Final blog (for EDPY 604)

Reflections on Tuesday’s Class

Doug Canfield (IT) was a presenter for Scrivener and Prezi (although he used a Prezi to discuss Scrivener.  Personally, I was a bit nervous when he told us about his first dissertation disaster.  There is more to that story--I wonder what it is?  Did he not successfully defend?  Is this his second time?  Is that even possible?  I digress…it is just one thing that I will not ask.

Doug showed Scrivener.  I find it interesting that he uses 3 screens—I do have one in my office from my most recent office mate that (I believe) graduated this summer.  I plan to hook it up, but for my use with ATLAS.ti. I did not download Scrivener.  At this point, I am not ready for another tool.  Currently, there are too many tools that I have learned about that I like already, such as Nvivo, Inqscribe, and DragonSpeak.   I do not plan to write any of these tools off, but file them for later.  I do like what I see with Scrivener, though, and maybe as I get into drafting my actual dissertation, I may think about using it. He said something that resonates with me regarding Scrivener—it lets you have a brain dump, then go back and split it, organize it, and  create your argument.  If you're a non-linear thinker, you will love this... (I am non-linear for EVERYTHING).

I am surprised at how much Prezi has ‘evolved’ since I used it in the spring of 2012.  This is exactly the point made in this class about how quickly technology can change.  I may try to use it again for the spring course I teach.  It was actually much easier this second time (even though I was in a group, I could do this alone).  I went to OIT for help with my first Prezi.  They were fantastic there. 

What has the overall experience of this class been like for you?

In order to answer this question, I went back to my blog posts and pulled some of my favorite lines.  They are compiled below in blue:

In regards to the class thus far, this is one of the classes that has gotten me excited about my progression from comps, prospectus, and dissertation. Up to this point, any of those words would carry ominous dark clouds full of fear and fraught with anxiety.  Although I still worry about my immediate future, learning about technology is the silver lining that can possibly assist me in managing that fear and anxiety. That is a welcome feeling.  The first day was full of so much information (thank you for posting Dr. Wood’s slide presentation) and finally using a software package like ATLAS.ti made sense to me, as shown by Dr. Wood’s presentation.  Everything you’ve done is in there—by using this, we explain what we did and how we did it, which allows us to state our findings. Ginny’s presentation of Evernote was very exciting (as you saw in my first paragraph), but what I am enjoying is that we are given permission open the programs presented (ATLAS.ti, Evernote, etc.) and see for ourselves if we deem them useful.

As a side note, I would like to add that I have been taking notes and writing thoughts in Evernote during class since Ginny's presentation for my blogs--and I made a grocery list with it today.  I am liking that tool!

Thank you Ann (and Ginny), for such an interesting class on what Nvivo does (and the ease of seeing discussion groups and tweets). Now academic researchers are able to access tools that marketing companies have used for years.

One reflection on my first skillbuilder—I am glad that I did it, and it took much longer than I anticipated.  That is not a downside at all

I feel fortunate to have such knowledge and experience surrounding me in this course.  Without this exposure and a ‘safety net’ (I know that Dr. Paulus, Ann, and Ginny get emails with technical questions at all hours), I would be much more intimidated by these tools.  I do not feel intimidated at all, in fact, I am more excited about some of these tools than I initially thought I would be.  I believe it is because I am just beginning my own research process, and I see the benefit of these tools for my own use.

I would say that my overall experience was extremely positive.  I am so very glad I enrolled in this course.  It was extremely valuable and useful.

How was the experience of learning ATLAS.ti as a required part of this class?

Again, I talked quite a bit about ATLAS.ti in my blogs and used it as a skillbuilder.  Here are some of my experiences from my previous blog posts in purple:

…and finally using a software package like ATLAS.ti made sense to me, as shown by Dr. Wood’s presentation.  Everything you’ve done is in there—by using this, we explain what we did and how we did it, which allows us to state our findings.

Today, Monday July 15, I drafted an IRB for an interview study and I stated in my IRB that I was going to use ATLAS.ti for document management and analysis

…my next skillbuilder, which is going more in depth with ATLAS.ti.

Since I am planning to go deeper with Atlas for my second skillbuilder, I plan on using it for transcription.  I imported a voice file from my digital recorder prior to class on Thursday, and I had no trouble with the file.  It was an mp3 file, which Ann stated that that type of file was the easiest to import into Atlas.  I was also excited because before connecting my digital recorder to my laptop, I downloaded software for my digital recorder thinking I would have to convert the file, but not at all—I did not even have to use the software.  I do like the capabilities of both tools, but my intent is to work with Atlas and learn it.  I found the functions surprisingly user-friendly for a first encounter, and I am glad that I can keep the audio file along with the written transcription in one place.  I realize this can be done with Inqscribe, but I can also access other documents in ATLAS.ti, such as my highlighted and memoed articles to support my findings, my IRB, and my research notes/journal.

While we were working in ATLAS as a group, I was feeling excited and frustrated--wishing I had real data, but, I was still glad to have the opportunity to walk through coding in ATLAS.ti.  I realize that there are multiple ways to complete the same task (now) and I have a fairly positive outlook on using ATLAS.ti for the remainder of my program.  I was surprised at how comfortable I was with working with memos and coding, even with merging codes and creating families.  It seems as if I have learned more than I thought (and actually remembered it) from advanced qualitative methods last semester.  The reason that I say ‘fairly positive’ is because I plan on using ATLAS.ti from this point on in my studies, and, although I have not heard anything ‘negative’ (I am not sure if that is the word I want to use, but for now, I am not sure what word fits better) from my committee, especially my chair, I hope they will be on board and not become frustrated when I want to show work.  This is why the final project of this course is very important and beneficial to me, because it can be a working draft of what I will present in my comprehensive questions in order to provide my rationale for using this CAQDAS tool.

I am very glad we were able to work with video files in Atlas--so nice that it works the same as an audio (sort of).  Either way, I was able to pick it up.  Now I'm really starting to think about rewriting this IRB...

I really like these functions with visual data in atlas--much easier than I expected.  I know people have described atlas as 'clunky' or not 'intuitive', but actually, if you're familiar with atlas and its functions with documents, it's relatively easy to get--but I am always grateful for in class tutorials/support :) ATLAS IS ON YOUTUBE!  I need to remember that when I run into an issue (which I am certain will happen sooner or later)

Again, quite positive in regards to ATLAS.ti.  I’m going to become very familiar with this tool!