The blog did get a bit out of hand in terms of organization and viewability, so I started a wiki (problemfidning.pbwiki.com) to act as the table of contents. As the science ed guy who always viewed ed tech as another powerful instruction tool, I can’t stress enough the value of having web tools that are easy to use, yet have the capability of interactivity.

Using these tools allows for community in a process that can at times be very isolating.

I’m not planning to co-write my dissertation on my wiki– my committee members are used to MS Word, so that is what I’m sure we’ll stick with. The wiki is a place to share progress and ideas, and solicit feedback, but not actual author contributions on the wiki. You’re right in your perception I think: The words have to be my own or cite appropriately, so my dissertation wiki isn’t so much a place where I’m inviting others to collaboratively write my dissertation… I’m not, the writing is mine… but I’m soliciting feedback and input.

I’m not worried about others copying my ideas Part of the reason I’m sharing the ideas is to provide others with access to them so they potentially can be challenged or enriched by them. If someone else is writing the exact same dissertation, I need to know about that and choose a different topic. If someone else has written something similar or knows of similar research, I need to know about those projects and include them in my literature review. Perhaps I have too much faith in the value of transparency in writing and sharing ideas, but I don’t think so. I guess we’ll see how this goes.

I do plan to mainly work on a MS Word version of my dissertation which I”ll exchange with my committee members. At some point down the road, if/when I become a professor myself, I can see using Coventi Pages or Google Docs to write research articles and help grad students with their dissertations. I think for my own dissertation, however, I’ll need to use the tool my committee members are most familiar, and that (of course) is MS Word.

First, I’ve never actually seen anybody publish their dissertation on the Internet before it was formally finished. While I’m sure it’s been done before, yours is the first I’ve seen.

Now for a few questions:

1. Why a wiki? I realize that you want to share, but do you intend to have other contributers (thus taking advantage of the wiki)? I guess a sub-question would be:

Can you do that?

2. In sharing your dissertation like this, aren’t you worried that someone will copy your ideas and present them as their own - before you get a chance to formally finish your work?

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I believe in being open. Hopefully my track record for the last few months has demonstrated my commitment to Creative Commons and open standards. I’m just not sure if a dissertation is something we can/should share.

Hmmmm.

Anyway, I appreciate your openness. Thanks for sharing, and don’t worry: my dissertation won’t be about 1 to 1.

In terms of why Wetpaint, I thought it would be helpful to move things related to my dissertation to a separate virtual space that permitted commenting and archival of comments. I may be able to get the ads removed there, which would certainly be less distracting.

Thanks to all for the encouragements and advice! I agree, the best dissertation for me WILL BE one that is completed!

Keep at it and fight the good fight.
-D

Thank you,
Matt Pollard
matthew.pollard@edmondschools.net

The wetpaint wiki just is so hard to read and full of ads.

Chris

As someone who works with doctoral students on a regular basis, all I can say is, “Make your writing / research time inviolable, much as you did your class time, and you’ll get it done. Don’t, and you’ll never finish.”

Best wishes. Let me know if I can be of any help.

All the best in the coming weeks and months on your journey. Just remember, the best dissertation is one completed.

All the best.