I had no idea what to say. I hit a wall.
Yes, I have been rather engaged over the 8 weeks thus far, though have not really been able to think about how to apply anything I have read to my doctoral research (which, to be frank, is very specific and needs to be finished sooner rather than later). I have engaged with and spoken to Nancy White, Tony Bates, Allison Littlejohn, and Martin Weller about their content weeks, engaged with all 3 of the facilitators several times, and even started regularly commenting on blogs about specifics related to this course, though nothing yet has influenced or aided my research. While I do read the threads and posts in the MOOC-Research group, even they have not given me a sense of how to transition these experiences to something research-based. While this is one of my MOOC Goals, I do find it interesting that I find this such a valuable and eye-opening experience, though I cannot yet seem to connect it to my personal goal #1.
Wonder if I am alone in this sentiment?
sometimes i too wonder about distractions and if they are just that or if there is a glimmer of something that intersects and is therefore useful. The prompt on social artistry helped mine. Gave me a slight nudge of confidence to be a bit more avant garde than i might otherwise…may or may not end up in the thesis (a txt language rendition of an ode to a hopeful monster, but it did make me crystalize further what it is i have shown.
The discussions we had way back on ethics made my thinking clearer on the rights, wrongs and balances on research- and that what i learn on this phd is a ticket to academic credibility rather than an end point – so whether its in “the book’ or not, my thinking is clearer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ailsah/6322960329/
@ailsa-
Good points all, and I think your wall and what a wall can be as we seek to turn away / break through / go over or around — even the wall depends on context, ehh?
Jeffrey