Mathemagenic

As usual I'm bad in real-time coverage of interesting events, so some after-thought notes from DIRN workshop "Interaction in Digital Environments" organised by doctoral student network (Digital Interaction Research Network – DIRN) at Umeå University in Sweden.

Things to think about:

• emergent social norms in online spaces (heavily triggered by "Reconsidering Emergence" talk by TL Taylor; see also notes by Jill and archived video stream)
• blogging and hierarchies: academic examples
• women in academia: role-models and not saying no
• new turn on online research ethics - dealing with risks of studying vulnerable groups
• narrative analysis
• concepts of identity
• Bloom's taxonomy as a way to position research methodologies
• kid's views on Internet uses and dangers (and not what adults think of them)
• (non)uses of technology: over time vs. situational

Apart from meeting interesting people and new insights the workshop had a funny impact of me: I came back much more confident that what and how I do in my PhD actually makes a lot of sense. Sometimes because of getting direct feedback on things, but mainly due to interacting with PhD students who are at much earlier stage in the processs and realising how much I already sorted out (e.g. how focused are my own "not properly focused" research questions ;). I realise now how much looking mainly at accomplished researchers (those whos work I admire) is the source of that "I will never get there" feeling that was hunting me through the summer and how much talking to struggling peers could help to get reassurance that struglling is just a normal part of the process.