THE OPEN CAGE: A FORCE FOR TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING IN PROFESSIONAL DOCTORAL STUDIES DURING COVID-19

Aim/Purpose This paper explores how professional doctorate candidates responded to the restrictions and changed context of COVID-19. Using connectivism as a theoretical framework, it explores the ways in which their patterns of study were recalibrated in light of the restrictions caused by the pandemic. Specifically, this study aims to: explore the experience of the professional doctorate student during the pandemic;and demonstrate the ways in which networks are recalibrated and adapt to changing circumstances. Background In 2020, in response to COVID-19 many countries, including the UK, went into lockdown resulting in most doctoral candidates being confined to their homes and restricted to online contact with peers and supervisors. Part-time students have a finely balanced pattern of work which was required to be recalibrated and refocused which required considerable adaptation on the part of the candidates. Methodology A qualitative methodology was used comprising four focus groups, each consisting of four professional doctorate candidates. Participants were professional doctorate candidates and as such were all mid-career professionals from a variety of backgrounds. Purposeful sampling was combined with theoretical sampling, which ensures the sample is deliberately selected and ensures the emergent development of the theoretical ideas. The focus groups were recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and identify the main findings, allowing themes to be identified. Contribution The findings indicated that professional doctorate candidates were highly adaptable and were able to adjust rapidly in response to COVID-19 restrictions. The networks they had previously established had to be refocused through adapting and adjusting patterns of study and developing digital skills to enable them to progress in their doctoral studies. Findings Three themes emerged from the analysis: recalibrating work-life-study balance;adaptivity in studies and research;and empowerment through Information and Communications Technology (ICT). To progress their doctoral studies, the networks they had previously established had to be refocused through adapting and adjusting patterns of study. Recommendations While lockdown was an unusual experience, some factors can inform future defor Practitioners velopments for doctoral education, mainly: the importance of establishing a pattern of study;the importance of connectivism and Information Technology (IT);and how such use can enhance and expand the research process. Recommendations Adaptivity achieved through IT;connectivity and the recalibration of networks for Researchers were key to enabling doctoral candidates to continue their research. The use of connectivism as a theoretical framework for research merits further exploration, as do methods for online learning and approaches to incorporating digital skills into doctoral studies. Impact on Society According to connectivism, learning is through the establishment of networks, and these consist of both the means of gaining and accessing knowledge and the work-life study balance. It is important to examine and improve these networks. Many of the changes imposed by the COVID-19 restrictions are here to stay and this study highlights the ways in which the student experience can be enhanced through digital learning. Future Research This research could be expanded through further analysis of how IT can enhance research practice. The interaction with digital learning sources could be explored and highlighted. The pattern of networks could also be explored and developed, and the positive and negative aspects could be highlighted. © 2022 Informing Science Institute. All rights reserved.

When Will Immersive Virtual Reality Have Its Day? Challenges to IVR Adoption in the Home as Exposed in Studies with Teenagers, Parents, and Experts

In response to the pandemic, many countries have had multiple lockdowns punctuated by par tial freedoms limiting physically being together. In 2020–2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were stressed and exhausted by the challenges of work, home schooling, and barriers to typical childcare arrangements. Children were missing one another, their social lives, and the variety of experiences that the world beyond the home brings. Immersive Vir tual Reality (IVR) offers tried and tested ways to enable children to maintain beyond-household family activities and dynamics. However, it is not viewed as a solution. Instead, as demonstrated through a multiple method study involving a Rapid Evidence Assessment, workshops with 91 teenagers, interviews with 15 exper ts, a Delphi study with 21 exper ts, 402 parent questionnaires pre-pandemic, 232 parent questionnaires during the pandemic, and longitudinal interviews with 13 parents during the first UK lockdown in 2020, IVR is not viewed as having value in the home beyond gaming. Results highlight limited consideration of IVR as a way to enhance family life or the home, with a lack of evidence and direction from current research, innovation, and policy. The ar ticle empirically demonstrates that exper ts, teenagers, and parents have limited expectations for VR. Fur ther, with parental resistance to adoption and a lack of ideas or innovations in how IVR could be used, the likelihood of VR-headset adoption remains low as does its potential as a means of educating, enter taining, and socially engaging children and teenagers. © 2021 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.