1. Use of Personal Learning
Environments by Security
and Investigation
Professionals
Preparing for Presentation to the
Personal Learning Environments Conference
Berlin, July 11, 2013
A.E. (Tony) Ratcliffe
University of Leicester

2. Overview
• Getting it ready
• The content

3. Getting it Ready
• Acceptance process, full paper, 8K
• Template
• Shepherding and other review
• Presentation
• Publication

4. The Content

5. Introduction
• Certification and ongoing learning after hiring
• Missed opportunities – collaboration, online tech
• Security management is one
• Network and collaborate f2f, some online
• Corporate security roles

6. Literature
• Informal, non-formal, and formal learning
• Personal learning environments and personal
learning networks
• Digital literacy skills
• Communities of practice and online affinity spaces

7. Research Question
• How are security management and investigation
professionals using personal learning
environments (PLEs) and digital literacies for
work-based learning and, in particular, continuing
professional development?

8. Research Design
• Exploratory, global
• Test instruments, but more to inform main study
• Qualitative description methodology, to provide a
“straight description of phenomena”
(Sandelowski, 2000)
• Reach large numbers followed by personal
interviews with small number

9. Sampling plan
• Non-probability, convenience, purposeful
• Requests posted in 13 discussion groups
• From 67 completed questionnaires, 11 interviews

10. Tools
• FluidSurveys
• Skype
• f5
• Dragon Dictate
• NVivo 9

11. Ethical Considerations
• University Research Ethics Code of Practice
• Association of Internet Researchers (guide)
• Other literature
• No issues of concern, posting for participants
• Moving forward, ethical issues to be addressed
later

12. Results
• 137 accessed questionnaire over 20 days
• 67 completed questionnaire
• 35 willing for interview
• 17 countries
• 91% male; 9% female (1 not specified)
• Under 35 - 1, 65 or older – 3, 35-64 - 62
• Canada (36%), UK (22%), USA (10%), Australia (7%)

13. Results
• 10 Skype or Skype to telephone interviews
• 1 email interview
• 21 to 78 minutes
• 6 guiding questions

14. Analysis
• 2 major themes
• Online activities
• Online challenges

15. Online activities
• From questionnaire
• Read group/discussion messages, 67%
frequent, 31% infrequent
• Respond to discussion messages, 96%, but 76%
infrequent

16. Other activities
Asked them about:
• Starting discussion topics
• Starting discussion topics by linking to an
article, story, etc.
• Writing blog posts
• Posting updates on Twitter, Facebook, or other social
media
• Gaming such as World of Warcraft
• Activities in a virtual world, such as Second Life

17. Response
• The highest participation by activity was
29%, providing regular updates on social media

18. Asked to identify other
activities
• Email
• Work related research
• Course work including
research, online study
portals, podcasts, course
discussion boards
• Online training programmes for
software and products
• Skype for overseas contacts
• Webinars, webcasts, and
podcasts
• Virtual conferences
• YouTube for research including
conferences and speakers
• Educational programming from
Khan Academy and iTunesU
• News from local, national, and
international sources
• Reading
• Restricted professional forums
or sites
• Internet communities
• Language learning

19. Other Activities cont.
• Completing professional certifications
• Mentoring
• Solving client problems beyond own experience
• Sharing organisation knowledge with the public
• Maintaining currency in relation to industry trends
• Relationships with learners when teaching within online
course platform
• Finding hard copy text books to order, preferring over e-
books

20. More Activities Identified in
Interviews
• Presentations from BrightTALK and TED Talks
• Global communication
• Making learning continuous, even after the course ends
• Accessing the opinions of many people, from different sides of an
issue
• Course learning from anywhere
• Email distribution lists, as frequent as several times daily
• Using videos from YouTube when teaching subject area in which
instructor does not have expertise
• Text alerts of major happenings before the news

21. Challenges with Online
Activities
• Current methods adequate, no need for online to
develop network, lack of need for information
feeds
• Concern with being accountable, ie to HR
• Security
• Privacy
• Authenticity

22. Conclusions
• Consumers more than contributors
• Concern with activity level to justify being
communities of practice
• Participatory culture missing
• Failed to identify those who ARE participating and
contributing

23. Future Research
• Main study for PhD
• Focus on identifying demonstrating collaboration
and sharing
• Seek examples of those using PLE as a Zone of
Proximal Development