Spring+2009+Action+Plan


 * Field Study Action Plan **** Spring '09 **


 * My inquiry questions: **

How can an online collaborative tool, specifically a wiki, create a positive environment for students to express their thoughts, ideas and opinions on topics raised in the classroom? What factors are involved in determining whether students will take ownership of the wiki and feel more invested in adding to the online discussion and stating their thoughts on a wiki, as opposed to a group discussion in class? If I use a topic for discussion such as infant development and use my baby as the live subject, how will that affect the students' interest level? Will their empathy and interest in a growing infant help to sustain their attention more than another topic? ** How my inquiry connects to recognized educational research: (Describe the theoretical and/or philosophical ideas that frame your inquiry. Please also include a list of readings you will consult.) **//** *Journal reflections on these articles *Citations for these articles too **// // "S //// ocial Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom" // By: Yan, Jeffrey, New England Journal of Higher Education, 20080101, Vol. 22, Issue 4  The article above supports my belief that wikis may have the ability to create a positive learning environment where students can not only collaborate and share ideas on a certain topic but also become empowered and may feel more invested in their own learning process, which may not be as possible within the classroom. The author explains that " the capabilities of a wiki in the classroom can broaden the learning experience, as student groups build rich, deep content over time." Yan explains that commercially available wiki software such as wikispaces.com are "popular in the classroom today because of their ease of setup (usually 15 minutes or less) and their inherent flexibility and collaborative editing features."  "[Wikis] are creating opportunities for groups to share, collaborate, showcase and grow together. In addition, they allow exchange of information and ideas not only within the confines of a classroom, but across schools, districts, states and the world."
 * How my inquiry connects to a significant educational purpose: ** It is no secret that children can be educated more profoundly in safe, positive learning environments. If I can develop an atmosphere that supports learning and sharing through the discussion of an interesting topic such as infant development, by creating and then implementing the use of a wiki outside the regular classroom, I believe that the students and I may benefit greatly by it. I believe that teaching with the use of modern tools such as wikis, can have the potential to open up new doors in the future by creating a learning environment that both empowers and motivates students and teachers.

"Teachers are amazed at how simple tools for sharing work and ideas can positively transform the classroom. Students who may avoid live class participation are leveraging new communication forms to become more active and “vocal” in a virtual class. The freedom to publish and share ideas creates a learning environment that empowers and motivates both teachers and students." *Autonomous-Lifelong Learner: Learning about wikis and how they can contribute to developing a collaborative learning environment, is one more way that I will be learning through the implementation of a new form of technology. I think that I will always be learning in the future about new forms of technology because of this TLITE course. *Reflective Practitioner: By delving into the technological world, a place I was afraid to go to before TLITE, I have learned so much about not only the tools and mediums that are available for us to teach with, but so much more about myself as a learner and educator. I know that I will always strive for that quest for knowledge and growth in my future career. *Critical Practitioner: My belief is that through a wiki, I will be able to learn more about student's thoughts and opinions than just with what's brought forth in class discussions. Hopefully by using a topic such as infant development, and by bringing in my daughter for the students to see and talk about, they will feel more connected to the issue and want to actually post their thoughts onto the wiki, outside of regular class discussions, in a collaborative online environment. *Facilitator of Learning: By discovering how students collaborate and learn through the implementation of a wiki, I will be able to observe the differences, if any, in the learning process between the traditional classroom setting and the online setting of today. *Knowledgeable Educator: My goal is for the students to feel invested in the process of sharing in the discussion of infant development, one of the areas of study in the Family Studies course. I want to provide a safe, positive environment where they can collaborate with eachother and possibly learn things in a new or different way. *Supportive Colleague: I hope to be able to share my findings with my departmental colleagues as a springboard for further research into the area. This lends itself to the Critical Practitioner capacity. *Educational Leader: I hope to be able to act as a mentor again for my colleagues in the future with wikis but also with more forms of technology.*User of Technology: I look forward to going beyond just the basics with my knowledge of wikis and hope to learn a lot by doing so. ** An outline of the design of my inquiry: (Data collection – how? what? who? when?) *//At least 3 sources of data.// What are the steps in your plan?) ** I think surveys or questionnaires will probably be the best way to collect data initially and again at the end of my field study. I want to discover how students initially feel about sharing their ideas on a wiki or any other online collaborative tool versus in a face-to-face class discussion. Throughout my study and immediately following, I want to survey these same students again to see if they've changed their minds or still feel the same way about collaborating in a virtual learning environment, rather than a traditional classroom. I will use samples of student discussions and posts/replies from the wiki as part of my data collection as well. I am actually planning on not giving out surveys this time around, as it got a bit too "quantitative" last semester. This time, I intend on just using information gathered in face-to-face discussions in the classroom with the Family Studies class to find out how they feel about wikis and what they know about them. ** My plan for organizing and interpreting the data: **//** (systematic and recorded) **// I plan on collecting data needed and organizing it in a user-friendly way, whatever way I discover works best for me. In the end, I would like to be able to display my results by using graphs or another type of visual image that would best showcase my findings. I am expecting to see that students will take the time to respond on the wiki only if there is "something in it for them". In other words, if they are going to take the time to post a response or share their ideas, they will have to either a) be interested in the topic of discussion and b) know that they will receive participation marks or some type of recognition that they have completed the task and that it will count towards their grade --- or both a and b might have to be present in order for the students to participate!! I think that in the end, the subject or topic of discussion will truly matter when it comes to sharing thoughts on a wiki; if the students are not interested, they simply won't put the time in. ** My plan for sharing my conclusions: (How will you communicate what you have learned?) ** I will summarize my findings through the presentation of data collection and interpretation, any journalling or reflecting I've done along the way, research from various articles that might support my study and of course, the wiki as the integral part of my visual presentation. I think that if my colleagues would be willing, I could present my findings to them, as I'm sure they could find something useful from the study to take away with them into their own teaching practices.
 * How my inquiry connects to the Program Capacities: **