12/15/2005
Overview
This blog has been set up as a virtual poster to share an action research project created for EDS380 - Issues in Assessment & Technology. Since the project was about blogging, it seemed fitting the create the virtual poster using blog tools. The related links on the side include related projects that emerged from this project, including my presentation about blogs at VermontFest 2005, and an Inquiry Based Tool to help educational communities assess their readiness to get on board with blogging.
History and background
-- This section contains some history and background that led to this action research project, starting with my professional journey evolving from the early days of web publishing on the web to the current use of weblogs for teaching and learning.
The Need
--The Need for an inquiry in the role blogs in education
The Questions
-- 3 questions addressed in this action reseach project
Methods
-- The tools and methods used during this action research project
Outcomes
-- Ten outcomes from the project
Inquiry Project Design
-- A tool to be used by educators who would like to conduct a similar inquiry within their communimty
Conclusions
-- Reflections about the project
Resources – Citations
-- online resources related to the project
To Blog or Not To Blog
Assessment of an Inquiry into the Role Blogs should/could or should
not play in an Educational Community
History and background
-- This section contains some history and background that led to this action research project, starting with my professional journey evolving from the early days of web publishing on the web to the current use of weblogs for teaching and learning.
The Need
--The Need for an inquiry in the role blogs in education
The Questions
-- 3 questions addressed in this action reseach project
Methods
-- The tools and methods used during this action research project
Outcomes
-- Ten outcomes from the project
Inquiry Project Design
-- A tool to be used by educators who would like to conduct a similar inquiry within their communimty
Conclusions
-- Reflections about the project
Resources – Citations
-- online resources related to the project
History & Background - Web Publishing
-- web publishing enters education arena
“The World is Flat” exclaims Tom Friedman in his new book, describing the impact of technology on globalization. Technology has leveled the playing field, says Friedman. It was 10 years ago that I saw the beginning of this ‘leveling’, as the World Wide Web became accessible to rural communities like Vermont. The Internet changed from a place reserved for knowledge sharing amongst academia, to one where anyone with a computer and a modem could have access to a world of information and use email to send information all around the world in minutes.
As president of Vermont Business Teachers Association, I immediately organized training for my colleagues in this new language called HTML that would prepare us to teach the upcoming generation of tomorrow’s workers skills they would need to succeed in the business world.
I was confident that learning and teaching this skill would prepare our students with skills they needed to succeed in business, but I had not predicted just how powerful this new technology could be for student learning and building community (locally and globally). During the next 10 years, I witnesses powerful outcomes related to student motivation and learning as I integrated web publishing in my curriculum. In 1996, weeks after our first web publishing project the power of the medium became very REAL when we received an email from a man named “Claude Williams” based in Seattle with the subject “Treasure Found”.
My student’s ran down to the guidance office, flipped through the 1978 yearbook, and found the only senior with these initials. They contacted the family of Mr. Todd Durkee who gave us his phone number in Virginia. I’m sure Mr. Durkee must have been puzzled when a teenager from his home town called to ask him “Did you ever loose your class ring?” The mystery grew as Mr. Durkee answered “Yes, I lost it cliff diving in Hawaii”. Within days, Mr. Durkee had his class ring back, and Mr. Williams and Mr. Durkee were sharing theories about how the ring got from Hawaii to the Phillipines.
This first entry into International Cyberfair (an Internet based World’s Fair created by student using web publishing sponsored by Global School Net)
was only the beginning of a decade of evidence of the power of the web publishing in teaching and learning. I witnessed increased understanding of the rest of the world as they conducted peer reviews of other student web projects from countries they didn’t even know existed. My students know more about Taiwan than they would have learned from any geography lesson or from reading web resources published by “respected” authories such as “Britinaca On-line”.
My students know more about their own community, as a result of doing local research and publishing it for a world-wide audience. Our community knows more about this generation of young people who not only interviewed them, but used technology to put them on the map by bringing home a First Place Cyberfair Award for their web project about Franco American Culture. (http://Lifeontheborder.com)
I have 10 years of research, evaluation, and products built on the concept of using project based learning and writing for an authentic audience (a world wide audience!) Students learned to write, learned to work as teams, learned project management, learned about geography, and much more--- all through the power of web publishing.
I was so convinced in the power of web publishing a sound pedagogical tool, that I continuously looked for ways to collaborate with my academic colleagues so that a larger group of students and teachers might experience the power of web publishing as part of the curriculum.
In 2001, we used “human’ tools to bring the power of web publishing to 400 students and a whole community. Life on the Border. This “human’ solution brought a whole community togther to celebrate not both their heritage, but also the learning of their students. Voc-tech students (this was before we had given up on the word ‘vocational’) created an infrastructure that allowed for the management, collection, organization, and publishing of hundreds interviews, recipes. They combined human tools and tech tools to achieve this powerful published information.
-- web logs enters education arena
While I was excited about web publishing as a sound pedagogical tool, technological innovation were being developed that would make the organization and publishing of web content even quicker and easier. This technology was soon to become known as weblogs (or blogs) and would enable the current generation of web users to become instant content producers for a world wide audience.
Call it serendipity… or synergy… but this technology emerged just as my career was also emerging in a new direction. Blogs came into my life as an educator as a technological solution to an educational dilemma.
The Vermont Institutes had invited me to become a teacher leader, which meant leaving my classroom for at least a year. The dilemma was that it was difficult to leave a group of students who had been learning about emerging technology with me for years without a teacher who could help them continue this journey. The “Easy read”, “Easy write”, “Easy access” of blogs made them the perfect tool to create a community of independent learners with a traveling mentor. I accepted the invitation to serve as teacher leader, and continued to mentor a group of “learners” through the use of a blogging tool called Xanga.
For the next 5 years I started to use BLOG technology as a tool. An evolution occurred from the days where I was giving workshop on the power of web publishing with comments like “hey look at this cool way the average man can publish to the World Wide Web… there is this HTML code… and its so straightforward and easy.. anyone can learn this… even my students are learning it and becoming publishers.”
Then came web editors… and my workshop presentations went something like this “WOW… it just got even easier… there are these programs out there like ClarisHome Page or Dreamweaver that will write the HTML CODE FOR YOU … AND it’s so easy ANYONE can learn it… look what happens when you put this in the hands of students…… (A few lessons on FTP.. and they are web content producers and their web pages are out there for the world to see.”
Then came… Blog technology… and I started telling students and teachers “ web publishing just got easier.. You don’t even have to learn web design. (just pick a template. And start writing, and you’re a content producer on the web)…. How “cool is that? Whoa… wait a minute… there is even this thing called Audio Blog where I don’t even have to “write’… You can be hiking the Long Trail and use a cell phone to publish your journey on the web.”
My Vermont Fest Presentation Blogs includes some web links with examples of some blogging examples from 2000 - 2005.
http://vtfest.blogspot.com/2005/11/personal-blogging-history.html
Although my students first used blogs to ‘report in’ on their learning. I soon started to see blogging tools as a way to bring web publishing to ALL students and ALL content areas. It was no longer only the ‘geeks’ amongst us that has access to the ability to be heard (or read) on the web. I started working with teachers who wanted to integrate technology into their curriculum and turning them on to the power of using blogging tools. (See blogging projects of Helen, Bob, and Carmela). These examples used blog technology as tools to producing content on the web.
Starting a new job as technology integration specialist, I assumed blog tools would be part of my tool kit. They were ‘low threshold’ tech tools, and I started using them with out giving much thought to the community of bloggers that had emerged who were participating in the ‘act of blogging’. I wasn’t really ‘blogging’ (note verb use) with students the way much of America as “blogging”. I soon discovered that what most people knew about blogs was very different than what I knew about blogs. Most educators knew either “nothing” or that it “unsafe”, “unreliable information”, and mostly political rants. For those who didn’t really know much about blogs, the integration of blogs in school projects, went unnoticed. Others became alarmed and made noise about the perils of blogging. I realized that if the silent (ignorant) majority listened to the vocal (alarmist)… blog tools will be misunderstood, at the least, and banned, at worse. One school in Rutland, Vermont has already banned blogging.
Despite my enthusiasm about using blog tools as a low threshold tool to support what I believed were sound pedagogical use of these tools, I also started to tune into the fact that a lot had happened since I hard started using blog tools. With blog tools emerged BLOGGING as a “verb” and a growing community of bloggers (ranging from scholars, to journalist, to students). Parallel to the development of a blogging community came 9/11. The Patriot Act has convinced Americans that danger looms around every corner. The litigation society has become even more pervasive and schools were not exempt from being targeted. Blogs have emerged from “convenient’ web publishing tools to “social software” tools. Just as the masses were discovering the power of the Net, so were criminals ranging from vandals to pedophiles.
As Internet crime were becoming a reality and finding their way into our courts, and covered by the news media, Internet Safety practices and curriculum also emerged. With Internet Safety awareness, came questions about the wisdom of web publishing. How safe is publishing student work and picture of kids learning? And how do we apply the FERPA (Federal Education Rights to Privacy Act) to web publishing?
I discovered that I needed to step back and assess the landscape and tools that have emerged as the blogs have become part of our culture. This project was designed to help educators and communities (including myself) go through this process.
“The World is Flat” exclaims Tom Friedman in his new book, describing the impact of technology on globalization. Technology has leveled the playing field, says Friedman. It was 10 years ago that I saw the beginning of this ‘leveling’, as the World Wide Web became accessible to rural communities like Vermont. The Internet changed from a place reserved for knowledge sharing amongst academia, to one where anyone with a computer and a modem could have access to a world of information and use email to send information all around the world in minutes.
As president of Vermont Business Teachers Association, I immediately organized training for my colleagues in this new language called HTML that would prepare us to teach the upcoming generation of tomorrow’s workers skills they would need to succeed in the business world.
I was confident that learning and teaching this skill would prepare our students with skills they needed to succeed in business, but I had not predicted just how powerful this new technology could be for student learning and building community (locally and globally). During the next 10 years, I witnesses powerful outcomes related to student motivation and learning as I integrated web publishing in my curriculum. In 1996, weeks after our first web publishing project the power of the medium became very REAL when we received an email from a man named “Claude Williams” based in Seattle with the subject “Treasure Found”.
“I think you may be able to help me with something that has been on my To Do List for 15 years. In the early 80’s I was scuba diving in the Phillipines when I uncovered something shiny. It was a ring with a bird of prey. One one side were the engraved the letters NCUHS, the other side had the words “Class of 1978”. Inside, the letters TJD were engraved. I’ve searched many directories futilely for these letters. Today I was learning to use this new “Internet” thing and typed in NCUHS in a search engine called Alta-Vista, your school project came up. Could this ring belong to an alumni from yourschool."
My student’s ran down to the guidance office, flipped through the 1978 yearbook, and found the only senior with these initials. They contacted the family of Mr. Todd Durkee who gave us his phone number in Virginia. I’m sure Mr. Durkee must have been puzzled when a teenager from his home town called to ask him “Did you ever loose your class ring?” The mystery grew as Mr. Durkee answered “Yes, I lost it cliff diving in Hawaii”. Within days, Mr. Durkee had his class ring back, and Mr. Williams and Mr. Durkee were sharing theories about how the ring got from Hawaii to the Phillipines.
This first entry into International Cyberfair (an Internet based World’s Fair created by student using web publishing sponsored by Global School Net)
was only the beginning of a decade of evidence of the power of the web publishing in teaching and learning. I witnessed increased understanding of the rest of the world as they conducted peer reviews of other student web projects from countries they didn’t even know existed. My students know more about Taiwan than they would have learned from any geography lesson or from reading web resources published by “respected” authories such as “Britinaca On-line”.My students know more about their own community, as a result of doing local research and publishing it for a world-wide audience. Our community knows more about this generation of young people who not only interviewed them, but used technology to put them on the map by bringing home a First Place Cyberfair Award for their web project about Franco American Culture. (http://Lifeontheborder.com)
I have 10 years of research, evaluation, and products built on the concept of using project based learning and writing for an authentic audience (a world wide audience!) Students learned to write, learned to work as teams, learned project management, learned about geography, and much more--- all through the power of web publishing.
I was so convinced in the power of web publishing a sound pedagogical tool, that I continuously looked for ways to collaborate with my academic colleagues so that a larger group of students and teachers might experience the power of web publishing as part of the curriculum.
In 2001, we used “human’ tools to bring the power of web publishing to 400 students and a whole community. Life on the Border. This “human’ solution brought a whole community togther to celebrate not both their heritage, but also the learning of their students. Voc-tech students (this was before we had given up on the word ‘vocational’) created an infrastructure that allowed for the management, collection, organization, and publishing of hundreds interviews, recipes. They combined human tools and tech tools to achieve this powerful published information.
-- web logs enters education arena
While I was excited about web publishing as a sound pedagogical tool, technological innovation were being developed that would make the organization and publishing of web content even quicker and easier. This technology was soon to become known as weblogs (or blogs) and would enable the current generation of web users to become instant content producers for a world wide audience.
Call it serendipity… or synergy… but this technology emerged just as my career was also emerging in a new direction. Blogs came into my life as an educator as a technological solution to an educational dilemma.
The Vermont Institutes had invited me to become a teacher leader, which meant leaving my classroom for at least a year. The dilemma was that it was difficult to leave a group of students who had been learning about emerging technology with me for years without a teacher who could help them continue this journey. The “Easy read”, “Easy write”, “Easy access” of blogs made them the perfect tool to create a community of independent learners with a traveling mentor. I accepted the invitation to serve as teacher leader, and continued to mentor a group of “learners” through the use of a blogging tool called Xanga.
For the next 5 years I started to use BLOG technology as a tool. An evolution occurred from the days where I was giving workshop on the power of web publishing with comments like “hey look at this cool way the average man can publish to the World Wide Web… there is this HTML code… and its so straightforward and easy.. anyone can learn this… even my students are learning it and becoming publishers.”
Then came web editors… and my workshop presentations went something like this “WOW… it just got even easier… there are these programs out there like ClarisHome Page or Dreamweaver that will write the HTML CODE FOR YOU … AND it’s so easy ANYONE can learn it… look what happens when you put this in the hands of students…… (A few lessons on FTP.. and they are web content producers and their web pages are out there for the world to see.”
Then came… Blog technology… and I started telling students and teachers “ web publishing just got easier.. You don’t even have to learn web design. (just pick a template. And start writing, and you’re a content producer on the web)…. How “cool is that? Whoa… wait a minute… there is even this thing called Audio Blog where I don’t even have to “write’… You can be hiking the Long Trail and use a cell phone to publish your journey on the web.”
My Vermont Fest Presentation Blogs includes some web links with examples of some blogging examples from 2000 - 2005.
http://vtfest.blogspot.com/2005/11/personal-blogging-history.html
Although my students first used blogs to ‘report in’ on their learning. I soon started to see blogging tools as a way to bring web publishing to ALL students and ALL content areas. It was no longer only the ‘geeks’ amongst us that has access to the ability to be heard (or read) on the web. I started working with teachers who wanted to integrate technology into their curriculum and turning them on to the power of using blogging tools. (See blogging projects of Helen, Bob, and Carmela). These examples used blog technology as tools to producing content on the web.
Starting a new job as technology integration specialist, I assumed blog tools would be part of my tool kit. They were ‘low threshold’ tech tools, and I started using them with out giving much thought to the community of bloggers that had emerged who were participating in the ‘act of blogging’. I wasn’t really ‘blogging’ (note verb use) with students the way much of America as “blogging”. I soon discovered that what most people knew about blogs was very different than what I knew about blogs. Most educators knew either “nothing” or that it “unsafe”, “unreliable information”, and mostly political rants. For those who didn’t really know much about blogs, the integration of blogs in school projects, went unnoticed. Others became alarmed and made noise about the perils of blogging. I realized that if the silent (ignorant) majority listened to the vocal (alarmist)… blog tools will be misunderstood, at the least, and banned, at worse. One school in Rutland, Vermont has already banned blogging.
Despite my enthusiasm about using blog tools as a low threshold tool to support what I believed were sound pedagogical use of these tools, I also started to tune into the fact that a lot had happened since I hard started using blog tools. With blog tools emerged BLOGGING as a “verb” and a growing community of bloggers (ranging from scholars, to journalist, to students). Parallel to the development of a blogging community came 9/11. The Patriot Act has convinced Americans that danger looms around every corner. The litigation society has become even more pervasive and schools were not exempt from being targeted. Blogs have emerged from “convenient’ web publishing tools to “social software” tools. Just as the masses were discovering the power of the Net, so were criminals ranging from vandals to pedophiles.
As Internet crime were becoming a reality and finding their way into our courts, and covered by the news media, Internet Safety practices and curriculum also emerged. With Internet Safety awareness, came questions about the wisdom of web publishing. How safe is publishing student work and picture of kids learning? And how do we apply the FERPA (Federal Education Rights to Privacy Act) to web publishing?
I discovered that I needed to step back and assess the landscape and tools that have emerged as the blogs have become part of our culture. This project was designed to help educators and communities (including myself) go through this process.
The Need
If blogs (and other social software) are to find a place in the educational landscape, then the educational community should assess the value or risks associated with these tools, and come to a collaborative decision based in increased awareness, greater understanding, and reflection about the roles that blogs (and other social software should or should not play in teaching and earning. The purpose of this project is to design and implement a model that would facilitate this process. Although this process may be applied to the concept of social software, this project ocused primarily on blog tools and blogging. References are made to related technologies and to the general category “social software. This project design could be expanded to apply to social software and other emerging technologies.
The Questions
The Questions
- What value can blog tools and the blogging process bring to teaching and learning?
- What process would facilitate a collaborative decision by an educational community about the role blog tools and blogging should/could or should not play in teaching and learning?
Methods
The purpose of this project is to design and implement a model that would facilitate the process of evaluating the role of blogs in education. The methods we used to gather information about the role of blogging are described below. Many of these methods not only provided data that helped an educational community assess the role blogs might play in our community, but they also provided part of the model that would emerge as an outcome of this project.
1. Review of current examples, research and writings related to blog tools and blogging.
During this phase, I stumbled across the concept of Furling, (www.furl.net)( a social bookmarking tool). Upon examining it further it became evident that this tool emerged from blogging, and provided a valuable way for organizing the research on blogging, while also providing an authentic experience in the power of social software. Five themes emerged, and I transferred all the bookmarks into a Furl Site into the following categories (adding clippings,comments, and ratings when possible
• Blogging - Tools, Tips, and Tricks
• Blogging in Education (including sample uses and discussion)
• Blogging - Safety, Security, and Other Concerns
• Blogging as Professional Development for Educators
• Blogging as Curricular Content
• Blogging Culture
It soon became evident what was meant by “social bookmarking”. As I “furled” sites in the most appropriate category, I noted that for most sites that I furled, Furl.net offered me a list of other sites Furled by others who furled the site I just furled. This allowed me to discover sites that were very useful in this part of the project. I found myself taking care to add comments or highlight clippings that would make my Furling useful to others and part of the collective knowledge of “kindred spirits” who might be interested in the same topics I was interested in. Experiencing social software’s power so authentically caused me to post a reflection on it called “the transformation”.
2. Training Sessions, Focus Groups, and Awareness Raising Sessions about blogging for various stakeholders
The project used several methods to gather information about the awareness, preconceptions, concerns, and questions about blogging, depending on the venue. The methods included
4. Surveys of Stakeholders perceptions on blogs and blogs in education
It is the goal of this project to continue to work until the desired sampling is achieved, and disaggregate the results by group. With the current sample size of 20 total participants, it seemed better choice combine them as one group.
5. Student Dialogues and Survey
High school and Middle school students participated in a brief awareness session about blogging and participated in an online survey polling them about their blogging practices and perceptions. Both groups were from rural areas of Vermont with limited access to high speed Internet. Sample size was over 150 students.
6. Hands on experience with Blogging and Related Technical Tools and analysis of the data provided by the social features of these tools.
Whenever possible blogs were used to organize, present instructions and resources, and lead focus groups related to the project. This created practice and examples of how blogs can be used for many different purposes. It allowed quick update and modifications to the project design. Here are two examples
To Blog or Not to Blog
Instructions and required links for Focus Groups, Participating in Surveys, and Involving Students
(http://vtedblog.blogspot.com)
Getting on Board With Blogging
Vermont Fest Presentation Presented as a Blog (http://vtfest.blogspot.com)
Social bookmarking was used to organize and share resources about blogging to participants. Analysis of any data generated from social participation features of this collection was included in the outcome data.
http://www.furl.net/members/techsavvygirl
The Furl collection also created a feed to the Weblog used to present the resources during focus group. Click on any of the themes in the collection at
http://vtedblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/step-3-examining-online-resources.html
and note that the list here is formatted to look like its part of the web site, but is actually a direct feed from the Furl collection. This had several advantages over providing the viewers a direct link to the Furl collection. .
Click tracking using My Web Log
http://www.mybloglog.com/pub-stats.php?mblID=2005111523014210
This tool provided data in 2 ways. It provided daily reports of which resources were clicked or (viewed). Combining with this information about which focus groups were held that day, provided information about the type of interest, questions, concerns a group of stakeholders had about blogging. The premium version of the hyperlink was purchased for a month to allow of more extensive reporting. This also allowed participants to see social software at work in another venue. Depending on the feature that was turned on, the tool can display information to the viewers of the web sites about which sites were most popular amongst previous viewers. This was turned off after a focus group so as not to influence our subjects choice of links, but the statistics were available for analysis when logged into mybloglog.com.
Three surveys were designed for this project and administered using Surveymonkey.com. Contact Lucie for access to these surveys.
This tool also allows reporting or sharing of results via the web in a variety of ways, including
7. Mapping of ISTE Standards for Administrators, Teachers, and Students to Examples of Blogging, Blog Tools, Social software tool, or related literature..
Analysis of the blog resources, and information gathered from focus groups and surveys, provides an overwhelming amount of data on potential uses of blog tools and and blogging in education. Analyzing this information and organizing in a way that aligns to ISTE standard would provide a schematic to users that would provide give the users a view of blogging resources related to technology standard that most interest them. This part of the project was not complete by due date, but I have plans to finish working on this as I believe it will be a valuable outcome.
1. Review of current examples, research and writings related to blog tools and blogging.
- The first step was to review my own history of web publishing as it relates to education. I made several discoveries as I reviewed old student blogs and web publishing projects and reflected on the history of my use of these tools as they related to education.
- The next step was to review online literature about blogs and education and look for themes that might be helpful in answering the questions posted by this project. It was soon evident that the dialogues about blogs in education was increasing as blogs, themselves were becoming a part of our culture. More and more educational conference offered several workshops related to blogging. A review of the speakers notes related to these workshops provided insight on current thinking and interest.
During this phase, I stumbled across the concept of Furling, (www.furl.net)( a social bookmarking tool). Upon examining it further it became evident that this tool emerged from blogging, and provided a valuable way for organizing the research on blogging, while also providing an authentic experience in the power of social software. Five themes emerged, and I transferred all the bookmarks into a Furl Site into the following categories (adding clippings,comments, and ratings when possible
• Blogging - Tools, Tips, and Tricks
• Blogging in Education (including sample uses and discussion)
• Blogging - Safety, Security, and Other Concerns
• Blogging as Professional Development for Educators
• Blogging as Curricular Content
• Blogging Culture
It soon became evident what was meant by “social bookmarking”. As I “furled” sites in the most appropriate category, I noted that for most sites that I furled, Furl.net offered me a list of other sites Furled by others who furled the site I just furled. This allowed me to discover sites that were very useful in this part of the project. I found myself taking care to add comments or highlight clippings that would make my Furling useful to others and part of the collective knowledge of “kindred spirits” who might be interested in the same topics I was interested in. Experiencing social software’s power so authentically caused me to post a reflection on it called “the transformation”.
2. Training Sessions, Focus Groups, and Awareness Raising Sessions about blogging for various stakeholders
- A great way to learn what people are concerned about or excited about is to hold dialogues about the subject. During this project I created several opportunities to hold focus groups, training sessions and awareness raising sessions about blogging. Each of these provided more insight about the opportunities, interest, preconceptions, questions, and concerns, that exist when considering blogging in education. The following sessions provided data for this project.
o Vermont Fest 2005 Hands-on session on Creating Blogs3. Surveys of Preconceptions about Blogs and Education (from various stakeholders)
o Vermont Fest 2005 – Getting on Board With Blogging
Presentation and Q & A with 50 conference attendees
o Northwest Regional Vita-Learn Meeting Focus Group on Blogging in Education
o FCSU District Tech Meeting – Focus Group on Blogging
o St. Albans City School Middle School Teachers Focus Group on Blogging & Survey
o PTO Awareness Raising on Blogging
o Middle School Students Awareness Session and Survey
o High School Students Awareness Session and Survey
o FCSU Administrators Focus Group and Survey
The project used several methods to gather information about the awareness, preconceptions, concerns, and questions about blogging, depending on the venue. The methods included
- polling the group informally
- circulating post-it notes
- pencil and paper concept maps with prompt questions
- electronic surveys
4. Surveys of Stakeholders perceptions on blogs and blogs in education
- After having participated in focus group on blogging or having reviewed collection of resources organized by themes (see Furl collection), participants participated in electronic survey. This survey gathered information from groups who had taken some time to reflect on blogging in education. The goal was that all participants in focus group would participate, but a range of circumstances made this a challenge. When either time or online access was short, participants agreed to go online and complete the survey (later); many did not follow-up. This provided for a much smaller sampling than originally hoped for. It was the goal of this project to have at least 10 participant from each group.
1. Administrators
2. Teachers
3. Tech Savvy staff / early adopters
4. Parents
It is the goal of this project to continue to work until the desired sampling is achieved, and disaggregate the results by group. With the current sample size of 20 total participants, it seemed better choice combine them as one group.
5. Student Dialogues and Survey
High school and Middle school students participated in a brief awareness session about blogging and participated in an online survey polling them about their blogging practices and perceptions. Both groups were from rural areas of Vermont with limited access to high speed Internet. Sample size was over 150 students.
6. Hands on experience with Blogging and Related Technical Tools and analysis of the data provided by the social features of these tools.
- Blogs
Whenever possible blogs were used to organize, present instructions and resources, and lead focus groups related to the project. This created practice and examples of how blogs can be used for many different purposes. It allowed quick update and modifications to the project design. Here are two examples
To Blog or Not to Blog
Instructions and required links for Focus Groups, Participating in Surveys, and Involving Students
(http://vtedblog.blogspot.com)
Getting on Board With Blogging
Vermont Fest Presentation Presented as a Blog (http://vtfest.blogspot.com)
- Furling – social bookmarking
Social bookmarking was used to organize and share resources about blogging to participants. Analysis of any data generated from social participation features of this collection was included in the outcome data.
http://www.furl.net/members/techsavvygirl
The Furl collection also created a feed to the Weblog used to present the resources during focus group. Click on any of the themes in the collection at
http://vtedblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/step-3-examining-online-resources.html
and note that the list here is formatted to look like its part of the web site, but is actually a direct feed from the Furl collection. This had several advantages over providing the viewers a direct link to the Furl collection. .
1. It kept the collection of Resources on the Web Site current, updated with new finds. The order of presentation was controlled with the “Rating” value.
2. It kept the user browsing the resources from wandering away from the suggested resources (as would have happened if we had simply given them the Furl link).
3. It made for a seamless presentation of the resources for a controlled group of participants. We were able to analyze where our controlled group clicked, using a click tracking tools called (My Web Log). This provided more data about what topics that interested those who attended the focus group.
4. Finally it provided practice and exposure in an authentic application of integrating social bookmarking with blogging tools.
Click tracking using My Web Log
http://www.mybloglog.com/pub-stats.php?mblID=2005111523014210
This tool provided data in 2 ways. It provided daily reports of which resources were clicked or (viewed). Combining with this information about which focus groups were held that day, provided information about the type of interest, questions, concerns a group of stakeholders had about blogging. The premium version of the hyperlink was purchased for a month to allow of more extensive reporting. This also allowed participants to see social software at work in another venue. Depending on the feature that was turned on, the tool can display information to the viewers of the web sites about which sites were most popular amongst previous viewers. This was turned off after a focus group so as not to influence our subjects choice of links, but the statistics were available for analysis when logged into mybloglog.com.
- Online Surveying Tools using SurveyMonkey –http://www.Surveymonkey.com
Three surveys were designed for this project and administered using Surveymonkey.com. Contact Lucie for access to these surveys.
1. Student survey used to collect data for almost 120 middle and high school students about role of blogging in schools
2. Pre-Survey to collect preconceptions about blogging
3. Post-Survey to collect reflections about blogging and education
This tool also allows reporting or sharing of results via the web in a variety of ways, including
1) bringing the participant to the results immediately after he/she takes the survey (we did not use this feature, but it would be classified as a social software feature if turned on)
2) providing reports of the data to stakeholders via the web
(either with password or without)
3) allowing the results to be filtered (ie. High school students vs. middle school students) allowing for disaggregating of data
7. Mapping of ISTE Standards for Administrators, Teachers, and Students to Examples of Blogging, Blog Tools, Social software tool, or related literature..
Analysis of the blog resources, and information gathered from focus groups and surveys, provides an overwhelming amount of data on potential uses of blog tools and and blogging in education. Analyzing this information and organizing in a way that aligns to ISTE standard would provide a schematic to users that would provide give the users a view of blogging resources related to technology standard that most interest them. This part of the project was not complete by due date, but I have plans to finish working on this as I believe it will be a valuable outcome.
The Outcomes
Both planned and unexpected outcomes resulted from this project, including the development of tools and a model to help educational communities assess the value or risk associated with blogging in education. Any of these or the whole model are available to help an educational community come to a collaborative decisions based on increased awareness, greater understanding, and reflection about the roles that blogs (and other social software) should or should not play in teaching and learning. Each of the outcomes provided valuable information that helped provide answers to the 3 questions posed in this project.
Q1 What value can blog tools and the blogging process bring to teaching and learning?
The 10 top outcomes for this project are belFor a full report, including graphs and charts of any of the outcomes below, email Lucie and she'll send you the full report.
Identifying pedagogical beliefs that can be supported by blogging tools and software.
A searchable annotated collection of resources about blogging organized categories (created using a tool called FURL)
Increased awareness of social software tools like Blogging, Furling, MyBlogLog, and SurveyMonkey and their value in an information age where knowledge management tools and skills are much needed.
Increased awareness and dialogue about blogging amongst Vermont educators.
Pre- and Post surveys provided insights about preconceptions,questions, concerns, and opportunities that educators. The surveys can also be used by educational communities who would like a tool to poll their own educational communities.
Student Surveys: A tool that local educators can use to gather data from their own students, or to view a sampling of student data from local middle school and high school students about blogs.
Two new blogs that contain information and hyperlinks about blogging in education. These two blogs provided both example of blogging tools being used to present information and “content”.
Data about what online resources seemed of most interest to participants and viewers of this project.
An Inquiry Project Design that can be used by a group or community to go through the process of Assessing their communities readiness to use blogging tools for teaching and learning in their school community.
Meeting of ISTE standards related to social, ethical, legal, and cultural implications of technology for Vermont Educators, Administrators, and Students who participated in an activity.
Conclusion
When I first started this project, I was enthusiastic about the future of blogging as a tool for teaching and learning. My sentiments were very much aligned with these two quotes.
But like many technological development, the potential they bring is sometimes undermined by misuse. Just today I received a notice of an article in the Chicago Tribute filled with example of student and teacher use of blogs that leave school officials struggling to resolve 21st century ethical dilemmas.
Tempted to succumb to the philosophy that “Adopting blogs as a tool for teaching and learning is not worth the professional liability of being associated with “dangerous and unsavory” activities, I, instead, have concluded that the very reason that some might “stay away” is the one of the main reason that blogs should become part of our teaching and learning environment.
First of all, this project helped to realize that there is a difference between a) using blogging tools b) the verb “blogging”. Blogging tools can become a teacher productivity tools, whether it be to post homework assignments for students to access, or produce an online newsletter for increased communication between homes and schools.
However, the increase and impact of blogging on our culture has made it more challenging to use blogging tools (which are really ‘easy web content publishing tools) without being associated with the blogging culture (which in an of itself has some negative associations for educators).
Therefore the introduction of blog tools for web content publishing and/or blogging (the verb) should only be entered after a process of education, reflection, and consideration about the outcome you want from using these tools, and the parameters that help you achieve those outcomes without inadvertently stumbling into a risky situations (whether real or perceived).
The dialogues and surveys demonstrated that most participants adopted the sentiment that blogging and blog tools had a real value in the world of education. However, all parties acknowledged that awareness of risks was a key element of any educational activity that involved blog tools and blogging. This awareness should be formalized and parameters for using the tools as intended are important elements moving ahead with the any blog related projects.
The fact that there are safety concerns in a culture of emerging technology, is part of the justification for actually including blog related projects in education. Avoiding blogs not only has the impact of missed opportunity to use technological advancement for teaching and learning, but it may actually increase risks for our students by missing the opportunity to educate young people about social, ethical, and legal issues related to technological advancement.
However, if the decision to use blog tools or blogs are part of teaching and learning is not entered carefully, with training, reflection, and agreed-upon parameters, the outcomes might lead to undesirable results. This project provided the opportunity to design such a process and the tools to implement it. It also provided a chance to test this process, and share results with colleagues and peers. I strongly encourage that those considering the use of blogs in their educational environment follow a process such as the one designed and dicussed in this action research project to increase awareness of blogging and blog tools”, set up safety parameters (for students, teachers, and the school), then proceed to engage in blog activities that support your teaching and learning for the 21st century.
Imagine a world where "Every reader is a writer and every writer is a reader"
Jay Rosen (http://www.weblogg-ed.com/why_weblogs)
“To a remarkable degree, blogs also appear to bring full professors, adjuncts, and students onto a level field… You do see some of the barriers of rank and hierarchy break down..” http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i39/39a01401.htm
But like many technological development, the potential they bring is sometimes undermined by misuse. Just today I received a notice of an article in the Chicago Tribute filled with example of student and teacher use of blogs that leave school officials struggling to resolve 21st century ethical dilemmas.
School officials tread carefully when dealing with bloggers
Recent incidents in the Chicago school system illustrate that teachers and students who include objectionable material in personal blogs, even when written off-campus, may be sanctioned if others' privacy rights or personal security are at stake. Administrators' disciplinary decisions often boil down to the specificity of the posted material. Chicago Tribune (free registration) (12/9)
Tempted to succumb to the philosophy that “Adopting blogs as a tool for teaching and learning is not worth the professional liability of being associated with “dangerous and unsavory” activities, I, instead, have concluded that the very reason that some might “stay away” is the one of the main reason that blogs should become part of our teaching and learning environment.
First of all, this project helped to realize that there is a difference between a) using blogging tools b) the verb “blogging”. Blogging tools can become a teacher productivity tools, whether it be to post homework assignments for students to access, or produce an online newsletter for increased communication between homes and schools.
However, the increase and impact of blogging on our culture has made it more challenging to use blogging tools (which are really ‘easy web content publishing tools) without being associated with the blogging culture (which in an of itself has some negative associations for educators).
Therefore the introduction of blog tools for web content publishing and/or blogging (the verb) should only be entered after a process of education, reflection, and consideration about the outcome you want from using these tools, and the parameters that help you achieve those outcomes without inadvertently stumbling into a risky situations (whether real or perceived).
The dialogues and surveys demonstrated that most participants adopted the sentiment that blogging and blog tools had a real value in the world of education. However, all parties acknowledged that awareness of risks was a key element of any educational activity that involved blog tools and blogging. This awareness should be formalized and parameters for using the tools as intended are important elements moving ahead with the any blog related projects.
The fact that there are safety concerns in a culture of emerging technology, is part of the justification for actually including blog related projects in education. Avoiding blogs not only has the impact of missed opportunity to use technological advancement for teaching and learning, but it may actually increase risks for our students by missing the opportunity to educate young people about social, ethical, and legal issues related to technological advancement.
However, if the decision to use blog tools or blogs are part of teaching and learning is not entered carefully, with training, reflection, and agreed-upon parameters, the outcomes might lead to undesirable results. This project provided the opportunity to design such a process and the tools to implement it. It also provided a chance to test this process, and share results with colleagues and peers. I strongly encourage that those considering the use of blogs in their educational environment follow a process such as the one designed and dicussed in this action research project to increase awareness of blogging and blog tools”, set up safety parameters (for students, teachers, and the school), then proceed to engage in blog activities that support your teaching and learning for the 21st century.
Inquiry Design
In a companion course, I was asked to create an inquiry project design. I decided to take what I learned from this action research to create such a design that educational communities can use to take their our community through the process of assessing the role of blogs in education.
You are welcomed to use the design-- just drop me a note and let me know you're using it.
http://www.vismt.org/cfusion/lyd/uvm/Inquiry_Based_Project_files/frame.htm
You are welcomed to use the design-- just drop me a note and let me know you're using it.
http://www.vismt.org/cfusion/lyd/uvm/Inquiry_Based_Project_files/frame.htm
Resources
Resources - Citations
7th Grade Math. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://verity7math.blogspot.com/
Blogger: Create your Blog Now -- FREE. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.blogger.com
Blogging 101--Web logs go to school CNET News.com. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://news.com.com/Blogging+101--Web+logs+go+to+school/2100-1032_3-5895779.html
Blogging and RSS — The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml
Home Room 313. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://newanda411.typepad.com/mrbrandow/
Information Technology Grade Expectations. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.state.vt.us/educ/new/html/pgm_edtech.html#ge
LookSmart's Furl - Lucie deLaBruere's Archive of Blog Sites plus more. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.furl.net/members/techsavvygirl/
Mrs. Baker's Class Weblog. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://mrsbakersclass.blogspot.com/
NETS for Administrators. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://cnets.iste.org/administrators/a_stands.html
NETS for Students. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_stands.html
NETS for Teachers. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html
PEW Internet and American Life Project - Teen as Content Producers. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Content_Creation.pdf
S1 Math. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://s1math.blogspot.com/
SurveyMonkey.com - Powerful tool for creating web surveys. Online survey software made easy!. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.surveymonkey.com/
Technorati Weblog: State of the Blogosphere, August 2005, Part 1: Blog Growth. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.technorati.com/weblog/2005/08/34.html
The Chronicle: 6/6/2003: Scholars Who Blog. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i39/39a01401.htm
To Blog or Not To Blog?. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://vtedblog.blogspot.com/
Weblogg-ed - The Read/Write Web in the Classroom : Why Weblogs?. Retrieved December 10, 2005, from http://www.weblogg-ed.com/why_weblogs
7th Grade Math. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://verity7math.blogspot.com/
Blogger: Create your Blog Now -- FREE. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.blogger.com
Blogging 101--Web logs go to school CNET News.com. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://news.com.com/Blogging+101--Web+logs+go+to+school/2100-1032_3-5895779.html
Blogging and RSS — The "What's It?" and "How To" of Powerful New Web Tools for Educators. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/jan04/richardson.shtml
Home Room 313. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://newanda411.typepad.com/mrbrandow/
Information Technology Grade Expectations. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.state.vt.us/educ/new/html/pgm_edtech.html#ge
LookSmart's Furl - Lucie deLaBruere's Archive of Blog Sites plus more. Retrieved December 11, 2005, from http://www.furl.net/members/techsavvygirl/
