21st Century Research

I've been collecting research material for my final paper(and other projects) using del.icio.us for about two weeks. There is a plethora of information regarding technology and education on the web, and all my library assistant detective skills have been tested. The result has been a revelation. The tagging system is a welcome change from bookmarking, and the virtual aspect of the application has been exciting for me as a researcher. Previously, I've found myself surrounded by stacks of books, numerous journal articles, and reports when researching a paper for my rural development master's courses. Each pile of texts represents a different component of the paper, and I meticulously sort through them to glean pertinent information. Unfortunately, it is also a messy process resembling a hardcover version of Stonehenge - not conducive to a tidy computer office. Other than a couple of texts dealing with action research, my work-space has become free of clutter for this course. The del.icio.us tags have replaced the stacks of books with stacks of information stored on an easily accessible site. I have arranged to set up a del.icio.us site for one of my rural development professor, who occasionally enlists my services for research projects. We will be able to share information regarding our research using del.icio.us, saving documents, weblinks, etc. with appropriate tagging. Google Docs is also an application that lends itself to this type of collaborative process. BUNTEP, my department at Brandon University, is having staff meetings next Thursday and Friday. The topics of collaborative work, research, and technology are on the agenda. I intend to introduce the notion of social software applications as an integral component in our distance education model. Presently, we send professors to remote centres for face-to-face delivery of university courses. The existence of free, user-friendly programs such as Skype, Google Docs, del.icio.us, and the web-based audio/video sites offer our program a new world of possibilities. The adoption of these technologies would allow us to continue providing 'face-to-face' delivery and perhaps expand our classroom beyond the walls of our BUNTEP centres. Hopefully, a discussion on the subject will lead to a more tech-savvy program that embraces the available technology. There's no time like the present to look to the future.