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.