START

Right then, it's dissertation time. It's a few weeks since I met with Sian to talk through my plans yet the valuable pointers I jotted down remain untouched within my pad. With each day that passes where I fail (for a variety of admittedly good reasons) to read through my notes, I become a little more anxious and, I expect, less able to make sense of what's on the page. By creating this blog then, I'm putting down a marker to represent the beginning of my dissertation work. It's time to get things moving.

Keeping a blog during the Research Methods course proved massively helpful, for my frame of mind and self-management as much as the critical reflection that I put down. Having somewhere to record observations, appraise my progress, outline objectives and deadlines, and host documents was crucial in a course when there was much more emphasis on working individually than within a group. I expect the same to apply during the dissertation.

The last couple of weeks has seen the University campus display an air of celebration as students and proud parents have attended graduation in McEwan Hall. I walk past with a smile: partly for the resplendent graduands and their delighted, fussing and slightly uncomfortable parents but also through enthusiastic anticipation of where I aim to be in November 2013. I've been visualising my own graduation since September 2009 when I began the MSc in E-Learning, imagining what it will be like to nervously stroll across the stage at McEwan Hall. So that's the goal and the hard work starts here.

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