I had passing knowledge of Action Research, but after this week's discussion this concept has become clearer in my mind. If my understanding is correct, then this is perhaps the type of research that is best suited for me. Many times I find myself wanting to find out more about a subject which I don’t necessarily know much about, but I still want to try things out and get my hands dirty and see what happens.
I now understand that action research allows for that sort of, exploratory if you will, approach to research. Additionally, I like that action research encompasses many qualitative aspects. I personally am interested in studying qualities as opposed to quantities. I do however recognize the importance of knowing how to gather and interpret quantities, but I enjoy much more the subjective intricacies inherent to the interpretation of qualities. As I get ready to register for courses for next quarter I am shopping to see if there is an action research course offered anytime soon.
Another new concept I learned this week is Contextualized Innovation.
This type of innovation requires consideration of context, situation, culture, practical usability, etc.
Also, when one has an idea one should allow some break-in period to find out how it will settle in. Social science studies need this break in period, so it is important not to stop the project before allowing it to take its natural course first. If one lets the project follow its natural course, then one can carry out action research throughout the project’s re-iterative and cyclical stages, as well as come up with ideas for contextualized innovation.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Making the world a better place
Well, it was wonderful to see the variety of technologies that are out there, especially the free ones, for delivering instructional content via the web, and otherwise. What was of most interest to me was to see the variety of interests we all have. Throughout the quarter I have had opportunities to discuss my interests with a few of our peers, and to listen to their interests as well. But there were still a few with whom I had not yet been able to converse. Through my participation in this project, both as a presenter and as an observer, I felt that we are coming closer as a cohort. I think we are at the point where we are becoming a cohesive unit. The range of topics presented, and the variety of technologies used to deliver those presentations are evidence of our cohort's ability to identify important issues and real needs. The presentations were also evidence of our creative thinking and adaptability in order to execute the project on time and in a manner that facilitated our collective learning. Thanks to this process our zone of proximal development has been expanded! Yes, I just learned this concept in this class, but I expect that my ZPD will continue to expand.
Another thing that I found very interesting is that although we have such diverse interests and levels of technical expertise, we do have one major theme in common; we all seem to be interested in making the world a better place. Whether we explicitly said so or not; social justice was at the core of the topics presented. Hopefully we will have many opportunities in the future to collaborate on projects for the benefit of humanity.
Another thing that I found very interesting is that although we have such diverse interests and levels of technical expertise, we do have one major theme in common; we all seem to be interested in making the world a better place. Whether we explicitly said so or not; social justice was at the core of the topics presented. Hopefully we will have many opportunities in the future to collaborate on projects for the benefit of humanity.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Authentic Assessment, Bloom's Taxonomy, & Zone of Proximal Development
Authentic Assessment is assessment that is anchored to real problems, and it is situational. Rather that presenting hypothetical situations or scenarios to the students, authentic assessment requires that students be evaluated through real world problems and situations.
Bloom’s taxonomy:
• Cognitive domain
o Student will know how to do x
• Affective domain
o Student will have confidence, positive attitude towards math
• Psychomotor
o Subject will land the airplane 100% of the time
• Social domain (this one Bloom did not think about)
o Interaction, if two people own two different pieces of knowledge and they can teach each other what they know. Because one of the learners was there and demonstrated their performance, the other learner was able to augment their own knowledge. This is also known as ZPD.
Zone of Proximal Development represents the zone of development between where one is and where one could be. In other words it is the space between our current state and where our maximum potential is. More applicable in social contexts: wisdom of crowds, for example when we interact with others through an avatar in a virtual setting. The source of new knowledge could be a peer or a teacher.
Bloom’s taxonomy:
• Cognitive domain
o Student will know how to do x
• Affective domain
o Student will have confidence, positive attitude towards math
• Psychomotor
o Subject will land the airplane 100% of the time
• Social domain (this one Bloom did not think about)
o Interaction, if two people own two different pieces of knowledge and they can teach each other what they know. Because one of the learners was there and demonstrated their performance, the other learner was able to augment their own knowledge. This is also known as ZPD.
Zone of Proximal Development represents the zone of development between where one is and where one could be. In other words it is the space between our current state and where our maximum potential is. More applicable in social contexts: wisdom of crowds, for example when we interact with others through an avatar in a virtual setting. The source of new knowledge could be a peer or a teacher.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Audience – Behavior – Conditions – Degree
This week we learned the ABCD’s of designing instructional technologies and applications. Here they are in a nutshell.
A determining factor of what the final manifestation of our design will be like lies in having a good understanding our intended audience. For example, it would be unwise to design a model that is heavily dependent on graphics to achieve its purpose if our target audience is the American Association of Blind Persons (fictitious name for illustration purposes only). Obviously, they would not be able to see our beautiful graphics, and possible miss the entire point. In this case, the audience’s learning needs would perhaps be better addressed by creating a model that employs auditive and tactile affordances to engage the learner.
Just like it is important to understand what physical attributes or limitations our target audience might have. It is also necessary to have a good understanding of other qualities they bring to the table. For example, we need to know what previous knowledge they have because if we don’t know this from the start we might end up designing inadequate models that might be too easy for the learners. On the other hand we might increase the level of complexity to the point where learning will be much more difficult than it needs to be.
It is important to have a well-defined set of objectives that we intend to achieve. Defining our objectives, using action verbs (higher order from Bloom’s) we can then make assumptions as to what kinds of behavior patterns we can expect to occur.
It is also important to have a clear idea of the conditions or circumstances under which our model will be utilized or implemented. Understanding the conditions surrounding our audience will help us choose the right tools for the job. Our audience might be in a location where there is no electricity available and where generators might be too difficult to procure. In this case a low-tech solution might be the best strategy. In some cases a pencil and paper might be sufficient. After all they are technology. Understanding the conditions helps us choose the right tools to do the job effectively.
Lastly, it is important to quantify the degree of change that we intend to bring about. This is important to know because we need to measure that we have achieved our objective. This concept ties into assessment. How do we know when and if we have achieved what we said we were going to do? What does it look like when there has been significant change in the behaviors we sought to influence? This is particularly important if our project is being funded by a source other than ourselves. At some point the funding party will want to know that progress has been made and that they have invested their money wisely. Failure to quantify the degree of change/achievement might result in a withdrawal of the funding.
A determining factor of what the final manifestation of our design will be like lies in having a good understanding our intended audience. For example, it would be unwise to design a model that is heavily dependent on graphics to achieve its purpose if our target audience is the American Association of Blind Persons (fictitious name for illustration purposes only). Obviously, they would not be able to see our beautiful graphics, and possible miss the entire point. In this case, the audience’s learning needs would perhaps be better addressed by creating a model that employs auditive and tactile affordances to engage the learner.
Just like it is important to understand what physical attributes or limitations our target audience might have. It is also necessary to have a good understanding of other qualities they bring to the table. For example, we need to know what previous knowledge they have because if we don’t know this from the start we might end up designing inadequate models that might be too easy for the learners. On the other hand we might increase the level of complexity to the point where learning will be much more difficult than it needs to be.
It is important to have a well-defined set of objectives that we intend to achieve. Defining our objectives, using action verbs (higher order from Bloom’s) we can then make assumptions as to what kinds of behavior patterns we can expect to occur.
It is also important to have a clear idea of the conditions or circumstances under which our model will be utilized or implemented. Understanding the conditions surrounding our audience will help us choose the right tools for the job. Our audience might be in a location where there is no electricity available and where generators might be too difficult to procure. In this case a low-tech solution might be the best strategy. In some cases a pencil and paper might be sufficient. After all they are technology. Understanding the conditions helps us choose the right tools to do the job effectively.
Lastly, it is important to quantify the degree of change that we intend to bring about. This is important to know because we need to measure that we have achieved our objective. This concept ties into assessment. How do we know when and if we have achieved what we said we were going to do? What does it look like when there has been significant change in the behaviors we sought to influence? This is particularly important if our project is being funded by a source other than ourselves. At some point the funding party will want to know that progress has been made and that they have invested their money wisely. Failure to quantify the degree of change/achievement might result in a withdrawal of the funding.
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