Back to college.... Again!

Phew, that’s it! I’m finally starting my Rudai23 blog. I’ve been wracking my brains all week to find a suitable topic and I think I’ve cracked it. Call it serendipity, or what you will, but starting my Rudai23 blog coincides with me starting my part-time MSc in Library and Information Management in Dublin Business School. As such, I’ve decided that this blog can provide the much needed platform or ‘space’ to allow me to record and reflect along my academic journey.

It’s been over seven years since my last foray in the academic world. At this time I was a young (ish) footloose and fancy free student and could afford to spend endless hours and endless funds reading endless papers, lurching from one deadline to another (unmet in many cases I might add), unfocused with no real tangible goal. Needless to say this ended in an unfinished PhD.

This time, things are very different. As a mature/adult learner with a full-time job in the library service, a family and home to take care of and a passion for the outdoors, a passive approach to my learning is not feasible. The only way for me to complete this course successfully is to make the most of my limited study time by adopting an ‘active learning strategy’. This involves really engaging with the topic, putting in place creative learning strategies to explore and record, to get a thorough understanding or overview of the subject and the course first and not just rush off to read lots of papers and texts, and last but not least, requires me to constantly question, review and reassess my learning.

So this is it. I’ve bought the wall planner, printed lots of timetables, bought loads of coloured pens and highlighters and read the study manuals. Now the fun begins ….