Professionally and academically, 2023 closed out on a high point, attending my graduation ceremony at Lancaster University, marking the end of my PhD studies that I started in January 2019. I had the honour of being conferred with my degree by The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, Chancellor of Lancaster University, pictured here (image courtesy of Creative Studio).
As is my practice at this time of year, a summary reflection of 2023 follows along with my plans for Q1 of 2024.
Q1 was focused on meeting the self-imposed deadline to submit my PhD thesis for examination by the end of February. Having spent over 70 hours on average per month over a two year period, it was time to let it go. It didn’t need to be perfect, just good enough, and then the waiting game began for the selection of examiners for the viva that took place in late May. I kept myself busy during this time, filling in those ‘spare’ hours with drafting a paper from my research, shortlisting a few journals that might be interested in it, and working on a pitch for a place on the Ideas Academy programme from Social Enterprise Ireland. It was never my intention to let my research gather dust on a virtual bookshelf and I considered the Ideas Academy an opportunity to help bring my research to life if I were lucky enough to be accepted. By the end of Q2 my thesis had been finalised with minor amendments accepted, and my pitch for a place on the Ideas Academy programme resulted in a successful outcome. The summer ahead (Q3) would be busy and so it was.
I have shared a blog post about my summer at the Ideas Academy and alongside this I was designing the pilot for the Digital Drop-In series of workshops that would run from September through November 2023, with participants from Skibbereen Community School and older adults from the local community. I feel I can safely say that we all learned a lot from this pilot programme during Q4 but the proof will be in the pudding when participants have the opportunity to share their stories. For me, the pilot was tangible evidence of the importance of facilitated informal and intergenerational learning with regard to maintaining and improving digital literacy skills amongst older adults. I look forward to extending this important work into 2024 and beyond.
PhD scholars will know that disseminating our research is an important focus once the formal degree work is complete. For me this means ‘salami-slicing’ by research question (RQ) and while I do not expect to publish a paper for each of the three RQs I would like to think that RQ2 and RQ3 both have potential for publication in suitable academic journals. My experiences of making my thesis digitally accessible are documented in this blog and may be of interest to a good practice journal in the area.
I cannot finish this post without acknowledging the lowlight of the year. It was a personal one… losing Rainbow, my sadly missed best four-legged friend and study buddy. We had been struggling with a few health issues during the year and the time to say goodbye finally came in October, just three weeks shy of her 13th birthday, a great age for a golden retriever, but a sad day nonetheless.
As I look ahead to 2024, I expect the year to be less busy on a professional level but time will tell whether or not this turns out to be the case. The first milestone will be presenting findings from the Digital Drop-In pilot at OER24, the annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy, being held at Munster Technological University, here in Cork. Feedback on my proposal from the review process is promising:
Your proposal offers a compelling solution to the critical issue of the digital divide among older adults. The informal and flexible approach to digital literacy is both innovative and empathetic. To enhance the impact of your presentation, consider including success stories or specific examples of how participants have benefited from the program. This could provide a more tangible sense of the project’s effectiveness and its impact on individuals’ lives.
OER24 abstract submission feedback (review 2)
No pressure then! I will be busy in January and February collecting data from the pilot participants with a view to sharing at the conference and more openly on the ‘Our stories‘ page of the website.
Finally, a sincere thank you to everyone who supported me in many different ways to get through 2023 and indeed the entire PhD journey. You know who you are and I am very grateful for all you have done.
Until next year, Sandra
Featured image courtesy of Bitmoji
Sandra Flynn 