Some thoughts on presenting my dissertation in an alternative format

For each of my dissertation ideas thus far, I have anticipated presenting my work in a non-traditional, digital format. In addition to being of personal interest, each of my ideas has seemed suited to presenting work in a format that is multimodal in nature. It's something I've experimented with during the MSc programme and have sometimes found to be exhilarating (and on other occasions, exhausting). It is also something I've been encouraged to think about by members of the course team, over and above the general guidance offered in the Dissertation Guide:

'It is worth stating here that the e-learning programme team is committed, given the technological context of the this area of scholarship, to encouraging any participants who want to submit a dissertation using media other than plan text.'

As I understand it, no-one (on the MSc programme) up to this point has submitted a dissertation in a non-traditional format. Considering the experimental nature of the course (and the evident creativity and imagination of participants) this has struck me as odd. It would seem to me that within our field of practice, submitting an entirely text-based dissertation (when there wasn't a requirement to do so) seemed unusual. I wouldn't expect that everyone would want to submittal a digital dissertation, however I would have though that it would have been commonplace. Apparently not, though.

An explanation of the possible resistance or reticence towards 'writing up' digitally can be found in the Dissertation Guide however.

'If you do present in an alternative format, your will also need to write a conventional rationale for what you have done. This rationale should be of approximately 2,000 words...should detail for your reasons for adopting a digital formar - reasons based in the literature as as in whatever practical or professional factors are involed'

Let's be clear. In my experience, submitting work in a non-traditional format is already more time consuming than than the more traditional text mode (I would say at least double the time, for me at least). Furthermore, the experimental nature is by definition more risky than the long established and accepted presentation of words on the page. And then on top of this, it's necessary to write an additional 2000 word - the length of a typical essay assignment on the MSc programme - that is itself up for scrutiny.

I'm still tempted and intrigued by the idea of presenting a digital dissertation, however when the dissertation already comes with time pressures (or as the Dissertation Guide puts it, 'Studying at this level often involves considerable personal sacrifices...great amounts of energy and, at times' even greater amounts of patience.') opting into a supplementary assignment isn't enticing. This isn't to say that I don't recognise the need for a rationale of this kind, only that, alongside other factors it helps to explain why no one has followed this route before. When the stakes are high (and I don't see how an MSc dissertation could be seen in any other way), is it really the time to start taking risks?