EPQ Presentation

To what extent has the increased use and availability of

technology fuelled civil unrest?Extended Project Qualification EPQ

Topics Covered

• Research

• Project Management

• My Findings

• What Next?

Subject Selection

To what extent has the increased use and availability of technology fuelled civil unrest?

• Influences

• Establishing the subject area

• Defining the investigation

Technology My Springboard

Technology's Role in Civil Unrest

Researching Techniques

AntiWar Protest, Trafalgar Sq London

Interview in Egypt

Prepared Questions

• I hoped to confirm/disprove the accuracy of broadcasted material

• To gauge the level of government control/influence upon the media and external communications

• To gain first hand knowledge on the extent of use of technology within their local community

Google Trends

• Shows the 'real life' search volumes for both "Twitter" and "Riot"

• By manipulating result regions and time scales, it possible to tease out fluctuations

Project Management

• Key Deadlines/Dates

• To-Do Lists

• Outliner

Start: 5th September Mid Point: Review 6th January

Finish: End of Spring Term

The fall of the Gantt Chart

• Too time consuming

• Not enough flexibility

• Not appropriate at this stage

• Outdated

Example Gantt Chart

Outliner for iPad

• I wanted something portable

• Flexible

• Instant

• Intuitive

What needs doing next

• I need to maintain momentum with regard to knowledge of current affairs

• To draw the different strands of my research together

• To produce an essay plan

• To produce the 5000 word dissertation

What I've learnt (real terms)

• Learnt to be more critical with regard to assessing a source of information's accuracy

• Ability to disregard information that isn't relevant to the investigation (quickly)

• I did not realise initially, the amount of commitment the EPQ would require

• Learnt to use project management software

• Also learnt to look into unconventional sources of information

What I've discovered about myself

• I have a great depth of commitment

• An ability to carry out research in a methodical and organised fashion

• Learnt to balance time, and (perfection)?

• Realised the importance of defining a title with boundaries

• Learnt to make the best use of time

Thanks a lot, any questions?

Haydn Pole