Openly Collaborative

I had started collecting references in Zotero, a reference and bibliography tool, before starting this course, so was well positioned to begin gathering research voices into my draft proposal for my academic paper. What I realize, based on feedback and focused questions from my instructor and classmates, during today’s open sharing of my draft, was the need to go further, beyond only my area of interest and potential methodology. I’ll need to go wide and deep in my search for credible voices in a variety of areas. The potential for collaboration and sharing as I build my resource collection is a real and necessary consideration. The power and potential of networked, connected research, starting with my cohort colleagues, is exciting.

With this in mind, I’m considering options for my classmates where they can choose to collaborate and network, thus making each of us individually stronger as researchers and promote collegiality within our network.

• First, setting up a group space in Zotero. Knowing that many in my cohort have an awareness of Zotero, after Thursday’s training session, I’ll invite them into a group space that I have created. Invitations will be sent once I’ve spoken to a few to see if this is of interest to them.
• Second, I’ve begun concept mapping for my own visualization of theorists in the field of education. I’ll invite others to collaborate on a core map, using the open access option available in Mindomo, to allow them to add, edit and create within the map, thus strengthening our shared understanding of the education field of study. This may be particularly helpful for those not with an educational background, as I discovered in conversations this past week, when two of my classmates had not heard of Lev Vygotzky.
• I’ll set up and show others how to use collaboration on annotations and shared reading using Hypothes.is. Since there are so many readings to do, it makes sense to share the work, learning and insights together. When I read and annotate in Hypothes.is, I’m willingly opening my work to/with others. They can engage in a conversation with me about the key points in any particular article. It means that collectively we’ll build a library of key resources that will inevitably support each of our individual research projects. I’m not sure if this is novel or new, but I believe it’s worth a try.
• Finally, I will set up a Slack space for this cohort in which we can continue to collaborate, communicate and share without being bound by traditional tools such as email, LMS or Skype. This may not be something many will know how to use, but may be welcome once they realize the potential for conversation beyond the ordinary.

There is power and potential for the collective mind, the connectivist theory of learning in action, when beginning a PhD course of study. This may build, at the foundational level of our learning, a richer, deeper, more connected cohort than has been experienced otherwise. It’s worth a try, this being a connected PhD. If it can be done in such a Joint PhD program, there may be merit in this model for other PhD programs.