1st Skype Session of Module 2: Saturday 17th September 2016

Session led by: Paula Nottingham (COURSE LEADER) http://paulanottingham.blogspot.co.uk
Location: Costa Coffee, Swansea

Paula commenced the discussion by initiating personal introductions and giving a brief outline of what's to come, mentioning a few practical things such as where to access the readers and the changes in staffing etc.

Participants Introduction:
* Laura Hopkinson (M2) laurajayne14.blogspot.co.uk
* Lizzie Bell (M2) lizziebell92.blogpsot.com
* Tom Hullyer (M3)  tomhullyer.blogspot.com
* Bethany Huckle (M3) Hucklebethany.blogspot.com
* Charnelle La Touche (M3) charnellelatouche.blogspot.co.uk
* Adesola Akinleye (COURSE LEADER) http://adesolaa.blogspot.co.uk

Adesola suggested that we each say what skills we found particularly useful or not so useful in previous modules to help us move forward successfully with our studies.

Charnel mentioned 3 key things. TIME MANAGEMENT, FOCUS and COMMUNICATION. She said how getting together with peers at the university campus really helped her and how dedicating a time slot to uni work created structure and provided a focus to her studies. Communication is something I really want to work on as I felt a little isolated and out of the loop with my studies before. This due to being on tour and not being able to attend group sessions on campus etc.

Laura lives and works in a boarding school where there is always so much going on. She also struggled with INTERNET CONNECTION so found that MAKING NOTES and brief JOURNALLING throughout the week helped massively. She then sat down on a Saturday to go through the weeks happenings in more depth and do some work. I totally agree with Laura here. Many of my digs had really weak, sometimes temperamental or even no wifi and a lot of my work was done in coffee shops - much like this Skype session in costa coffee today. I also found that making notes on my iPad whilst at work really helped. My iPad was like a third hand - I took it everywhere with me as its so handy to use on the go.

I asked the module 3 students how they came to focus on a particular idea for inquiry?  What process did they follow when exploring areas of interest? I personally found in module 1 that I had so much I wanted to talk about that I ended up losing quality to quantity and the thorough explanation and reflection I'd had in my blogging was lost due to this. Bethany suggested BRAINSTORMING and then shortlisting the ideas. She also said that SECTIONING her chosen topics made it easier to begin research as it provided a structure and made it less overwhelming. I think these two methods will definitely help me personally as I like organisation and structure! She mentioned a book called 'how to research?' from the reader list that asks key things such as:

Will it actually benefit me and my practice?
Will I enjoy researching the topic?
Will it keep me motivated? *I believe this is the key question here, particularly as we are engaging in DISTANCE LEARNING. Self motivation is such an important skill*

Lizzie found that looking at other people's BLOGS was really useful  as it enabled her to identify the strengths and weaknesses in other posts before writing her own. I'd actually spoken to Lizzie prior to this session because I'd discovered her amazing charity work surrounding a particular interest of mine on social media. I hope to have further conversations with Lizzie regarding this topic!

Tom is currently working over in Ibiza. As part of his inquiry he was talking about communication between the different groups when putting on a production such as the hotel group hosting the show and the production company that creates the show. He spoke about both personal and professional relationships and difficulties you have to cross like the differences in people's training. I found this particularly interesting as one of my topic areas is about leadership roles when putting on a production - a big part of it being how the communication between different departments are affected and the problems that can arise. I'd love to chat to Tom further on this and discuss his current contract.

Our course leaders summarised the conversation. Adesola advised us to have clarity in terms of what needs to be handed in. What is the aim of the module? Focus on that and then work backwards in order to prevent going off on a tangent and losing the purpose of the module. She also reminded us of the importance of the Tuesday coffee shop Skype sessions. Chatting amongst modules really helps to refresh our minds from previous studies or inspire us for the future modules. Paula emphasised the use of literature, looking at which topics are spiking interesting conversation amongst the people in our industry, practice, community etc. They also stressed that the blogs are an important place to meet virtually, therefore regular posts and comments are essential in order to help one another. Peer feedback and review is key!

From this initial Skype, I am already feeling more relaxed and excited to get going with my studies. Being open to finding ideas as I go along without applying too much pressure will certainly help me personally, as well as continuous conversation and communication. I plan to spend the next week doing a bit of general research. This into a few areas of interest mentioned in my previous blog 'WELCOME BACK'. I look forward to seeing where this leads me and to reading other people's blogs as they also kick start their inquiry journey!