H809-28. ECA first draft

I spent long hours Saturday, Sunday and yesterday to knock out a 4000-word draft. I followed an 'expanded version' of a research proposal outline I found on the Internet, which was an enormous timesaver. I realise that the tutors do not want to impose a certain format on us, but I do think that, contrary to the feedback given, there is a standard format for writing research proposals. I always spend the greatest part of my planning time figuring out how to organise the dozens of articles I've read, so for me, a model is essential, even if I later modify it to suit my own purposes.

Well, I'm of course relieved to have a draft I can show to my tutor and (hopefully) get (timely) feedback on, but I'm not entirely happy with it and will work on it for a few more days before asking for comments. I think I need more transitions between the two parts of the literature review, 'Blogging in higher education' and 'An outline of activity theory', as well as from the literature review to the methodology section. As always, the word limit was confining; I needed more space to do the literature review justice. As it was, I just concentrated on a few crucial themes and what I see as lacking in the literature. I get really annoyed with the 'cut-and-paste' technique used in the background sections of so many research papers. They give the impression that the studies they cite really back up what they say, but when you track them down and read them, they actually provide very little empirical support. I guess I am at the point in my development as a researcher when I just don't find a bit of 'positive feedback from students' good enough anymore. A few extracts (most likely chosen to support the researcher's agenda) from the data no longer easily convince me. That is why I loved Krause's article ('When blogging goes bad: A cautionary tale about blogs, email lists, discussion and interaction') so much: it was so practical, so honest. Sometimes these research studies are a bit over-dressed.

I am happy with what I have learned from reading further papers on blogging in preparation for this assignment, and I am also confident about the blog design I am going to use next semester - the design on which my proposed study is based. I feel more confident that students are going to engage with it, and I also feel confident that activity theory will help me to identify the reasons for anything that may go wrong. For the first time, I am giving my students more autonomy to blog. I wasn't ready to let go before and clung to the idea of the central class blog. I am really curious to see if they will be inspired to use their blogs creatively.