Revisions and rethinking
As a result of feedback from my committee members, I am making some revisions and rethinking some parts of the research plan. Despite my initial commitment to the original steps I had envisioned in my research, I can see the logic in making these revisions based on the goal of completing the research in a manageable and timely way, but also for the sake of the participants in my research. Their time and commitment to my research needs to at the forefront of this work and taking too much of their time may not lead to the best results. I see the value in making these revisions to honour their gift of time and energy. The revised process may ultimately lead to a more reflective response from the participants since they will have time, space, and agency to provide a reflection that may better exemplify their media and digital literacies as revealed in their concepts of and open educational practice.
Not only will the research plan be adjusted, but my personal involvement in the research be clearly connected to the work being done. As I made revisions, the beginnings of a conceptual framework is emerging that may capture the essence of this research. I know this will iterate and continue to be revised, but here is the preliminary image that highlights the essential elements of the research proposal. I will also provide a description of this image, since accessibility has become a heightened key consideration for my web publication efforts.
The title is positioned in the upper center and right of the image and reads Crystalliizing Research Frameworks. In the center of the image is a stick person with text around it – teacher, educator, open, praxis. Around this is a pink circle with black text – OER, OEP, OEM, and OEPr. This is surrounded by four yellow bubbles with on word in each bubble section – design, teaching, assessment, content. Alternating bubbles in green appear between these four, also with text – community, sociality, cognitive, technology. Around this is a dotted line with arrows going clockwise between four words in orange – skills, fluencies, competence, and literacies. This is surrounded by an orange circle with a darker orange circle as an outside boundary. Outside of this orange circle are five blue clouds, with multi-directional arrows connecting five words/phrases to these inner circles. These read, starting in the upper left corner with philosophy of tech, constructivism, connectivism, post-intentional phenomenology, and pragmatism. In the bottom right corner is a Creative Commons logo followed by letters BY-SA, the date 09.14.2021, and the name Helen J. DeWaard.
While this is an early compilation of the essential elements of my research proposal it comes from the critical feedback gained from my committee members, for which I am grateful.
