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My use of PebblePad
Part-time PhD in Pedagogical Research and full-time job as a Research Executive at Aston UniversitySelf-taught and independent use of PebblePadPebblePad is a helpful tool for recording my thoughts, reflections and research notesPebblePad serves as a repository for useful links in my research area
62 assets
Stage one: initial use of PebblePad
Reflective journal – used as and when I could find the time,
provides a chronology of my thoughts for the PhD
Stage two: recording meetings, events and recording research notes
Used as a medium for recording my notes and action points from supervisory meetings
References and research notes noted, used in combination with EndNote
Stage three: aggregating my assets
Creating a blog to document the process of developing the PhD research design
Stage four: uploading and sharing documents
Useful for documenting feedback from supervisory team
The benefits of sharing assets
Feedback – two supervisors will often have different opinions, therefore PebblePad provides a dialogue and summary of their commentsTime between supervisions is used effectivelyInterim meetings are not always possible, but both supervisors can be involved through PebblePad comments facility
Visual representation of research activity
Stand alone ‘thoughts’ need to be tied together to form a webfolio
Research-intensive months over the summer, due to reduced activity in the University (‘day job’)
Overall benefits and limitations
Particularly useful when working remotelyEasy to ‘dip in and out’ as a part-time student Serves as a repository for my research notes and useful linksProvides a chronology of my thought processes and development of the research Ideal for sharing my work with a team of supervisorsReduces paperwork
Concerns over security Need to have access to the internet
