"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning".
~Gloria Steinem
"I'll work through the night to create a design--
Constantly analyze, tweak, and refine.
I'll study jet rockets and look at old planes,
Contemplate buses and zeppelins and trains.
To make it is smooth and as sleek as an eel,
I'll borrow ideas from the Weinermobile!
So sit back, relax, stay right where you are.
It's time to reveal my spectacular car!" ~p. 3-4
Constantly analyze, tweak, and refine.
I'll study jet rockets and look at old planes,
Contemplate buses and zeppelins and trains.
To make it is smooth and as sleek as an eel,
I'll borrow ideas from the Weinermobile!
So sit back, relax, stay right where you are.
It's time to reveal my spectacular car!" ~p. 3-4
Planning it Out - research skills
Link to Metaphor:
Being able to research and expand on one's thinking and ideas is a key component to understanding both sides of the story. Having the skills to dig through numerous articles, research reports, journals and books is important in putting together a scholarly piece of work that often starts with a simple question. At times, it seems relatively easy to answer your own question as the evidence gathered is synonymous with your own. Other times you find yourself fighting the experts because your beliefs don't fall inline with what you find, so either you change your opinion or adopt to fit your needs.
In Jack's case, he has decided to come up with a new car. Not just any car, but one that will be like no other. His willingness to stay up until the wee hours of the night and research the many other vehicular concepts that have already proven successful, shows his ability to pull from all sides and take the best. The hard work of critically analyzing all the other options that are present in the other already designed vehicles is important in formulating a new concept. In a way, he is gathering enough evidence to piece together an answer to his own question.
Being able to research and expand on one's thinking and ideas is a key component to understanding both sides of the story. Having the skills to dig through numerous articles, research reports, journals and books is important in putting together a scholarly piece of work that often starts with a simple question. At times, it seems relatively easy to answer your own question as the evidence gathered is synonymous with your own. Other times you find yourself fighting the experts because your beliefs don't fall inline with what you find, so either you change your opinion or adopt to fit your needs.
In Jack's case, he has decided to come up with a new car. Not just any car, but one that will be like no other. His willingness to stay up until the wee hours of the night and research the many other vehicular concepts that have already proven successful, shows his ability to pull from all sides and take the best. The hard work of critically analyzing all the other options that are present in the other already designed vehicles is important in formulating a new concept. In a way, he is gathering enough evidence to piece together an answer to his own question.
Artifact #1
ETEC 500 - Research Methodologies in Education
This was my first course since completing my previous Masters in Education - Administration & Leadership in 2006. Knowing I would be involved in writing papers, research articles and forming a new theory of learning in the field of educational technology, it was appropriate to have an understanding of the methodologies required to be successful.
I draw upon the work of Gay, Mills & Airasian (2009) who in their book, Educational Research - Competencies for Analysis and Applications, provided a "how-to" break down of appropriate processes to research skills. It was important to reacquaint myself with properly reviewing literature and evaluating where the sources derive from in order to provide both sides of a story. The reader can then be allowed to come up with their own opinion based on the facts that are present. Also with the fact I was potentially using the staff and students over the next two years as subjects in one giant research project (this MET program), I felt it was important I use the results accordingly.
My final assignment in ETEC 500 was a paper on whether or not Interactive White Boards (IWB) actually show an improvement in learning. It was an ethnographic research paper that included data, interviews, observations and surveys of staff and students using IWB's in their classrooms. I wanted to follow Gay et al. (2009) belief in triangulation and include more than one source of information. The use of IWB's was extremely prominent in many classrooms of all different grades, so there were plenty of examples to draw upon.
Unfortunately this actual artifact was lost in a back up error on my computer and the paper was lost. My mentioning this growth in understanding the art of researching was important in the artifacts named in this section because it helped me to formulate the proper questions to ask and how to find the answers. The answers were not necessarily one sided, but provided enough information to come with their own conclusion.
This was my first course since completing my previous Masters in Education - Administration & Leadership in 2006. Knowing I would be involved in writing papers, research articles and forming a new theory of learning in the field of educational technology, it was appropriate to have an understanding of the methodologies required to be successful.
I draw upon the work of Gay, Mills & Airasian (2009) who in their book, Educational Research - Competencies for Analysis and Applications, provided a "how-to" break down of appropriate processes to research skills. It was important to reacquaint myself with properly reviewing literature and evaluating where the sources derive from in order to provide both sides of a story. The reader can then be allowed to come up with their own opinion based on the facts that are present. Also with the fact I was potentially using the staff and students over the next two years as subjects in one giant research project (this MET program), I felt it was important I use the results accordingly.
My final assignment in ETEC 500 was a paper on whether or not Interactive White Boards (IWB) actually show an improvement in learning. It was an ethnographic research paper that included data, interviews, observations and surveys of staff and students using IWB's in their classrooms. I wanted to follow Gay et al. (2009) belief in triangulation and include more than one source of information. The use of IWB's was extremely prominent in many classrooms of all different grades, so there were plenty of examples to draw upon.
Unfortunately this actual artifact was lost in a back up error on my computer and the paper was lost. My mentioning this growth in understanding the art of researching was important in the artifacts named in this section because it helped me to formulate the proper questions to ask and how to find the answers. The answers were not necessarily one sided, but provided enough information to come with their own conclusion.
Artifact #2
ETEC 532 - Technology in the Arts and Humanities
The research continues in this next artifact. It was one my most relevant essays I wrote and my findings were ones that I was hoping to convince future school teacher-librarians to change the way they see and use their library with staff and students.
With my experience as a teacher-librarian and then as an administrator, I had the opportunity to put into place what I felt, and read ,needed to be done to bring back the tag, "heart of the school", to the library. The timing couldn't have been perfect for this assignment and the motivation was strong to find written articles and research that proved I was not alone in my thinking.
I found myself asking the same question Zhao & Frank (2003) asked in their research article, "Why don't teachers use technology more in schools?". Their metaphor of zebra mussels and ecological perspective to the factors that affect the implementation of computer use in schools made me to ask the same question to librarians. Although Zhao & Frank (2009) were specific to teachers in their article, the thinking is easy applied to librarians in this case because it is they who are in control of whether or not a school library will be viable in the future. Zhao & Frank (2009) observed the need for teachers to have a niche to increase the use of computers in schools.
I used the idea of a formal letter written to all teacher-librarians because they needed to hear what is being said about school libraries and what can be done to make changes before they become expendable in the ever decreasing school budgets. My research not only paid off, but cemented my thoughts on how a school library should be used in the 21st Century.
The research continues in this next artifact. It was one my most relevant essays I wrote and my findings were ones that I was hoping to convince future school teacher-librarians to change the way they see and use their library with staff and students.
With my experience as a teacher-librarian and then as an administrator, I had the opportunity to put into place what I felt, and read ,needed to be done to bring back the tag, "heart of the school", to the library. The timing couldn't have been perfect for this assignment and the motivation was strong to find written articles and research that proved I was not alone in my thinking.
I found myself asking the same question Zhao & Frank (2003) asked in their research article, "Why don't teachers use technology more in schools?". Their metaphor of zebra mussels and ecological perspective to the factors that affect the implementation of computer use in schools made me to ask the same question to librarians. Although Zhao & Frank (2009) were specific to teachers in their article, the thinking is easy applied to librarians in this case because it is they who are in control of whether or not a school library will be viable in the future. Zhao & Frank (2009) observed the need for teachers to have a niche to increase the use of computers in schools.
I used the idea of a formal letter written to all teacher-librarians because they needed to hear what is being said about school libraries and what can be done to make changes before they become expendable in the ever decreasing school budgets. My research not only paid off, but cemented my thoughts on how a school library should be used in the 21st Century.
Artifact #3
ETEC 511 - Foundations of Educational Technology
The researching of this assignment was one of my most enjoyable. Not only was the actual research of the topic interesting and extremely relevant at the time, but the planning and creativity around using an online comic strip tool was a great first experience. This holds true in many of the MET courses, but the ability to be creative in a purposeful manner is what made this particular project so valuable.
What spawned me to write a short article on texting was my curiosity on whether or not the over use of short messaging was having a negative affect on everyday modern language. I can only assume it did because of the real life examples I was having at my school on a daily basis. There were lot's of "OMG" or "LOL" in regular conversations that I was finding myself asking for clarification as to what they just said. Only to get the look, like I was in a foreign country.
I found that using Bates and Poole's (2003) SECTIONS Model for Instructional Design is crucial in selecting online resources for both students and staff to accompany the work that is going on in the classroom. This model is simplistic in it's almost checklist approach, so that all areas of design are considered before applying a web 2.0 tool with students. The three sections that I find to be the most important with the staff and students I work with are: Ease of use - both staff and students, Interactivity - what kind and is there a variety, and Teaching - what will the students learn; will the tool they use help them to better understand the concept taught.
Read the full article here.
The researching of this assignment was one of my most enjoyable. Not only was the actual research of the topic interesting and extremely relevant at the time, but the planning and creativity around using an online comic strip tool was a great first experience. This holds true in many of the MET courses, but the ability to be creative in a purposeful manner is what made this particular project so valuable.
What spawned me to write a short article on texting was my curiosity on whether or not the over use of short messaging was having a negative affect on everyday modern language. I can only assume it did because of the real life examples I was having at my school on a daily basis. There were lot's of "OMG" or "LOL" in regular conversations that I was finding myself asking for clarification as to what they just said. Only to get the look, like I was in a foreign country.
I found that using Bates and Poole's (2003) SECTIONS Model for Instructional Design is crucial in selecting online resources for both students and staff to accompany the work that is going on in the classroom. This model is simplistic in it's almost checklist approach, so that all areas of design are considered before applying a web 2.0 tool with students. The three sections that I find to be the most important with the staff and students I work with are: Ease of use - both staff and students, Interactivity - what kind and is there a variety, and Teaching - what will the students learn; will the tool they use help them to better understand the concept taught.
Read the full article here.
etec511internetlingo.pdf | |
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