DD Shift

I’m hearning the Alias theme song.

Happily, I am reaching the end of my readings.  The last one which is a handout entitled “Taking Fieldnotes” provides a one-page summary of just that.  It, just like the reading prior to this one, puts stress on the double-entry method.

The handout is a bit more specific about what should be contained in the observation part of the field notes:

• demographics,
• specific quantifiable details of what is observed,
• description of sensory input,
• specific language used, summaries of conversations,
• notes on subjects reactions to being observed,
• page numbering.

As a part of the reflections:

• personal reactions to observations,
• questions for further investigation,
• speculations about the observations,
• (as later reflections) what items stand out out and why?

I am hearing the song “Till the End of Time” by DeVotchKa.

Today I spent some time on one of my favorite writing-assistance sites, the Owl at Purdue!  This site has been around since the dawn of time, it seems.  Usually, I refer my own students to the site for reference on grammar or proper citation methods, but today it’s my turn to learn.

Specifically, I focused on the Conducting Primary Research part of the site written by Dana Lynn Driscoll.  The site basically rehashed several things from other readings that I have already had, but it gave me a few more things to think about before I get started with my own primary research.

The site claims that there are four different types of primary research that can be done:

• interviews,
• surveys,
• observations and
• analysis.
  (What is Primary Research and How Do I Get Started?)

These categories, of course, are not exactly the same as other sites, but they tend to cover the same scope and types of information-gathering techniques that are addressed by other sites.  What stuck with me from this is that they claim that analysis is useful “when you want to find some trend or pattern” (ibid.). 

I tend to be partial to the idea of analysis.  From my perspective, this is the only meaningful way to track progress in the areas where I am interested in doing any research.  My professional “gut-feel” isn’t going to cut it.

While this site’s Analysis summary did not introduce anything new for me, I did stop for a moment to think more critically about how analysis will need to occur in my case.  If I do choose analysis as one of my main ways of gathering information, it will force me to refine my understanding of the different syllabus points that the I.B.O. has in the area of programming. Further, I will need to construct more concrete ways of measuring student success in these syllabus points. Many of the syllabus points have concrete skills that students must learn, but the nature of the skills lead them to be embedded in several other skills. To describe them in a different way, they tend to be higher-order thinking skills. Perhaps thinking about these as higher order thinking skills will give me an idea of how to assess them better.

One thing that the site discussed more concretely than the others thusfar was the ethical aspects of research.  To summarize what I found most important:

• For individuals, I need permission and I need to make sure that I structure the study such that I don’t cause any physical or psychological harm.
• It is not the case that I have to get permission to do analysis on publicly available phenomena.
• Individuals need to know whether or not they will be treated anonymously or not.
• And, I may need to see approval from some ethics board at my university before I begin my study.  I need to find out if this is necessary before I begin my study.
  (Ethical Considerations in Primary Research)

Another thing that this site highlighted is something that I have been concerned about for a while.  One of the pitfalls of primary research is “not considering other related factors”. (Common Pitfalls of Primary Research)  In other words, how do you limit the scope of what you include as “related factors” to a reasonable set of factors?  The site highlights this as a problem, but it does not make any suggestions on how to methodically go about determining where the boundaries ought to be.

I’m concerned about this because I am the type of person who tends to look at the more complicated explanations of things rather than the obvious.  It’s not that I am ignoring the obvious, I just don’t see it.  It is always illuminating for me to speak with people who can see the obvious explanations, especially when I have been pondering a problem for quite a while.  I’m worried that I won’t see the trees through the forest, and hence misinterpret the forest because of my limitation.

One thing that might seem insignificant, but was really helpful was a suggestion that came in the Observation part of this site.  The site suggests that when making observations that you keep a double-entry notebook.  On one side of the notebook, keep “objective” observations.  On the other side of the notebook, jot down “interpretations”.   While this seems simple, it does give me an organizing strategy for my notes that I didn’t have before.  I’m happy for any sensible help in this arena.

I’m hearing the song “Walt Whitman’s Niece” performed by Billy Bragg and Wilco.  It was originally written by Woody Guthrie.

For the entry, I have reviewed a website from the American University Library on Literature Reviews.  This entry will be relatively short because the site is excellent at succintly summarizing the key points that a person needs to know about a literature review.

It seems that a literature review needs to take place prior to performing a case study or any practical research.  This, of course, seems obvious given the fact that you should have some sort of theoretical or practical basis for your research.  This is moderately problematic for me because my research needs to be done very rapidly because of scheduling, and I have to work remotely (I will not have access to an English-speaking library).  I could always do research in the German university library near me, but that will be a challenge in that I don’t know the vocabulary in my particular area of research (of course this would be an excellent chance to learn it).

The things that I found helpful from this site had to do with:

• steps getting started,
• critical questions to ask yourself when working with different sources and
• stages of a literature review.

One thing that stands out for me is that none of the guiding questions that I have posted thusfar actually have any real theoretical basis.  At least, there is no core piece of literature from which my ideas for investigation actually originate.  So, I’m not 100% sure that I am going to find any research that will either support or negate my initial interests.

One place where I might have some interest investigating is the very public (and very uncritically accepted) ideas from Marc Prensky.  This is a place where I have read through some of the original literature and have a position on the matter.  Actually, I recently suggested this as a path for a friend of mine who was looking for ideas on a dissertation.  As I was working through the idea, it sounded like something that might be appealing for me– perhaps engaging in a critical instance case study investingating a very specific aspect of his claims.

One thing that freaks me out is that the example literature review  that they have is nineteen pages long.  Nineteen pages!  I don’t know that I can put together something that comprehensive in the next couple of weeks and then put together a case study that fits what I have found.  I will have to finish up my readings more quickly (perhaps by end of day tomorrow) and then start my research on Friday.

I am hearing the song “Secretly Minnesotan” by Tullycraft.

For this journal entry, I am reviewing the “Writing Guides: Case Studies” site from Colorado State University.  The site, in general, was helpful in refining some of the vocabulary that I have to describe the effectiveness of a case study.

According to this site, case studies are created to answer qualitative “how” or “why” questions.  The term “case study” is used interchangeably with ethnography, field study and participant observation.  Case studies are based on observation in real-life environments rather than in a controlled lab environment. (Overview).

There are 4 different types of case studies:

1. Illustrative: Have the goal of giving readers examples of a particular phenomenon and provide a common vocabulary for discussing the phenomenon.
2. Exploratory: Quick, small case studies executed to refine guiding questions for a larger-scale case study.  Findings should not be generalized.
3. Cumulative:  Collects and analyzes information from several related case studies to eliminate time needed to engage in several new studies.
4. Critical Instance: Examines a unique scenario with one of two goals:  to establish the how and why in a particular scenario or to provide a counterexample to a commonly-held belief.
   (Types of Case Studies)

Naturally, case studies are guided by questions from the researcher.  Questions usually tie to a theoretical approach.  Three acceptable theoretical approaches are the following:

1. Individual Theories:  focuses on individual development of subject.
2. Organizational Theories: focuses on the impact of formalized, organized social structures on overall organizational performance.
3. Social Theories:  focuses on the cultural impact on a group.
   (Identifying a Theoretical Perspective)

Once the guiding questions have actually been defined, it is time to design the study.  Before the case study is actually started, it is important to identify:

1. relevant data,
2. which data to actually collect,
3. and how the data will be analyzed.

In addition, items such as how the data will be linked to the initial assumptions (propositions) of the study and criteria for evaluation should be considered. (Designing a Case Study)

This site recommends a multi-modal (gathering data from a variety of sources) approach to collecting data for the study.  Different methods mentioned include:

• interviews
• protocol analyses
• field studies
• participant-observations
• conversations iwth students
• discrete observations of actual composition
• writing samples
• school records
• classroom observations
• faculty and student interviews
• self reports from subjects

(Method: Single or Multi-modal?)

Interestingly, the site recommends that the pool of participants remain relatively small.  And, it suggests that a “cross section” of representatives across a student body is not necessary.  Part of the case study should be dedicated to describing the “case histories” of the study participants.  One question that I would ask myself here is how much “case history” should I present?  I would assume that only the “relevant” parts… but, then that raises the question:  what method do I use to determine which parts of the history are relevant?  (Participant Selection)

According to the site, there are 6 different types of data that can be gathered for a case study.  These include:

1. documents,
2. archival records,
3. interviews,
4. direct observation,
5. participant observation, and
6. artifacts.

The article again reinforces that a variety of types of data be collected to have the study operate in a “corroborating mode”.  Throughout the course of the study, the researcher should continue to question and analyze the data.  This could lead to the identification of new patterns and questions that could be pursued in a later study. (Data Collection)

This is a difference from the article that I read from George Mason University on teacher research (see: The Question Cycle). In the outline presented here, the questions or patterns that come out of observation turn into new questions that might drive another study, but it does not impact the current study.  From my perspective, this seems to be a sounder methodological approach.

Once you have collected data, you need methods of analyzing it.  Roughly speaking, there are two general categories of analysis:

• Holistic: When you reflect on the entire scenario and draw conclusions.
• Coding:  When you look at instances of different pieces of evidence that serve as indicators of whether or not the guiding question is right or wrong.  Selecting aspects of the data to serve as coding indicators needs to be carefully done so as to ensure that it actually fits the guiding question.  It may be the case that new variables emerge and are identified in the coding process that may not have been planned for in the beginning.  It is up to the coders as to whether or not to use those variables.
  (Data Analysis)

After data collection and analysis are completed, then it is time to write up the case study.  The site points out that the case studies are basically a story that steps through the research process.  What is the most challenging aspect of this, they note, is knowing which aspects of the research process need to be included in the case study writeup.  They specifically mention including:

“a detailed explanation of the researchers theoretical positions, of how those theories drove the inquiry or led to the guiding research questions, of the participants backgrounds, of the processes of data collection, of the training and limitations of the coders, along with a strong attempt to make a connection between the data and the conclusions…”

As a closing, the case study should identify new questions or variables that emerged from the study.  Implications for the study should be drawn.  Suggestions for possible other studies should be made. (Composing the Case Study Report)

One of the most interesting points of the site (to me) was the discussion of reliability and validity.  The site readily admits that it is problematic to try to categorize a case study as valid and reliable.  They spend time looking at different types of research reliability (equivalance relability, stability reliability, internal consistency, interrater reliability) and validity (face validity, criterion related validity, construct validity, content validity).  Further, they also question the idea that case studies are generalizable. (Concerns about Generalizability)  That was refreshing for me.  They did, however, list methods of making studies more “confirmable”.  These include:
- prolong process of data gathering,
- employ process of triangulation (there’s that concept again),
- talk to your subjects about findings,
- colect referential material and
- get feedback from peers along the way.

(Steps to Improve Validity and Reliability)

This site was particularly helpful in shaping my overall understanding of the elements of a case study.  This site does leave some holes (triangulation, methods for selecting the “relevant” case history facts).

I am hearing the song “Keep on Singing” by Helen Reddy.  It makes me think of listening to the Helen Reddy’s Greatest Hits album on our gargantuan record player when I was little.  Yeah, it was a behemoth machine.  What can I say… it was the 70’s.

I read through the next reading for my course:  an article is called “Research Methods: Qualitative and Ethnographic” from StateUniversity.com.  I didn’t find this article to be particularly helpful for my current task at-hand.  At this point and time I am looking for something with concrete recommendations on how to structure a methodologically-sound teacher research project (this article was too high-level to provide this guidance).

The article attempts to outline featurs of “qualitative and ethnographic” research methods.  Here are the features that stood out when I read:

• Draws on methods from sociology, anthropology, and other humanities and social and behavioral sciences,
• Adapts methodologies to address educational goals and concerns,
• Is pitted against quantitative and experimental methodologies,
• Attempts to include the voices of research participants in the research,
• Gathers information in a way that is specific to the goal attempting to be achieved,
• Interacts with data,
• Defines and redefines guiding questions,
• Recognizes that research is coming from a “situated perspective”, i.e., that research is coming from a localized scenario that may not be generalizable,
• Asks for permission to use artifacts generated by participants in the research,
• Utilizes observation and interviews as the most common methods of gathering information,
• Focuses not so much on the artifacts themselves, but the importance of the artifiacts in the context of the research,
• Reviews and analyzes field notes,
• And reports findings.

One of the things that I thought was good about the article is that it addressed (although briefly) the need to ask for permission to use study participants’ artifacts, interview answers, etc.  What surprised me is the scope therewith.  The article indicates that you need to acquire permission from parents, students and district personnel.  I had thought about the parents, but I had not thought through district personnel.  I will have to get on that and ask the director.

One of the things that I did not find helpful about the article is the way that it ended.  I think that the author is attempting to make an important distinction, but it is not written in a way that is clear to me what is meant.  Specifically:

“The researcher does not seek to generalize from the specific case. Rather, qualitative or ethnographic researchers provide in-depth descriptions that lead to general patterns. These patterns are then examined in other situations to see if, when, and how they occur and what consequences they have for what members in the new setting can know, do, understand, and/or produce. In qualitative and ethnographic studies this is often referred to as transferability, in contrast to generalizability.”

It seems to me that the author is trying to make a distinction here between generalizability and transferability.  This caught my attention because I agree that generalizability should not be a goal of teacher research (in the way that teacher-research has been presented thusfar in this course).  But, what is transferability if it is not generalizability?  I suspect that the author is attempting to make an important point here, but I’m not currently in a position to grasp it.

Yes, I am hearing the song “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns and Roses.  I have the TV on in the background, and apparently this song is in a movie called “The Wrestler” which was just reviewed by Larry King on Larry King Live.

Allrighty, down to brass tacks.  I have just reduced the amount of time that I spent researching a topic by using two (free) web tools.  The first one is:

• Diigo – This allowed me to read through several web pages and highlight (online) the things that I thought were useful.  This saved:

  - Time: I didn’t have to write everything out or copy it by hand, and later when I wanted to refer to my notes I was able to look them up through my tags!

  - Trees:  I didn’t have to print out to save my highlights…

  - Space:  I can always go back to my highlights, and I don’t have to save them anywhere on my hard drive or in hard copy!!!

• Zotero – In the end I needed to create a bibliography.  In general, I regularly have to create bibliographies with two completely different systems:  MLA and APA.  Zotero will automatically bookmark and generate these bibliographies for you.  And, with the simple selection of a dropdown box it will generate the correct bibliography format for you.  This is helpful in three ways:

  - Saves Time: Zotero can generate a bibliography faster than I can.

  - Encourages Better Tracking of Sources:  You can easily keep track of web resources with Zotero.  At the minimum it requires the press of a button.  And, as you are researching, you can manually add other resources as well.  If you are in practice of bookmarking all of your web resources, you are more likely to also be more cognizant of capturing other types of resource information (especially since it is so easy to generate a bibliography with all of it in the end).

  - Better Bibliographies:  You don’t have to think with Zotero.  For the different types of sources, it prompts you for the correct information for the bibliography.  And, when bibliographies are generated, it does it in the correct format.  No more corrections due to bad formatting, missed commas, missed information, etc.  Zotero does it for you.

I think that these two tools are essential for efficient research and resource-tracking.  I strongly recommend them for teachers and students.  They are easy to use and they make life easier!!

I am hearing the song “Egoist” by Falco.  I have absolutely no idea why this little tune is stuck in my brain.

I have spent time this morning reading through the Teacher Research site from George Mason University.  The site contact is managed two individuals:

• Dr. Diane Painter and
• Dr. Leo Rigsby

although the site seems to rely heavily on the writings of the following teacher research advocates:

• Marion MacLean,
• Marian Mohr,
• Brenda Power and
• Ruth Hubbard.

The site promotes a structured view of teacher research.  Teacher research includes having three key elements:

• questions for investigation,
• a place to record thoughts on the questions,
• and colleagues with whom you share thoughts.  (The Process of Teacher Research)

While this seems deceptively simple, the site goes on to outline a six step process.  These are the items that I have pulled out as key to their recommended process:

1. I need to come up with a reliable way of logging my observations, and I need to find colleagues with whom I will be able to share findings and reflections.  This is problematic for me on two fronts.- Organization:  I am organizationally challenged.  There, I have said it out loud.  I have tried keeping notebooks with notes on classes like this before– just for my own edification.  And, although well-intentioned, I end of leaving the notebooks in inopportune places, at home, etc.  This is exacerbated by the fact that I rarely teach in the same classroom.  The site does recommend some ideas from a book by Brenda Power, Taking Note: Improving your observational note taking, such as using sticky notes to quickly jot down ideas and then putting them in a centralized notebook for reflection later (Collecting Data).  Perhaps I need to invest in the book to get better ideas on how to organize the recording of my observations.- Finding Suitable Colleagues:  The next challenge that I will have will be with finding colleagues.  I am the only teacher in my school for the majority of the subjects that I teach.  This means that I will have to find colleagues outside of my school to help reflect on the subject-specific issues that I am attempting to address with my teacher research.  I will have the additional challenge of finding appropriate colleagues from a time and attitudinal perspective.  Most people who teach my subject are like me: they have other administrative responsibilities in the school which take up significant time and energy (IT).  Additionally, I have (on more than one occaission) run into colleagues who insist on teaching computer science (specifically programming) in only one way; i.e., the student either “gets” programming or he/she does not.  And, it is the student’s fault if he/she does not “try hard enough”.  I think that I can try to solicit colleague support through ECIS IT network and through ISTE.  Hopefully there will be someone open and willing in these arenas.
2. The next step is generating questions.  The questions that are currently plaguing me are the following:- How can I get strongly visual & global learners to perform logically-complex programming in java?- Can working with a more visually-oriented programming language (such as Scratch) assist with this?- Can translating algorithms from Scratch to Java be beneficial for these types of learners (with the goal of being able to program more complex items things in Java)?

   - What are the advantages and disadvantages of this visual-translation approach?

   - What other tools can I use to help students who don’t just “get it”?  For example, a colleague who helps students who are struggling with writing suggested that I put programs together where there are missing pieces.  So, students who can just “get it” can write the program from scratch while students who are struggling can have a bit more scaffolding.  What sort of effect does this have?  Does it help students in learning the logic?  Can they generalize this learning to new situations?

   - Another idea is to simply give students who cannot grasp the logic of the program is to have them “trace” a finished algorithm.  This would give them the opportunity to “see” the logic working, help the teacher understand where there are problems in understanding the logic, and possibly help identify further areas for investigation.  Does tracing help?

   One interesting thing to note about the teacher research question is that it can form and mutate as the school year goes on.  They provided an example from L. Shafer in the “The question cycle lies at the heart of research” section.  What was interesting for me in this example was the lack of specificity in the questions that were generated by Shafer.  My gut-feel is that a guiding questions need to be focused and manageable, otherwise the focus is too dilute and the “research” that results is not helpful for anyone else because there are too many variables to manage (and probably that have been left unspecified).

3. The next step, once the questions have been generated, is data collection.  This site seems to emphasize the importance of qualitative data.  Teacher peforming research should keep journals to log their observations.  They also mention, but do not emphasize, using quiz and homework scores, keeping checklists to track student response, portfolios as sources of data for collection (Data Collection).  They dedicate an entire section to an anthropological process of “triangulation” which is supposed to help use qualitative data reinforce (or negate) findings from quantitative and qualitative studies.  Although the site does not address the actual process.  It rather indicates that it exists and points to other places to learn more about it (Triangulation).It is interesting to me that there is so much emphasis on qualitative evidence here.  This is riddled with a whole series of research-problems-waiting-to-happen.  Two major ones (and, I know I’m not the first to point this out):- Observer effect:  Do the students behaviors change if they know that they are being observed?  My assumption is that you must let students know if they are subjects of research.  If this is the case, does the sheer knowledge that they are being observed for something special change the way that they behave?  Does it change (in unnoticed ways) the way that the observer behaves and thus the childrens’ reactions to the observer?- Confirmation bias:  Does the teacher researcher see what he/she wants to see when making observations?  This is human nature.  How should a teacher address this in his/her research?
4. One of the nice highlights of this site is the second on analyzing data. At this stage, you should confer with colleagues and assess the data that you have.  What is nice about this section of the site is that it provides several different ways to assess the data.  This is a page to bookmark for use at the end of the research process.The site recommends a piece of software from NVivo.  Checking into it, I see that there is a trial version available.  I will download the trial version to see how it assists in organizing data.  One of the inhibiting factors about the software is the price: 465€ for the full version (educational), 180€ for a 12-month student version.  The pricing here is pretty steep if research is not your core competency (I will not argue in this journal entry whether or not teacher research should be a teacher’s core competency.  I will do this when my administrators make this level of formalized teacher research a part of my job description and give me the time to do it in my time schedule.)
5. The next step is to create a working draft of your findings.  This includes reflecting on what has already been done, drawing conclusions on whether or not things worked, and identifying the implications of your conclusions. Reflection includes thinking carefully about the “validity” of your findings.Teacher research “validity” is oftened called into question.  The site mentions some of those issues, and gives recommendations for solving some of them (Drawing conclusions and implications).  But they do not explicitly address all of the issues where I have concerns.  In addition to the issues listed above (observation effect and confirmation bias), there are questions of sample size, variable controls, and ethics and human subjects.- Sample Size:  If only one teacher is engaging in researching a particular investigation question, then the sample size for the investigation will be too small to make a generalized recommendation.- Control Variables:  Further, it is difficult, if not impossible, to control variables in the classroom.  Focus questions and observations need to be carefully constructed to reduce the number of impacting uncontrolled variables.  And, further, the teacher researcher needs to identify the impacting variables in this research scenario.  And, a teacher researcher may have trouble identifying all of the key variables in a given scenario.

   - Ethics and Human Subjects:  While it is great to talk about sample sizes and control variables, one has to also keep in mind that teacher research is being performed where there are humans as subjects.  And, these humans are children.  Teacher research should be limited by this factor.  A teacher needs to be careful when egaging in “research” to protect students from inadvertent harm, isolation and alienation.

   I don’t think that the question of research “validity” here is even necessary.  Teacher research, as it is represented here, is simply a teacher’s testimonial either supporting or denouncing  methods of teaching and learning.  Theoretically, the testimonial is backed up with a teacher’s anecdotal experience in a classroom.  Hopefully, the teacher researcher has given careful thought to the testimonial and has gotten feedback from other peers in that specific area before promoting that testimonial.  From this perspective, a teacher research cannot provide generalized, educational maxims by which all teachers can act.  At the best, it can provide ideas about strategies for helping students learn.  Teacher research is simply a summary of what another teacher thinks worked for them.  It is up to the teacher receiving that testimonial to decide whether or not that experience is relevant in his/her case or not.

6. The last step to teacher research is to share the results of the research.  Naturally, this can be done by publishing in journals, in books, on websites.  You could also make a presentation at a conference.  What was interesting for me in this section was the example papers.I focused specifically on the “SWAT Savvy” writeup because it had to do with technology.  What surprised me about the writeup is the narrative nature of the writeup.  What would have been more useful for me would have been to have a “methodology” along with a “summary of findings” closer to the beginning of the writeup, but it was interesting to read through the teacher’s progress throughout the course of the school year.  This example reinforced the idea for me that “validity” is not a way to measure teacher research.

This site was helpful in outlining the steps of teacher research.  I would like to see more information about methodology and ethics.  Also, the idea of triangulation is quite interesting, so I will most likely find more information about this method of data analysis.  Probably the most important part for me in this site was identifying that I need to come up with a data collection strategy (given my organizational challenges) and finding colleagues with whom I work.

Painter, D., & Rigsby, L. (2009, February 15). Teacher Research. George Mason University Graduate School of Education. Accessed February 15, 2009, from http://gse.gmu.edu/research/tr/.

I’m hearing the song, Paper Planes, by MIA.  They use a nice sample from another song that I can hear but can’t quite place in this song.

OK… I know that it has been a while since I have posted.  But, to my defense there was a bout of time when I could not log in.  They were performing some sort of maintenance that kept forcing me to change my password and never actually get to the edit screen.  This is the first time that I have tried since August, I think.  But, here it goes.

I have been toiling about looking for 2.0 tools for teaching, and here is what I have recently come up with:

• Quizlet – this is a cool site for drill and practice learning.  You can make digital flashcards that quiz you, test you, and even make little mini games for you.  This is not for higher-level learning, but it is good for rote memorization.
• I have developed a few course pages using Google Sites.  They provide free webspace to create basic websites (all with a very easy interface for development).  You can see an example of a more complex site here:  DIS ToK.
• There are two different application development (free) environments out there (excellent for creating simple games and getting students to use higher order thinking skills):  Scratch and another hosted by Microsoft that I can’t seem to find right now…
• I have found an interesting tool for coding learning called Hackety Hack, but I haven’t tried it out yet…
• If you want to create very cool characters for handouts in your classroom, check out SP Studio by Janina Koeppel.  I would recommend it for teachers to use to create images for the classroom, but not to recommend to students (due to a section of the app where you can have your character choose weapons – ugh).

I am hearing the song “Loose Lips” by Kimya Dawson.

Ok… I’m taking it back about Ning.  I got my issue of “Learning and Leading with Technology” yesterday in the mail.  To my surprise, there was a little advertisement for “Network on NECC Ning” on page 7.  Apparently there is a social network specifically set up to allow networking for people who attended the NECC called “NECC 2008, The Community Network“.

I wasn’t able to go this year, but I do value the opportunity to network with those folks that were there.  I checked out the groups.  I looked at some of the posts.  The topics were relevant to my instructional technology planning life.  So, I signed myself up.

The signup process was really quick.  Once you are in, it is easy to post discussions, blog, add images and video.  I haven’t tried creating groups yet.  But, I started thinking… Why was I so ready to sign up for this and not the Ning in Education site?  I suspect it is because the NECC 2008 network is more focused.  Yes, it is a network of educators, but it is a network of educators with a particular focus.  Perhaps this is telling of “satellite” social networks:

I have my own social, social network.  This is the main one where I communicate with my friends and family.  Other non-social, social networks need to be more focused on things that are directly related to what I need (although not too focused).  My hypothesis is that there is a certain level of specific-ness and general-ness needs to be present to be desirable and viable.  The ultimate question is, what is that ultimate level?

Another thought that I have is:  can I make a Ning site for my school?  How complicated would that be?  I don’t have to host it… How does it compare to Moodle?  Can we develop apps for it?  Ok, I will admit it.  I’m a little more interested in it now that I have seen the NECC 2008 site.

I am hearing the song “Hear Comes Your Man” by the Pixies.

This is my last official entry (although not my last blog entry by far).

I have enjoyed the class. I have learned alot. I wish that there were a second part of the class where I am forced to explore even more 2.0 tools. But, sadly it must come to an end.

I have made many exciting discoveries during the course. Diigo, blogging, wikis, the Academy of Discovery, articles about the advantages and disadvantages of integrating the use of Facebook into the curriculum…

My biggest suggestions (and, maybe this is the next generation of 2.0 development) is developing a sane way of managing all of these different tools in such a way that they are easily accessible, locatable and safe for our students. There are too many tools to keep track of, and I don’t have a virtual tool belt to help me organize them.

How can we make use of OpenId? If we join as educators, will that create the critical mass needed to make it a viable way of having a single sign-on for all of these tools?

Web 2.0 is fast, easy– it could be misconstrued as reflection-less. How can we build in a step of reflection before our students push that publish button? How do we promote the review of sources? How do we encourage well developed paragraphs and grammatically-sound sentences? What is the appropriate means of citing articles in a web forum? Is a link enough? Or, do we go with a standard MLA or APA way of citing works? What makes sense in this environment?

As always, I’m interested in looking at “real” studies that examine the effectiveness of using these technologies in this classroom. I have no interest in jumping on the Prensky bandwagon (nor are my administrators) without more concrete evidence first.