2019 Annual Conference

Graduate Student Education

Shared Concurrent Session (Approx. 12 or 20 minutes)

The presentation showcases the innovative activity of video blogging (vlogging). Vlogging can be used to understand the self and as we look as our professional identity through a lens of reflexivity. The action research to document my journey by vlogging provides avenues for understanding my self-directed orientation, promoting transformative learning.

The audience that will benefit from the presentation

Facilitators of higher education, workforce training professionals, higher educational administration, graduate students, and any person interested in creating more reflexivity is the major target audience. For researchers this gives a trustworthy way to qualitatively showcase self-direction in action, connect transformative learning and professional development, and new ways to journal and collect participant data. Finally, practically this could be used for memos in research, journal writing, and formal self-directed learning projects. Many new and innovative ways to understand self-directed learning in action are promoted in the research.

The ability of vlogs to create reflexivity by removing the barriers of typing, transcending the cognitive processes to allow greater interaction and positive emotions and gaining flow when journaling has little to no literature. Even more, vlogging as a reflexive practice has very little trustworthy literature. Secondly, using action research to show what SDL is rare in the literature; Additionally, how being self-directed focuses your professional identity is rare in the literature. The ability to follow the progression of a novice researcher to scholar shows, in context, the process, and the personal Self-Directed Praxis. This research adds to the literature connecting Self-Direction and transformative learning. Therefore, the purpose of this action research is to examine, document, and develop my self-directed praxis by using vlogging to promote my transformative professional development. The ability to document my journey into and through the dissertation by becoming an expert provides avenues for understanding my authentic self. The research seeks to showcase the innovative and important activity of vlogging. Vlogging can be used to understand the self and as we look as our professional identity through a lens of reflexivity. To my knowledge this is the first research on using vlogging as action learning.

I will use PowerPoint to showcase vlogging and my action research. I will also promote the audience to start a vlog by doing one on their phone. I will use interactive audience participation to engage practical application of the research.