Research

Publications

• Gallagher, M. (2013). Incessant Motion through Space: Mobile Learning Field Activities in the Humanities.
• Bayne, S, Gallagher, M, Lamb, J (under submission). Being ‘at’ University: the topologies of distance students
• Ross, J.; Gallagher, M.; Macleod, H. (accepted). Making distance visible: assembling nearness in an online distance learning programme.
• Gallagher, M. & Ihanainen, P. (2013). Pedagogy supporting the simultaneous learning processes of open education: Pedagogy of Simultaneity (PoS). Open Education 2030: Higher Education, European Commission, Joint Research Centre: Information Society Unit.
• Keskin, N; Gallagher, M.; Sarsar, F. (2013). E-Book Readers for Everyone: Fatih Project. Mobile Pedagogy and Perspectives on Teaching and Learning. IGI Global.

• de Waard, I., Koutropoulos, A., Hogue, R. J., Abajian, S. C., Keskin, N. Ö., Rodriguez, C. O., & Gallagher, M. S. (2012). Merging MOOC and mLearning for Increased Learner Interactions. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (IJMBL), 4(4), 34-46.

• Using mLearning and MOOCs to understand chaos, emergence, and complexity in education. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Education, November 26, 2011. Michael Sean Gallagher, Inge de Waard, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Nilgün Özdamar Keskin, Rebecca Hogue, Osvaldo Rodriguez, Sean Coppedge Abajian.

• Exploring the MOOC format as a pedagogical approach for mLearning. mLearn 2011 Conference Proceedings, October 2011. Michael Sean Gallagher, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Inge de Waard, Sean Coppedge Abajian, Nilgun Ozdamar Keskin, Osvaldo Rodriguez, Rebecca Hogue

• Emotive Vocabulary in MOOCs: Context and Participant Retention (2012). European Journal of Open, Distance, and E-Learning. Michael Sean Gallagher, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Inge de Waard, Sean Coppedge Abajian, Nilgun Ozdamar Keskin, Osvaldo Rodriguez, Rebecca Hogue

• JSTOR Plant Science (2010). Tools for Identifying Biodiversity: Progress and Problems,  L’archivio istituzionale d’Ateneo.

• JSTOR Plant Science and the Global Plants Initiative (GPI). WISE Award 2010 Finalist. Doha, Qatar.
• Gallagher, M. (2009). Commodification of Education. Paper written as part of the MSc in Elearning at the University of Edinburgh.

Research Projects

MobiMOOC: MOOC run in 2011 and 2012 that spurred the formation of a research group to explore the nature of learning in a MOOC and its relation to mobile learning. Several papers have been co-authored as a result of this research team ranging from pedagogical applications of MOOCs, complexity theory, and emotive analysis of discussion board transcripts.

Edinspace:Online learning provokes questions about the nature of place and institution for distance learners: what does it mean to be a student at Edinburgh who is not in Edinburgh, and what insight does this give us into learning design for high quality distance programmes? This project explores notions of place and institution for the MSc in E-Learning in the School of Education at the University of Edinburgh. Over one year, we will conduct a piece of research in which narrative and visual data is generated by students within the themes of place, home, and institution.

Elektroniches-Lernen-Muzik is our attempt to create a place where members of the E-Learning community – and other interested parties – can share ideas, resources and playlists, and engage in discussion surrounding the role of music in elearning. In this project we explore, in an informal way, the influence that music and sound have upon our learning spaces. The idea grew out of a conversation that originally took place in autumn 2010 between participants on the E-Learning and Digital Cultures course, part of the MSc in E-Learning at The University of Edinburgh. Since then, Jeremy, Michael and I (the self-appointed ‘curators’ of this project) have regularly returned to the idea of ‘soundtracking’ our engagement with the E-Learning programme. We’ve talked about how we might discuss and share the impact and influence that music has upon the spaces in which we learn.

SWOP (Student writing: innovative online strategies for assessment & feedback) was funded from 2009-2011 by the Principal’s Teaching Award Scheme at the University of Edinburgh to take a closer look at some of the programme’s practices. Our goals were to understand better how our approach works, how to make that approach even better, and how to share what we have learned with others interested in online and distance learning. Over the past two years the project has been an important source of insight into the assessment, feedback and digital writing practices of the MSc in E-learning.

The key data generated by the project were a series of student-led ethnographies of courses, where students acted as participant observers and kept field notes that were analysed and used to develop three key project themes:

• Feedback cultures;
• Negotiating tensions: isolation and community; silence and noise; absence and presence; individuality and convergence; freedom and constraint;
• Emotion, conflict and investment.

The Pedagogy of Simultaneity (PoS) is an attempt to define learning and a related pedagogy that accounts for the simultaneous engagements that occur in any given learner’s environment. It is an attempt to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow and make these challenges visible in a pedagogy. Trust, discussion and collage are the carrying features of learning and pedagogy based on PoS.  We hold them as the key concepts, the observable phenomena and related activities of learning in PoS. Behind these concepts, phenomena, and activity, we attempt to account for the empowering energies and layers of time, space, and social presence. All of these interact simultaneously. That is why we use the term Pedagogy of Simultaneity. We think it is worthwhile to explore developing a pedagogy that accounts for all of these as they naturally and simultaneously occur.

Presentations

• M Gallagher (2013). mLearning: Habitus and Field Activities. Helsinki, Finland.
• M Gallagher (2013). Multimodal Composition in the Humanities via Mobile Technology. University of Edinburgh Online Seminar.
• S Bayne, J Ross, C O’Shea, M Gallagher, J Lamb, H Macleod. ‘Campus envy’ and being ‘at’ University: the geographies of education on the internet. Association of Internet Researchers 13, Salford UK, 19-21 October 2012.
• M Gallagher (2012). Mobiles for Development (M4D): An Introduction for MobiMOOC 2012.
• Inge de Waard, Michael Sean Gallagher, Apostolos Koutropoulos, Nilgün Özdamar Keskin, Sean C Abajian, Rebecca Hogue, C Osvaldo Rodriguez (2011). Exploring the MOOC as a pedagogical format for mLearning. mLearn 2011: 10th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning, Beijing, China
• M Gallagher (2011). The Global Plants Initiative: A Digital Resource for Plant Biodiversity Research. International Botanical Congress, Melbourne, Australia.
• M Gallagher (2011). Online academic research (for secondary school students). Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
• M Gallagher (2011). JSTOR Plant Science. Global Plants Initiative (GPI) Annual Conference, Panama City, Panama.
• M Gallagher (2010). JSTOR Plant Science. Tools for Identifying Biodiversity: Progress and Problems,  L’archivio istituzionale d’Ateneo, Paris, France.
• M Gallagher (2010). JSTOR Plant Science and the Global Plants Initiative (GPI). WISE Award 2010 Finalist. Doha, Qatar.
• M Gallagher (2010). JSTOR as a Research Platform: Using Data Analysis to Inform Future Directions. ITHAKA Sustainable Scholarship Conference, New York, New York.
• M Gallagher (2008) Aluka: A Digital Library by and about Africa. eLearning Africa Conference, Accra, Ghana.
• M Gallagher (2008). Aluka: Primary Sources and Digital Resources by and about Africa. Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL), Lusaka, Zambia.