Statement on Ethics

The Masters action research project is being undertaken to explore how opportunities for collaborative learning between Masters students and staff can be enhanced, by using Diigo and Twitter to share knowledge, information and learning resources.

This project will investigate using the social bookmarking tool Diigo to facilitate and encourage the co-creation of Creative Technologies content and knowledge in order to develop a collaborative and transdisciplinary research resource that will enhance collaborative learning opportunities for IoCT Masters course students.

In addition, the project will seek to experiment with the use of Twitter to encourage collaborative learning opportunities for IoCT Masters course students. A schedule of Twitter activities (synchronous and asynchronous) will be devised and implemented for existing students, alumni students and a pre-enrolled cohort of students.

Anonymity
It is important that you are aware that your participation in these activities involves the use of social media tools and that your contributions will therefore, be in the public domain. You will therefore be identifiable by your user name throughout the activities of this project. However, I will not use any names or contact details in the final project report.

Confidentiality
I will not disclose any information gathered from questionnaires and interviews to third parties, unless permission has been granted to do so. Any data collected will only be used for the research purposes of this project.

Your Right To Comment
Every effort will be made to keep you informed on the progress of this research project. If at any stage you wish to comment on the emerging results or the final report, you may do so. I agree to listen to your comments and make changes if appropriate.
You are encouraged to post your comments on the project blog. By contributing comments to the project blog you are also giving your permission for these comments to be used as part of my research findings. However, all contributions and comments will be anonymised within the final research report. This blog is in the public domain and could be viewed by people outside the research collaborators group. If you would rather make comments and give feedback privately, please email me on lmcnicoll@dmu.ac.uk.

Data Protection
I will comply with the Data Protection Act1998 in relation to the storage of personal emails and other personal or sensitive details that I may have access to as part of this research and/or as part of my role in the workplace environment.
In line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, you have the right to see any written records associated with you involvement in the research, including the final report. You have the right to request that any record or relevant section be destroyed or deleted.

The Final Report
The final report will inform the Programme Enhancement Plan recommendations for integrating web-based tools into the Masters programme to create increased intersession learning, increased opportunities for collaborative learning and support, improved access to cross discipline information and resources and a developed programme communication system for learning support and peer group exchange.