Virtual Support Groups

Last week I facilitated a roundtable discussion for some staff members at Oakton Community College about learning in support groups. It was for staff development day. While I had a small group of 4, some interesting things came out of the discussion - one in particular regarding the topic of virtual support groups. In my prior work and project, I explored the virtual dimension of an online support group. I assumed that because you were a member that it was generally a safe environment to share and discuss. Well in our discussion last week, the idea of security and privacy came up and the potential dangers of using online support groups became something we talked about as opposed to what I previously saw as a way for those who felt more comfortable using a virtual environment as a way to keep things more anonymous. This made me realize that in our prior work, we looked at the benefits of virtual support groups and not potential pitfalls or dangers. While most of these groups have some type of moderation and they request information before you join, identity (or lack thereof) can be misleading. While I still see virtual support groups as a way to access support "anytime, anywhere," I now am shifting my perspectives a bit to take into account these security and identity issues.

Findings & Analysis

Writing a dissertation is hard work. I think everyone knows that, but as I move along in the process and I hit a writing block, the struggle gets more and more real. There is a format/order to your actual written work that will be published. Sometimes I get lost in "going in order" to get the work done. However thinking back to my actual proposal, I remembered that things got "messy" and that I don't have to work in any sort of pre-determined order. So my little piece of advice for those working on dissertation proposals or work, find a small piece to work on and run with it when it feels right. Eventually it will all come together, even if it seems like chaos when you're working.

A Global Hospitality MOOC from my Alma Mater

I received an email invite to the first ever School of Hotel Administration (SHA) MOOC. While I received a bachelor's degree in hotel administration from Cornell and I've moved into another discipline, it would seem a bit counterproductive for me to enroll in this course. However it made me think about how I've never experienced a MOOC and that it would probably be worth it to try this out, especially since it's free. I hadn't investigated MOOCs because I had only heard some negative comments about retention rates and that the entire concept being a "fad." However with schools like Cornell, Harvard, MIT, and Berkley (just to name a few), I don't really think that some of these early criticisms should inhibit individuals from participating in a course. My course starts on February 4th, so more to come once I try this out for myself with my learner hat on (not my educator hat!).

Virtual Networking

Today in class, we discussed the importance of developing your personal learning network as a student and moving forward as an educator. I teach community college students who are just embarking on their educational journeys, but it's never too early to start. I found this great SlideShare presentation from CalState. It's worth taking a look at and sharing with anyone that is looking to start creating their professional social networking presence.

Get Linked In on LinkedIn from Cal State L.A. Career Development Center

Making Progress

I am making progress with my living room learning lab and my wall of dissertation data posters. In an attempt to take some of the data and use technology so I can view it and move it around to come up with summaries and categories, I tried using Note.ly (www.note.ly#). I believe they have a sister product called Easel.ly, which I have used in the classroom with my students to create infographics. The address for my site is. I don't have a lot of time to fool around with this tool at the moment, but from what I found, it seems like you can only have one "wall." This doesn't particularly serve my purpose as I need about 10 "walls" for different coding areas, but I tried it out anyway. Although not exactly a concept mapping tool, this helped me make post-its for various themes I found and then I was able to move them in groups virtually to try to make sense of it all and come up with a summary overview. I imagine students who are visual learners and those who love post-its can use something like this for brainstorming and organizing their ideas, which can move around pretty quickly to become groupings.

Data Reduction Week

This week I am in the process of trying to make sense of all of the data I collected during my qualitative interviews for my dissertation. My living room/dining room has been transformed into my learning lab, where I am going through pages of interview transcripts and trying to make sense of all of the information. Although I love technology, I decided to go back to basics for this effort, which is how I started studying for my cert exam a few years ago.

Eventually these pages will be filled with information (and taken off of the walls)...at which time I will turn to my new laptop to get the work in a usable form!

The 29th International Self-Directed Learning Symposium

My proposal has been accepted for a poster presentation at the 2015 Self-Directed Learning Symposium. This is both extremely exciting and extremely terrifying. Exciting because I am moving down the path of scholarly activities. Terrifying because the presentation is based on my preliminary dissertation findings. That means by the first week in February, my findings have to be pretty solid and I need to really be comfortable talking about them. I had planned to get my draft into my advisor at the beginning of January, but now the pressure is really on. The symposium is in Cocoa Beach, Florida, so a chance for me to get out of the cold weather and to get some different perspectives on my work before it is finalized.