Abstract
Becoming a scholar means becoming a person who is continually learning and engaged with research activities. Being a scholar is strongly associated with academic work concerned with the production and evaluation of knowledge. The main difference between a scholar and a student is that a student is in the process of acquiring knowledge, whereas a scholar is a learned person with a profound knowledge actively engaging with advancing their domain discipline. Scholarliness is evident in a disposition that displays intellectual curiosity, creative thinking, critical engagement, interrogation, and an affinity for risk and foresight. A scholar is usually a person that holds a Master’s degree or higher. Part of being a scholar is to develop a strong research identity within a particular discipline. This study is concerned with the development of novice and emerging scholars as thought leaders enrolled in an online Master’s degree in Education in Information, Communication Technology (ICT). Of specific interest is their learning journey as captured in their online journal reflections. This study relied on a sample of 20 journal entries from five enrolled students. The unit of analysis was thus the journal entries in the form of text or images, which were believed to allow the researcher an opportunity to choose rich reflections for analysis. The data analysis process followed a thematic approach aided by the use of ATLAS.ti, qualitative data analysis software. Among the key findings of the study was that journal reflections made a noteworthy contribution to the development of postgraduate students’ metacognitive skills as thought leaders. Further to this, they allowed postgraduate students the agency for carrying out introspection and to develop new learning opportunities. Key findings point to the significance of true collaboration, and opportunities for curriculum leadership and management are abundant through the use of journal reflections. University educators need to take advantage of such opportunities to inculcate metacognitive skills through such online learning activities.
M.Ed.