Searching for Relevance

As my fellow cohort members and I struggle with narrated PowerPoints and motivation moving into our third semester of studies, the issue of relevance raises its ugly head. What does it mean to be relevant? How do we achieve it? Is our work worthy?

One aspect of establishing a professional presence for the doctoral student is scholarship -- studying, researching, observing, and writing, then sharing our observations with the rest of the world. In doing so, we hope to contribute something relevant to the field. We are quickly discovering, however, that what seems relevant to us is not to our peers. Likewise, what is being passed off as relevant in journals and at conferences often fails to live up to expectations. I think the latter is what I fear most. Too often, I have read an article or attended a conference session and thought, "Why did you even bother?"

I am pondering a conference proposal now -- my first as a doctoral student. I have presented at many conferences and meetings, sometimes as a selected participant and other times as an invited guest. In my presentations, I always try to offer a perspective that will appeal to my audience and perhaps shed new light or offer a different direction. The information may not be earth shattering, or even particularly innovative, but I hope for it to spark some interest in my audience. If it does that, then it is relevant.

For the visually challenged

No, I do not mean in a physical way. I mean in the way we consume information. Most people are visual: they like to see a graphical representation of the information. I am one of those rare people who prefer text. Not only do I prefer text, I find it difficult to try to visualize how to represent information in a graphical format. Therefore, when I am asked to provide a visual, it is often a form that incorporates text. My latest attempt was a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) diagram.


I used a nifty little program called Gliffy, suggested in the week's assignment notes. It's an online flowcharting and diagramming tool. It's very robust, offering numerous types of diagrams and options. It was easy to use and very flexible. You get a free 30-day premium account for signing up. At the end of 30 days, your account reverts to a basic account or you pay to continue the premium account. Pricing is tiered and starts at just $5 monthly for an individual account. The premium account would probably be worthwhile if you do a lot of diagramming but don't need the functionality of say a Visio or other design tool. I liked the fact that it provided options for text/graphical charts that appeal to those of us who still like to read.

Non-Visual in a Visual World

I am something of an anomaly; visual aids hold little interest for me. Unlike most people, I learn mostly from reading and applying what I've read in a kinesthetic way. In other words, I read the directions and put things together, or sometimes I just dive in and start assembling things. Sometimes I might look at a diagram, but rarely is that my first choice.

More frequently in my studies, I'm being asked to make graphical representations of concepts and processes. This is a challenge for me. Concept maps in particular are somewhat confusing. I'm a rather methodical and orderly person in my thought processes. I deal best with outlines, lists, and tables. Concept maps, to me, are anything but orderly.

What happens when we are asked to think outside our comfort zone? Can we competently adapt to new ways of doing things? Or do we merely stumble through it just to complete the exercise?

Why Tech Mate?

Why not?

As I am well into my first year of doctoral studies in Educational Technology, I decided to segregate my academic and professional blogging from my personal. I chose Tech Mate first of all because I had a passing fling with chess in my youth (check mate, end of game, remember?), but also because I expect this blog to be my "mate" as I work through my doctoral program. I do not, however, expect this to be the "end of the game."

Expect postings to be infrequent and brief, but relevant. I'm not into writing lengthy posts that overstate the obvious, which seems to be the trend in blogging. My hope is to present interesting web sites, tools, articles, research, and observations with brief commentary.

Welcome.