers’ issues, but thought it may be common in all generations follows Baby Boomers.

“Who is Generation X? They are loosely defined as the cohort born between 1965 and 1980. This is not just an American cohort. Their characteristics are shared around the world, and the most important of these is the experience of growing up at the dawn of the information revolution. (p.2) “Generation Xers are the first generation born and raised in an information-centred society. It would be easy to say that they are a product of the information revolution, but I do not believe that individuals are so permanently shaped by outside forces.” (p.106)
“Generation Xers want a bargain with their employers, an even exchange of expertise and skills for a good working environment and opportunities to learn and grow.” (p.3)
Wired magazine publishes a column called Jargon Watch, which describes some new terms in ever-changing digital world. It is a good way of updating information professionals/librarians. (p.64)
Build relationships: “The old employer/employee relationship demanded loyalty in exchange for security, but the worker was also expected to check their personal lives at the door.” (p.68) “… Generation Xers do not exhibit the institutional loyalty that was once so important to libraries, especially large public and academic libraries. Reputation and status are not as important to them as personal and professional advantages, and of course, salary. More important, reputation will not attract young talent to a library. There needs to be something more.” (p.91)
“Generation Xers looks work as a lifestyle; they especially keen on the work-life balance.” (p.89)
“Libraries are not necessarily places where staff learn and are motivated to learn. On the contrary, libraries can be places where skills stagnate because learning is not considered a priority.” (p.122)
“… Generation Xers do not seem to be too concerned about the continuity of identity. Their issues are personal. They are more concerned with tangible rewards and even greater opportunities to learn, grow and even make money.” (p.146)
“Generation Xers consider themselves ‘self-navigators’. They believe that it is up to me to create my own well being.” (p.164)
“It is important to note that not every library offers their employees flexibility, challenge, and a sense of purpose. Generation Xers are not staying in library jobs because they are library jobs, they are remaining in the profession because their jobs have these characteristics.” (p.165)

An open academic network

2008-10-01T18:10:00.001+01:00

I came across Academia.edu website which creates a 'tree' of university/department where people are affiliated with. It’s a good idea of building academic network and I think it needs better development to help display the ‘tree’.

I searched ‘University of Sheffield’ and found two departments and ‘Information Studies’ is not there. Therefore, I added it. However, it provides categories: Faculty, post-doc and graduate students. I feel it’s difficult for me to choose one and add myself in, so there is no my name. I also searched ‘Loughborough University’ and found that ‘Information Science’ is already there and some academic people’s names are there.

Viva preparation

2008-09-30T21:04:00.002+01:00

I want to read the book «How to survive your Viva: Defending a Thesis in an Oral Examination» by Rowena Murray. Unfortunately, it’s not in the library. I got a few online resources.

Maybe I shouldn’t think too much. What I need to do is to believe that I will get the degree successfully and read through my thesis …

Growing up is about learning, knowing yourself

2008-09-28T17:30:00.005+01:00

I have many things need to be done. But also I need a break, I watched Ugly Betty Season 3 Episode 1. I haven’t really watched every episode, but heard that this is a new one. A friend told me that she dislikes this comedy as it’s not her type of humour, and it doesn’t really reflect the reality. Movie is movie. I watched it because I feel that Betty is brave, self-confidence and a dreamer with her feet on the ground. I pretty like the dialogue between Betty and her father in this episode.

Betty: “…Everything happened to me today. It’s like I totally regressed. I acted like a child… You’re right, dad, I was being naïve, I thought I grew up on this trip, but obviously I haven’t.”

Father: “…Can’t you see? You do it now. Growing up isn’t about making the right decision; it’s about dealing with the decision you made, and picking yourself up. Not easy…You can do it. Right now, these things, these moments, this is growing up.”