Blog 4:

So to date in LRNT 502 I have covered Cultures of Inquiry and Critical Review of Literature as main topics. There have been other areas that we have delved into but these appear to be the two main ones. In these blogs it is important for me to relate my learning at RRU to my life, both personal and professional. So here are some of the connections I see so far, along with some ideas these connections are spurring:
1) I do a lot of "research" as a teacher, in particular as a teacher of music and its connections to technology. I have to stay on top of the latest innovations and, as a performer, use these innovations in my own work. My challenge now is to take this regular research and transform it to the work of academia, concentrating on cultures of inquiry and applying a critical eye and ear to my own research. I am hoping that much of the true academic research I complete as part of this program will be applicable to my own daily work, as well as to the institution I where I teach.
2) The understanding of Cultures of Inquiry is enabling the choices I have to make regarding research easier and is making me think more often of which of these cultures of inquiry I use regularly. I am going to pursue the possibility of aligning my research with my own college's Applied Research department and work with them to create a research topic that I will be able to share internally. Do I want to be published, as some of our online sessions have focused on and as most surely many of my cohort do? I really don't think that this is very important to me, at least not as important as my research being used by my college and affecting some positive change therein.
3) Personally, as I learn more and more at this higher level of education, I am gaining an academic confidence that I did not expect to have come so quickly to me. This is a wonderfully positive occurence and I expect it to only improve as I go forward through my courses and ultimately move into my research.
So there are lots of connections and it appears that the more I try the see them, the more there are! I look forward to finishing this course with a strong academic standing and moving on to the next area of study. So far, I have learned a great deal from these first two courses.