Last night we had another Educational Research session. I find that I am finally beginning to have some ideas.

My field is adult learning, in the corporate/workplace context. I have an interest in JIT learning, but I also have an interest in games and simulations in learning. So here’s me thinking that the steady move towards JIT learning in the corporate environment increasingly places the control in the hands of the learner. The learner identifies a gap in his knowledge base and uses available resources to address that lack at a time that suits him.

So how does this fit with games and simulations where the learning is often serendipitous? By playing the game or entering the simulated environment, the learner will plot a path through a series of scenarios which may or may not relate to his current learning need.

Hmm. So how do I get a starting question out of this to launch my research for my dissertation? And what will the research look like?