The Future of Education

The purpose of this study is to pilot a bespoke interview method that comprised of an interview schedule, an interview process, and the method of analysis. It has been designed to complement a prerequisite questionnaire instrument called the Online Learner Profiling Questionnaire (OLP) with the main objectives of investigating its compatibility in 1) confirming information collected from the OLP and in 2) generating new data expanding from existing information. The interview method was performed on selected participants of the previous OLP pilot study. The information and theoretical framework from the OLP pilot study allowed for the use of abductive reasoning in negotiating knowledge from the OLP questionnaire, Bourdieu’s theory and interview data. The analysis followed Saldana’s Two Cycle Coding method and employed the processes of Holistic Coding, followed by Initial Coding inclusive of In Vivo and Process coding techniques, and eventually Focused and Axial Coding. Through the use of inductive, abductive and deductive coding, this pilot study revealed that the interview approach is capable of adding further profundity to profiling learners based on their learning and technology dispositions.