My Research Pre-Proposal

Over the past year I have become an advocate for the incorporation of new media and technology in the classroom. I truly believe that student writing engagement can be encouraged through the incorporation of new media such as blogs, wikis, and virtual worlds. However, the question of access continues to impede widespread adoption of these tools. It is difficult to find an article discussing new media and education that doesn’t also discuss computer access and/or the digital divide.
In this research project, I propose to address the issue of computer and internet access and the digital divide on a local level. My two research questions are: 1) How many students in Las Cruces, New Mexico have computer access on a regular basis outside of school? 2) What is the quality of that access, and does it include internet? In the second question, I am addressing the type of internet access available to students because I believe that it is no longer enough to simply have access to a word processor. Based on the answers I receive to these two questions I will proceed to either look for programs available to improve student computer and internet access outside of school, or use my findings to convince and encourage teachers in the district to incorporate digital media tools in their classrooms.
I will conduct my research using a mixed methods model for data collection in order to ensure the greatest level of validity. I will begin my research by taking a random sample survey of students throughout Las Cruces Public Schools ranging from middle school to high school. The random sample is important to me to ensure I receive a variety of responses from students of different races, cultures, genders, ages, and economic levels- all of which could influence access issues and contribute to the digital divide. I will also organize several focus groups based on the same participants to discuss the survey questions in greater detail, in order to get a better sense of how students feel about the importance of their computer access, and their responses to possible solutions to provision of access. I will then code all of the information and from there be able to understand what the current situation is, and how to move forward.
I will be drawing on a number of scholars in the field such as Hawisher and Selfe, Wolsey and Grisham, and others who advocate the use of new media in education. I will also be looking at the work of Patrick Tucker on measuring the digital divide(2007), the JBHE Foundation on issues of race and access(2009), David Sexton, et al. on attitudes towards computers(1999), and a case study done in Spring, Texas in which action was taken to provide internet access to all students in the community(2004).
I am expecting to find that access to computers and the internet outside of school is still not available to all students. If I am able to offer help to even one student, this project will be well worth the effort. No more can we as teachers afford to sit back and allow students to fall behind due to a lack of computer access. Through research, we can find ways to eradicate the digital divide and offer all students the same opportunities.

My choices in Research

When I think about my research project, I think I am driven by both a passion for my project as well as a real desire to come to an answer to my research question. I feel like I am approaching my project proposal from an action research position. In a lot of ways I can see how the research question I want to address has grown out of my desire to somehow, somewhere make a difference.

When it comes to choosing my methodology, I agree with Johanek and Creswell, in that there are multiple ways to come to an answer through the use of mixed methods. I hope that I would choose the best method(s) for the question at hand.

I can really see how a feminist viewpoint in my concern for the "Other(s)" as well as a social constructionist point of view really shapes the types of research I am drawn to. So I guess more than anything, I am passionate about helping others in some way, which takes me back to my greatest fear...Who am I to determine who or what needs change?

Questions for Friday

I am wondering if they can speculate on how long it will take to see a change in values within the greater academic community to appreciate collaborative and multimodal compositions. I think it was Cheryl Ball's web page that described her process for applying for tenure, and how she was careful to explain her choices for creating and justifying her reasons for creating a digital portfolio. I think this relates to the question of completing multimodal dissertations and other academic work. When and how can we start to overcome the fear of assessment that seems to keep these forms of scholarship from being valued as much as traditional compositions and publications?

Game Lab Response

Having played in the game lab today, I think of computer mediated research in a different way. At first I only thought of it as computer mediated research as the type we were discussing on secondlife and textual research, but now I'm thinking of it in terms of real people having actual physical contact in a media equipped room.
It is important to get IRB's done; however I was guilty of not actually reading it when before I signed it, which is a limitation of such a form. I think working with children, I would probably have someone read the form to them as well as have them read it themselves. Humm...that's about all I can think of now, so I'm off to the Video Closet.

Virtual and Online Research Questions

1. What special considerations or circumstances should be given to research done in and about online spaces?
When it comes to research done in online spaces, I think it is important to document online sources correctly, as well as to confirm the legitimacy of a site. As teachers, both of these are things we have to help our students understand and practice in their work. In regard to actual research done in and about virtual spaces, there are many considerations to keep in mind. I keep going back to the second life research conversation and doing an ethnography of the space and avatars. Although I don't understand the purpose or take it seriously when I visit, other people do, and as a researcher I can not undervalue their feelings and opinions they possess for their 2nd life personas. So, I would say that valuing the space and the participants who go there is an important consideration to keep in mind. In other words, it is important to neither judge nor over-simplify that which I am researching.

2. What are some of the major benefits you see in virtual research? What are some of the disadvantages?
I think the greatest benefit I see in conducting online research is the ease of access--the research can be done from home, or any other place with computer access. At the same time, I can see research work such as an ethnography becoming overwhelming if done completely online. Not having the separation of a place to leave a days work behind could lead the researcher to a burnout situation. Another disadvantage to online research directed to/on participants. is that one never knows for certain to whom they are speaking. This seems like it could be problematic in certain situations.

3. In light of research like Thurlow and McKay's, how do you think your students are likely to value online research practices and scholarship?
Before I address this question, I just want to say how amazed I was at how dated this article seemed to me, and it came out in 2003 which wasn't really that long ago at all. The world of technology has exploded since 2003, and continues to do so still. I don't think I had a phone with text capabilities until 2004, and didn't join a social networking site until 2005 (MySpace, which took me months to figure out).
I think this is a difficult question to answer. I think there are students who do and will value online research and scholarship practices, and those who do not and will not value the those research tools available to them. I think that many of these students take the ease of access to answers for granted too. On more than one occasion I have heard students say that they don't need to learn anything because they can google it if they need it later. I think as teachers we have an obligation to teach students how to use the available tools properly and responsibly.

secondlife mini-ethnography

Ok...I keep going back to this crazy world, and I still don't understand it. It seems like it would be really difficult to do an ethnography in Second-life without knowing the proper ways of being and functioning. I don't feel like I know enough about the technical side of second-life to even study it.

The problems I see here compared to traditional eths is that you can't force someone to talk to you, and even finding someone to observe can be difficult at times. For this to work, you would have to know what you are doing in there and have the look of a REAL member of the community.

Thoughts on Ethnography

I see ethnography as a detailed picture of a certain time, place, and people that is contextual, with the potential to yield useful information about that time, place and people it studies. The shortfall is that the researcher determines what is important, and how to represent findings based on some sort of lens, whether consiously or subconsiously.

What I really like about ethnographies is that they allow a place for the participants voice(s) to be heard. This aspect represents what I think is the heart of social conrtuction. Ethnography embraces the fact that we all have a story that can influence another's story while also reshaping our own. The products of ethnograogy could be a collection of little "t" truths that could eventually lead to big "T" truths...maybe? Just some thoughts.

Research interests

I am really interested in looking at ways new media tools can be incorporated in the composition and language arts classrooms. I've done several papers on the topic, and feel like I really need some sound, first-hand research to back my belief that new media tools can have a positive outcome when incorporated in the composition activities. My problem here is that I don't know if I want to be or could stand to be proven wrong.

A research question that I would really like to address is the recurring issue of computer and internet access. In most articles I've read, access seems to be the main reason for a lack of new media inclusion in the classroom, especially in the secondary classroom settings. So, I would be interested in doing a survey--eek or a case study, or...(Suggestions?) to learn about what kind of access local students have. I want to be able to have an idea of what students really have access to. From there I would like to look at the available literacy programs that help provide students in-home computer access.

Surveys

Before this class I thought surveys were the easiest and quickest way to gather information for research, but I was wrong. If there is one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s that there is no easy research…at least not if it’s worthy of academic study.
For a survey to be successful, it must be well planned, organized and implemented. Surveys require thoughtful planning of questions, choosing participants, consideration of variables, and the ability for the researcher to accept advice from others which Bonnie demonstrated in her own survey process.
I think the element that makes surveys most difficult is that the questions are vague enough not to lead the answers but on target enough to gather useful information. I think of the composition of surveys now as a process that requires peer review, and multiple drafts.

I have also been thinking about our discussion on a culture of surveys, and I think that there definitely is a culture, but I don’t think it’s new. I think surveys have been popular for a long time, especially with younger age groups, and girls in particular. I know when I was in middle school especially; surveys were an important past time for my friends and me. Why, I’m not sure of, but we did as many as we could find in magazines, and wrote our own too.

Focus Groups

When I think of Focus Groups, I think about the scene in Up Close and Personal when the news channel makes Michelle Pfiefer look like her co-anchor based on results of a focus group. In that context, I can see them being a bit superficial. However, I can also see how they could be used for gathering more important info too. I have been invited twice to sit in on a focus group in Santa Fe, but they never offer any compensation. The letter makes it sound like you should be honored that they even asked you, which is all the compensation you get.

I think the success of a focus group really depends on the moderator. If the moderator is not able to guide discussions, and encourage everyone to speak openly, the group could be monopolized by stronger personalities or be taken off subject completely. It is also important that the moderator refrain from showing any opinion on the topic of discussion, as this could influence the discussion.

I could see myself using a focus group similar to what Merrie Davidson did with public school teachers. I would use the focus group to get an idea of how technology and new media are being/or not being used in the classroom, and an idea of how those teachers value the idea of new media. I think the information gathered from there could help me focus on areas of further research.
Outside my research interests, my husband and I have been considering opening a new business, and have been discussing the use of focus groups as a way explore public interest. We have also considered the use of surveys to evaluate whether or not our idea is even worth pursuing.

Case Studies

I really like the idea of using case studies. I see them as a starting point for beginning to search for answers to broad questions. It seems like a good way to begin figuring out what is going on in a specific situation. I think that case studies have a local/contextual quality that makes them unique from other types of methods. I guess this is what makes the case study more generalizable and a contextual.
I think of the a case study as an initial study on a subject, like looking at a small piece of an iceberg, rather than the whole. Case studies yield answers to initial questions that help the researcher focus on a plan for further study.

Worldviews

I feel most drawn to the worldviews Creswell describes as Constructivism and Pragmatism (6). I think I am drawn to the Social Constructivist worldview because of its need of human interaction for meaning making. Being a fan of the social construction theory in education, I really do believe we have a lot to learn from each other, and I see this connecting to my beliefs on research methodologies and design.

At the same time, I feel drawn to the pragmatic worldview because I like the idea of using mixed methods. I think there are many issues/variables that determine the best methods of research for a particular topic, and I like knowing that I can choose the method that works best within the context. While both of these worldviews value qualitative research, they also acknowledge the importance of quantitative research.

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Introduction

I just wanted to say hello, and tell you all that I am looking forward to our discussions!