A Journey Completed ... Another Continues

about to begin the defense

I am very pleased to announce that on June 27, 2014, I successfully defended my Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Manitoba. I have many people to thank for their support and assistance along the way, most of all my advisor, Dr. O. Cap, my committee, Dr. M. Atleo, Dr. D. Hlynka, Dr. D. Mann and external, Dr. K. King. Having Dr. King as external was exciting since she has written so much about transformative learning and technology so her input was meaningful and impacted the final product. Others were also important (my wife & family to be sure!), but also several colleagues at BU and my cohort friends throughout the program. I will leave a reflection of the entire process for another post, however, I will include the slides I used in the defense, and the abstract. A link to the final dissertation will be added once it clears the submission system at the UM. For now ... I am done! Mike Nantais, Ph.D. - who would have guessed?

Ph.D. Oral Defense presentation from Mike Nantais

Social Media Pedagogy: A Multiple Case Study Approach (abstract) by mnantais

Light at the end of the Tunnel?

Well, the end is in sight ... hopefully. My dissertation, titled "Teaching With Social Media: A Multiple Case Study Approach", has made it through both the internal examining committee and now the external. I have a few revisions to make, then it is on to the oral defense at the end of the month!

A few weeks ago, I came across a tweet by GradSchoolElitist (@GradEletisim) with an attached image. I can't locate the original so I can't give proper credit, however, the cartoon is on the right. Anyway, the process sometimes does feel like running a gauntlet. The thing to keep in mind is that your advisor, committee, and the external are (usually - at least this is true in my case) on your side. I have learned much from these academics, they have prompted and pushed me to think and grow as a scholar, and I thank them for it. Of course, I will thank them even more if (when) I pass the defense!

For fun I have also included a video about defending the thesis, hope I don't have to do this!  ;-)

Some Good Quotes to Think About ... and Draft 1: done!

As I was wrapping up writing my dissertation, I was perusing some articles and came across three quotes that I thought I would share. Here they are;

"Condemning technology cannot address these concerns or engage in the affordances; active and informed engagement can." (J.S. Bianco, Women's Studies Quarterly, 37(1/2), 2009, p. 310, )

I like the phrase active and informed engagement, all too often 'we' dismiss new ideas without actually understanding or experiencing them, we are often too quick to judge.

"Some of what is unfolding is exciting; some is terrifying. The key is not to be all utopian or dystopian, but to recognize what will change and what will stay the same." (d. boyd, Educause Review, Sept/Oct 2010, p. 36)

I have always liked danah boyd's work - thoughtful and insightful. This statement is similar to the first, we rush to either embrace or condemn, but we often forget to think and experience.

"The phrase 'technology and education' usually means inventing new gadgets to teach the same old stuff in a thinly disguised version of the same old way." (S. Papert, Teaching Children thinking, Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education, 5(3/4), p. 353)

This final statement by Papert speaks about how educational technology is often employed - doing the old stuff in a thinly disguised version of the same old way; how true this often is. Sometimes it is okay, but why use expensive tools (toys?) just to do the same old - we need to shake it up and change how we teach.

To finish this post (I started it several weeks ago and life intervened), I have completed the first draft of my thesis, it has been submitted to my advisor & committee. The University of Manitoba just put in a new process for dissertations, so I am in the process, along with my advisor, in figuring out what it all means. However, it is done (for now) and I can put some attention into other parts of my work - and life! (I have actually been reading a few novels the last few weeks :-)

Academic Life in Cartoon

I came across a great cartoon depicting academic life on the Tumblr blog Gradness Madness. I printed a copy to hang in my office, but I am not sure of the copyright, so I did not want to upload it on to here - so please CLICK the link to Gradness Madness above to see it - or click here to see it on the author's web site. As I work on my dissertation and have been struggling with some concepts and ideas (I guess the Ph. in Ph.D. does stand for 'philosophy' .... ) I found this cycle to be often true - and indeed I felt it applied to what I was just struggling with when I came across it.  The feeling at accomplishment is wonderful ... then another thinking dilemma arises... I guess no one said doing a Ph.D. would be easy - and it isn't! OK - back to writing!

Here is a gratuitous, but related image for aesthetic purposes! (it is of my desk area during some data analysis)

Ph.D. Journey: Phase II Complete ... Now the work/fun begins!

work area in my basement

I am pleased, and relieved, to have successfully completed the second major phase of my Ph.D. journey, the comprehensive (or candidacy) exam. I completed my course work in April (see this post), the next task was the comprehensive exam, which I began in May. There are several options for this exam process, I chose the method most choose - four questions, three months and 100 pages (excluding references - good thing since I ended up with about 28 pages of them). The exam experience was ... character building? It actually was one of the most intense and difficult things I have done. The amount of literature research and subsequent reading necessary was tremendous, then there was the writing. At times I found it hard to focus, I found myself finding other things to do - check twitter feed, check some blogs, and so on. It was to easy to find something to distract me from the task at hand. I tried a few techniques to help. I tried taking notes as I read and re-read - by hand, then I tried typing them out so I could copy and paste into my paper, and a combination of both. I also tried the pomodoro technique, which I heard about through twitter (@thesiswhisperer). Essentially this technique has you work for 25 minutes, take five, another 25, etc., with a longer break after 4 sessions. I did not use this all the time, but when focus was a bit of an issue, I used it and it seemed to help. I also set goals, trying to concentrate on one task at a time. I set three weeks per question, leaving just over a week for final edits, reference checks and so on. I managed to stick, more or less, to my timetable and submitted the exam followed by a celebration dinner out with many of my cohort friends. My committee was very prompt, thankfully, after just three days they met and I even heard the same day they met - I PASSED! A major hurdle was over. I know people who had to wait much longer, I found even this short wait excruciating - what if I did not pass? Could I bring myself to do this a second time (it is two tries and you are out)? I could not imagine a long wait. I was also fortunate because I had coffee with my advisor, and he provided feedback from the committee on areas to improve on for my proposal/dissertation. One of the toughest, if not the toughest, parts of the process was not being able to discuss the questions. We learn by social means, and in my cohort it was a key activity, we often bounced ideas off one another, shared our work, discussed. Often, even talking about an approach, idea, thinking aloud would help make sense of things, not being able to do this was difficult. This simply solidified my belief in the social aspect of learning.

exam packages ready to submit

Well, the exam is over (and has been for a while, as I am slow to get this post written) and now it is on to the next phase - the dissertation! First task - complete the proposal and defend it ... should be a challenge, and fun. Stay tuned.

Ph.D. Journey - Phase I Complete!

Well, last week I completed the course work portion of my Ph.D. program at the University of Manitoba, last assignment submitted! It was a demanding, but very educational and interesting ride. Seven courses in 18 months. I must say the program so far has lived up to its title: Transformative Teaching, Learning & Leading, or TTLL. This was truly a growth process, I know some people question the value of higher education, now this is part of my career choice, however, the growth goes way beyond a mere job - but that is for another post, perhaps.

I was extremely fortunate to be part of a cohort experience, I strongly suggest this for anyone embarking on such a journey, if it is possible. I have heard other cohort experiences are not all good, however, the TTLL cohort became like a family, sharing, supporting through good times and bad. Just like a good PLN, it is all about the people , the connecting, the discussing, a person to talk to, to give strength when things looked bleak - and believe me, at times they did. I think everyone of us at one time or another had second thoughts. To illustrate the sense of family, for our last weekend class, we held class at Danielle's beautiful home, shared a meal, a few drinks and more learning, what a great way to have a class! We often met outside class hours in various size groups, at Degrees (restaurant at the U of M) after Saturday class, for coffee, a meal, to talk. We shared flurries of emails, created a Ning group - until it went to a paid format - shared writing & feedback, news from our lives, resources - I fully expect this activity will continue!

my work area for final course assignment

The people in this cohort are varied in background, interests and learning styles, this variety added much to the mix, and broadened our thinking (at least for me!). I have been very lucky to come to know these fine people. And, though the journey is not over, we will probably see less of one another, but we will keep in touch and continue to support one another.  I want to give a BIG SHOUT OUT and thanks to my cohort friends; Natalie, Jen, Cathy, Danielle, Lark, Pam, Margaret - and new member for this past year, Candy and for the last course, Heather and Duane! You are tremendous, caring, talented people, good luck to all of you in the rest of your program!

I would be remiss if I did not mention the great Profs I had at the U of M as well, all were excellent, but I will mention the cohort 'four';  Dr. Francine Morin, Dr. Thomas Falkenberg, Dr. Clea Schmidt and Dr. Wayne Seribrin. They exemplified the ideal that the process was about growth and learning and provided us with a challenging environment - and even though we often threw their careful plans out the window, allowed us our voice.

Now comes the next phase - the candidacy exam. At U of M, it is three months of ... terror? stress? hard work? learning? satisfaction? The exam (mine anyway) consists of four questions, 100 pages of writing and stacks of reading. My summer is spoken for, I don't know if I am ready, but, here it comes!