The Learnal

After a weekend of agonizing over the direction and purpose of my thesis, or rather lack thereof, and having even considered starting entirely from scratch, I spent much of this evening and the prior rethinking the aim of this endeavor and have come to the conclusion that this data collection on teacher use of technology will provide a great opportunity for addressing objectives from both my district’s strategic plan and technology plan while gaining some valuable insight into how actual practicing teachers are using technology to enhance their practice and why they’ve adopted those uses.  Below are the two main district objectives that this thesis will help address.

In terms of the content of the survey to assess teacher access and needs, the State of North Carolina has adopted the NETS-T standards http://tps.dpi.state.nc.us/standards.html which will provide a foundation for the survey instrument, though the focus is less on teacher competencies and more on actual practice. 

Timeline for completing literature review.

I’ve recently been toying with the idea of combing my research project with my school newsletter by using the interviews I plan to conduct to collect data as source material for weekly articles that highlight our technology using teachers. I thought that rather than wait for the thesis to be written, my ongoing findings could be shared immediately with the staff through the use of an online blog and/or our school newsletter. Perhaps this would also stimulate conversations regarding the use of technology an help me indirectly gather data while providing a teachers a venue for ongoing discussion. If this is to happen, I really need to start my literature review so I can begin developing my questionnaire.

The last post prompted a few question which in turn snowballed into a slew of questions that either need to be addressed before I begin my research or I would like answer as a result of my research. Some of theses questions ended up being rather redundant, but others will prompt some serious inquiry that will help get this thesis out of port.

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It’s amazing how the unconscious mind works sometimes. As I was reading through the introduction of “Darwin’s Ghost“, a book completely unrelated in any way to the subject of my thesis, a formulation of the question that I had long been brooding over suddenly popped into my head, along with the purpose for writing my thesis.

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This is my first official posting that will be begin the chronicle of my thesis for my Masters in Ed. Tech. from Western Michigan University. As I have neither a champagne bottle nor a physical object comparable to a sea going vessel upon which to smash this non-existent bottle, I will have to launch this journey towards my Masters degree in a less ceremonious manner, hence this post.

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Authoring tools for creating multimedia instructional content have come a long way since the early days of complex scripting and programing languages that required multiple Ph.D’s in computer science to create even the simplest of learning objects. Today’s powerful software tools such as Web Expressions, Adobe Captivate, Flash, Moodle, iLife and more have helped simplify this complex process, and have made it if not exactly easy, at least within the realm of possibility for even rather ordinary teachers (and let’s not forget students) to create engaging and exciting digital content for the purpose of learning.

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Ingredients: 50 whole dollar bills, 15 ripe earthworms, 4 young boys, 1 disgusting dare

Combine all ingredients into a small book, carefully mix with witty dialogue, stir in unforgettable characters, add a dash of nausea, a pinch of mischief and generously sprinkle with humorous chapters. Let stand for fifteen days, remove from bookshelf and enjoy in large helpings.

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Knowledge-building, communities of practice, learning networks, collaborative learning, cognitive apprenticeships, situated/problem/inquiry/thematic/case-based learning; whatever constructivist learning model you subscribe to, the mild-mannered Moodle has the tools within to unleash power of the super e-learning environment.

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Who could resist such a terribly tempting tale on the topic of toiletry? (Or a lengthy alliteration for that matter?) In the grown-up world, books on how everyday household edibles like salt, soda, chocolate, potatoes and even the olive have shaped cultures and civilizations throughout the ages are as common as single-ply toilet paper. So why not a book about the final destination of all of these digestible goodies? And who better to appreciate such a history than kids?!!

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