ReMIT, Researching eMature Institutional Themes, is the empirical component of the research work I'm carrying out through a PhD programme at IoE, the London University Institute of Education. The research set out, in 2006, to explore the evolving use of information & learning technology (ILT) to support the work English FE colleges do, exploring issues related to the following broad areas of enquiry:-
What characteristics does an e-mature college have? When is it e-ready?
What happens to the people and processes in a college as it becomes e-ready?
How can college stakeholders organise for, and contribute to, the e-readiness of their institution?
A summary of the thinking behind ReMIT as I transferred to IoE in September 2007 can be seen in my initial research proposal - written before I'd done any fieldwork and whilst still, as now really, open to all sorts of ideas about exactly how best to proceed.
During the period December 2007 - March 2008 a series of exploratory 'prepilot' visits to colleges aimed to scope out the subsequent main empirical research phase - expected to use mailed and online questionnaires, as well as an extensive series of face-to-face interviews and a number of in-depth case studies, all being conducted in compliance with the BERA Code of Research Ethics.
The exploratory research changed the emphasis of my research approach as it became clear how important it is to raise ILT issues with college managers through tools that have immediate significance for them – rather than through elegant (but, for busy managers, perhaps less resonant) theoretical models, in order to get a full understanding "grounded" in FE realities.
Early results from these visits have led to a focus on developing an e-Readiness 'map' as the vehicle for discussions with college managers, on carrying out a number of case studies 2008/9, with the main phase of the research data gathering taking place 2009/10
The research should be complete by 2012.