Master of Education thesis: Packing my bags

My MEd thesis.

A mountain stretching away above me into the clouds.

I thought I was packing enough tools for the journey during the last few years of completing various post-grad papers, but now I look ahead to the next year or so, I feel like I have brought the equivalent of a can of beans to a three-day feast for a cast of thousands.

I may even have forgotten the tin opener.

So, for those who are interested, here’s the skinny: I’m doing a MEd thesis worth 3 papers at the University of Waikato. Approx. 30,000-40,000 words, churned out sometime before the end of 2013 (oh, please don’t make it last that long though;-)

I’ll be blogging about my mountainous adventure as I go. Well, I need someone to share the pain joys and excitement.

The question (today, at least, but who knows?) is:

In What Ways, and To What Extent, do the Affordances of Social Networks Impact upon Educators’ Professional Learning Experiences?

So far, I have really just started to engage with the whole research process again. Seems like ages since the 2011 research methods course and I have been feeling a wee bit overwhelmed. Have spent a while faffing about, reading around the process again, the MEd booklet from Waikato, and my draft research plan from December (which was looking a bit trite).

The ethics application and the research plan are still to-ing and fro-ing between my supervisor and I. He’s a patient man.

The foothills of the literature review lie ahead. But therein lies another post.

And I appear to have lost my passport…

[Image source:  Some rights reserved by blmiers2]