I'm not entirely sure what the purpose of this assignment is but I'm concerned that its intended purpose is a type of portfolio that could, at least in theory, be used when recruiting or interviewing for a job. Although I used to believe that taking a digital portfolio to a job interview was a great idea, I've learned from experience that administrators don't have time to look at them. I've been recruiting four times in seven years and taken a digital portfolio to three of those fairs and I only know of one school that took the time to pop a CD into their laptops so they could have a look; the fairs are really about meeting face to face because our resumes have been screened long before.
I don't want to sound negative; if the purpose of the PDA is something else, then I just need to understand what the purpose but is; however, if it's for recruiting purposes...
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
data sample
Let's see, I'm supposed to share what I was trying to do and then share some data to see if I'm analyzing it correctly; here goes.
The focus of my t.i.p. was to see if the concept of authentic learning actually carries any merit: specifically, if publishing work for an audience offers a greater learning experience than simply handing in an assignment to the teacher who is usually the only person who ever reads the work. All of this is based on the concept that authentic experiences are intrinsically motivating because students can make the connection between the work they are doing and the real world, unlike traditional school assignments. If this is true, the assumption is that the final product will be better when the students want to do the work rather than doing the work because the teacher told them to. However, before looking at how intrinsic motivation effects the quality of work, I decided I had better confirm that authentic learning, in this case, publishing for an audience, would actually increase intrinsic motivation.
Within my qualitative data, I found that prior to beginning their wiki assignments, which the students were told was not being graded (and therefore did not have an extrinsic motivator), 60% of students said they enjoyed writing assignments. Because I asked them if they enjoyed writing assignments rather than just writing, I've assumed that there original answers are based on the effects of extrinsic motivations (grades, teacher & parent approval, etc). After working on their wiki projects however, this number rose to 68%. I therefore concluded that using wikis, which provided the students with an authentic learning experience was more enjoyable and therefore more motivating than traditional writing assignments and activities. In addition, many of the studies on motivation I read about concluded that the absence of extrinsic motivational factors would increase the likelihood of intrinsic motivation. Therefore, I believe that the 8% increase is a result of two things; writing for audience and writing because they where encouraged to instead of being told they must.
The focus of my t.i.p. was to see if the concept of authentic learning actually carries any merit: specifically, if publishing work for an audience offers a greater learning experience than simply handing in an assignment to the teacher who is usually the only person who ever reads the work. All of this is based on the concept that authentic experiences are intrinsically motivating because students can make the connection between the work they are doing and the real world, unlike traditional school assignments. If this is true, the assumption is that the final product will be better when the students want to do the work rather than doing the work because the teacher told them to. However, before looking at how intrinsic motivation effects the quality of work, I decided I had better confirm that authentic learning, in this case, publishing for an audience, would actually increase intrinsic motivation.
Within my qualitative data, I found that prior to beginning their wiki assignments, which the students were told was not being graded (and therefore did not have an extrinsic motivator), 60% of students said they enjoyed writing assignments. Because I asked them if they enjoyed writing assignments rather than just writing, I've assumed that there original answers are based on the effects of extrinsic motivations (grades, teacher & parent approval, etc). After working on their wiki projects however, this number rose to 68%. I therefore concluded that using wikis, which provided the students with an authentic learning experience was more enjoyable and therefore more motivating than traditional writing assignments and activities. In addition, many of the studies on motivation I read about concluded that the absence of extrinsic motivational factors would increase the likelihood of intrinsic motivation. Therefore, I believe that the 8% increase is a result of two things; writing for audience and writing because they where encouraged to instead of being told they must.
thinking out loud...missed opportunities
Now that I've collected all the data I can before I begin putting together my presentation and writing my paper, I've had several off the record chats with colleagues who are interested in my t.i.p. I've found these lunch time discussions really helpful because as I'm explaining what I did and what I was hoping or expecting to find, I start thinking about all the things that I could have done different or will do differently for the presentations.
For example, so far it looks like wikis aren't a great motivator since over 57% don't want to use wikis in the future.
I'm also trying to figure out the best way to share some of my data. My qualitative questions offered a range of possible answers for each question from "strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree." I'm not sure what I was hoping to learn from this range of possible answers but when displayed in a graph, it becomes a confusing mess of pre and post "agreeable-type" answers. So instead, in my infinite wisdom, I've decided to condense my data into pre and post "agree" - full stop. Since I'm working in percents it seems to me this is the easiest way for the audience to make sense of my data and for the life of me, I can't think of any drawbacks. If you can think of any, I'm all ears. I've already typed it all up into excel from survey monkey so if there is a valid argument for presenting it all, it's no skin off my nose.
I also should have done more research into motivation before planning and implementing my project. Thankfully, after reading several articles and research from the last 30 years, it seems I was on the right track (according to the research) but I don't think my data supports this theory.
Something, somewhere went terribly wrong.
Anyway, live and learn. I don't think I learned a lot about how to best use wikis in a classroom, if at all but I have learned some of what works and what does not when doing research. I suppose that's the point. I hope.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
data insite
As I sift through the data I'm beginning to see where I went wrong or perhaps a better way of putting it is "I know how I could do this better next time."
In short, in an ideal world I would have used the very tool I was asking my students to use if for no other reason, to avoid the pitfalls that have impacted the project in a less than ideal way.
For example, the least successful part of this project has been getting other teachers/schools/students on board. This isn't to say that those who are involved haven't tried their damnedest but I see now that it would have worked better if I could have planned this project with other interested teachers instead of asking other teachers to "help me out" with my t.i.p. This way, we would have shared the same vision and avoided tech issues like "The Great Firewall of China."
In retrospect, I should have known this because David Larson was asking me the right questions last summer but because they were hard to answer I chose to avoid them rather than face them head on. I should have listed to you David!
Anyway, I know I need to expand on this in my paper but thought I'd better get this down now so I don't forget about it.
In short, in an ideal world I would have used the very tool I was asking my students to use if for no other reason, to avoid the pitfalls that have impacted the project in a less than ideal way.
For example, the least successful part of this project has been getting other teachers/schools/students on board. This isn't to say that those who are involved haven't tried their damnedest but I see now that it would have worked better if I could have planned this project with other interested teachers instead of asking other teachers to "help me out" with my t.i.p. This way, we would have shared the same vision and avoided tech issues like "The Great Firewall of China."
In retrospect, I should have known this because David Larson was asking me the right questions last summer but because they were hard to answer I chose to avoid them rather than face them head on. I should have listed to you David!
Anyway, I know I need to expand on this in my paper but thought I'd better get this down now so I don't forget about it.
the end is in site...
Okay, since I wrote last I've not done a lot but the data collection has begun. In fact, I'm hoping to have it completed before the end of next week. I've also gone over my post surveys and tweaked them a little so they focus on what I'm looking for (I think).
New challenges: well, trying to get the data collection finished isn't going to be easy since firewalls, slow Internet and spring break are all or have been getting in the way but as they say, the show must go on.
Reflections: although I created an audience for my writers so that they would be motivated I don't think the audience has done their bit. By bit, I mean read the stories being published. There has also been a miscommunication regarding what was expected by the students from other schools but I think my students have been able to work through it.
And finally, the next step. I'm sifting through over 600 track changes today and categorizing them into 7 different categories. Once I've done that, I can start comparing it to my online survey data and if I can find the time I might even do some one-on-one interviews with a small number of students.
New challenges: well, trying to get the data collection finished isn't going to be easy since firewalls, slow Internet and spring break are all or have been getting in the way but as they say, the show must go on.
Reflections: although I created an audience for my writers so that they would be motivated I don't think the audience has done their bit. By bit, I mean read the stories being published. There has also been a miscommunication regarding what was expected by the students from other schools but I think my students have been able to work through it.
And finally, the next step. I'm sifting through over 600 track changes today and categorizing them into 7 different categories. Once I've done that, I can start comparing it to my online survey data and if I can find the time I might even do some one-on-one interviews with a small number of students.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
my head is spinning
After 8 days with 23 students in Vietnam I'm home, rested and finally recovered (from whatever illness I had). I now see that David Wong is suggesting we finalize our data collection and begin analyzing it. Wish I was there already but I have a few more pieces to collect.
What have I learned so far; don't rely on others when you're trying to collect data. So far this has caused serious delays and the "product" hasn't been exactly what I was looking for. Having said that, I still think I can salvage what my students have produced and later this week I'll have them take the post wiki survey. I'm wondering if the data is going to support my assumptions or if there will be any surprises. I really just want honest answers from the students but I know that's hard to get. I'm also a little concerned because the project isn't really going to finish for another couple of weeks but I need data now so I don't know how that will effect the post surveys.
Oh well...upwards and onwards!
What have I learned so far; don't rely on others when you're trying to collect data. So far this has caused serious delays and the "product" hasn't been exactly what I was looking for. Having said that, I still think I can salvage what my students have produced and later this week I'll have them take the post wiki survey. I'm wondering if the data is going to support my assumptions or if there will be any surprises. I really just want honest answers from the students but I know that's hard to get. I'm also a little concerned because the project isn't really going to finish for another couple of weeks but I need data now so I don't know how that will effect the post surveys.
Oh well...upwards and onwards!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Starting to rethink...
In an attempt to get caught up on my readings for our lit review I've come across a few interesting things to think about. Firstly, in one article I read how students who use wikis are happy to add content but are reluctant to make changes. Without really knowing this, I explained to my test group that the wikis "belonged to them" so to speak. They each created a wiki and set up the admin password which I then gave to other classes. I stressed the point of ownership because I was hoping that "ownership" would be an intrinsic motivator. However, I'm now thinking that I've tainted the authenticity of the project. Wikis, unlike blogs, don't belong to any one individual; instead they are collaborative in nature. So haven't I taught the wrong message?
I haven't instructed the participating classes that "my" students are the owners so "they" shouldn't be tainted which means I'm still hopeful kids in Shanghai and Colorado go ahead and make whatever changes they want to the existing content. However, I wonder how my students will respond if and when they find their sweat and tears transformed into something else.
I may add this question to my post survey (i.e. did you accept changes made to your own work?). Also, I've just discovered that the Colorado kids are grade 4 students. I had originally hoped that the students would be closer to the age of the test group but perhaps this is a blessing. This way, it should provide a greater/more chances for my grade 7 students to "improve" the stories during the peer editing process, even if some of my students are EAL or below grade level.
Finally, one great idea I came across during my readings is actually suggested by Wikipedia. They suggest having students peer edit their articles for anything from spelling to content. This would have been easier to set up and easier to control (no reliance on other teachers) but could have provided me with similar data and come with a built in audience (of millions). Oh well, maybe next time. I may do this as a follow up to my primary research to see if the students do buy into making changes to Wikipedia and then see if their attitudes towards it as a main resource changes.
On a separate note: are our annotations on delicious enough or are we expected to write them up again for our final paper. Delicious doesn't allow us to write very much so I don't want to add/redo them all in the summer.
I haven't instructed the participating classes that "my" students are the owners so "they" shouldn't be tainted which means I'm still hopeful kids in Shanghai and Colorado go ahead and make whatever changes they want to the existing content. However, I wonder how my students will respond if and when they find their sweat and tears transformed into something else.
I may add this question to my post survey (i.e. did you accept changes made to your own work?). Also, I've just discovered that the Colorado kids are grade 4 students. I had originally hoped that the students would be closer to the age of the test group but perhaps this is a blessing. This way, it should provide a greater/more chances for my grade 7 students to "improve" the stories during the peer editing process, even if some of my students are EAL or below grade level.
Finally, one great idea I came across during my readings is actually suggested by Wikipedia. They suggest having students peer edit their articles for anything from spelling to content. This would have been easier to set up and easier to control (no reliance on other teachers) but could have provided me with similar data and come with a built in audience (of millions). Oh well, maybe next time. I may do this as a follow up to my primary research to see if the students do buy into making changes to Wikipedia and then see if their attitudes towards it as a main resource changes.
On a separate note: are our annotations on delicious enough or are we expected to write them up again for our final paper. Delicious doesn't allow us to write very much so I don't want to add/redo them all in the summer.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Phase one complete
Okay, things are looking pretty good and the growing pains haven't been too bad. Students at my school (grade 4, 7 & 9) have all done their part.
I originally posted the intro video on youtube but it's blocked at our school so students had to test this at home which sucked. Then, the school in the US said they had the same issue and suggested I use teachertube. This was a great idea since it isn't blocked at as many schools so now the kids will be able to see it on their sites. Although I've updated my own site, I haven't told my students about the change. I've asked the students in the US to update the link; this will be a universal test to see how many of my students notice the change and if they decide to leave it or change it back.
I am faced with a few problems in China; pbwiki is blocked there but I've asked a tech buddy of mine over there if he had a solution and he's made one (proxy service type solution). Hopefully Concordia International School will be able to get around the great firewall of China for at least a few weeks.
Other than that, I'm just waiting to see what happens with all these wikis in the USA.
Will keep you posted.
I originally posted the intro video on youtube but it's blocked at our school so students had to test this at home which sucked. Then, the school in the US said they had the same issue and suggested I use teachertube. This was a great idea since it isn't blocked at as many schools so now the kids will be able to see it on their sites. Although I've updated my own site, I haven't told my students about the change. I've asked the students in the US to update the link; this will be a universal test to see how many of my students notice the change and if they decide to leave it or change it back.
I am faced with a few problems in China; pbwiki is blocked there but I've asked a tech buddy of mine over there if he had a solution and he's made one (proxy service type solution). Hopefully Concordia International School will be able to get around the great firewall of China for at least a few weeks.
Other than that, I'm just waiting to see what happens with all these wikis in the USA.
Will keep you posted.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Up and running...
Last week things finally started coming together. All 22 students have selected their characters for their writing assignment, they looked at examples of what they need to do for their wikis and everyone has set up their own wiki space on www.pbwiki.com I've also gotten final confirmation from a school in the USA who is going to participate which means once Concordia International School commits, I'll have all my ducks in a row.
I also submitted my tip to the "creative teaching grant" committee at my school and it has been accepted which is great because it means I'll be given some time to introduce the project at the next staff meeting which should include over 100 teachers. If I can generate even a little interest among the staff, this should help to get the students excited about the idea of writing for an actual audience which is a key component to my research.
All I have to do now is hope that pwwiki isn't blocked by the Great FireWall of China!
As for the projects themselves, who knows. The students start writing this week but it's totally up to them to do the job well, poorly or at all since I'm trying to measure intrinsic motivation.
I also submitted my tip to the "creative teaching grant" committee at my school and it has been accepted which is great because it means I'll be given some time to introduce the project at the next staff meeting which should include over 100 teachers. If I can generate even a little interest among the staff, this should help to get the students excited about the idea of writing for an actual audience which is a key component to my research.
All I have to do now is hope that pwwiki isn't blocked by the Great FireWall of China!
As for the projects themselves, who knows. The students start writing this week but it's totally up to them to do the job well, poorly or at all since I'm trying to measure intrinsic motivation.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
I guess I'm a cynic
Well I finally managed to get my test group to fill out the pre-surveys I created but I have to say I'm very surprised by the responses. In fact, I'm so surprised that I don't actually believe the results. My questions are straight forward, such as "do you like writing assignments" or "do you write during your own time" and to my surprise, the majority of the students said they did like writing and did write on their own time. What a load of BS!
I've taught a lot of these students for three years and I hate to say this but I don't think they answered honestly. Instead, I think they responded with answers they figured their teachers (I) wanted to hear. Also, one student asked if the surveys were anonymous and even though I assured her they were, I'm thinking that at least some of the students didn't believe me.
Both profs have suggested (before I got the survey results) that I should include some type of interview to add to my data collection; perhaps they saw this coming. I think this is a great idea but due to time constraints placed on my test group by their English teacher, I'm pretty sure I'll have to settle on a random selection of students and run informal interviews.
We'll see.
I've taught a lot of these students for three years and I hate to say this but I don't think they answered honestly. Instead, I think they responded with answers they figured their teachers (I) wanted to hear. Also, one student asked if the surveys were anonymous and even though I assured her they were, I'm thinking that at least some of the students didn't believe me.
Both profs have suggested (before I got the survey results) that I should include some type of interview to add to my data collection; perhaps they saw this coming. I think this is a great idea but due to time constraints placed on my test group by their English teacher, I'm pretty sure I'll have to settle on a random selection of students and run informal interviews.
We'll see.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Getting started...or at least trying to
Perhaps I've made this overly complicated. I'm excited about the project that is based around my TIP because it involves students from all three levels (ES, MS, HS) at my current school as well as students from other schools located in other parts of the world. However, getting teachers from other schools on board has been a real challenge and has already, in part, delayed my research by about two months (that and having a baby two months early).
Already I have a piece of advice for future TIP students; set up a project that does not rely on other teachers if at all possible because it can create a timing/scheduling nightmare.
Already I have a piece of advice for future TIP students; set up a project that does not rely on other teachers if at all possible because it can create a timing/scheduling nightmare.
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