Category: Week 7

S1-Week 7-Class

Semester 1 (Week 7)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 7th November 2017.  The tutors were Dr Claire McAvinia and Dr Ita Kennelly.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Research Methods

Learning Activity

Review your research question, methodology and methods.

Consider – how is it all lining up. Does everything fit?

Review individually (5 mins)

Review in pairs (5 mins each)

Justify your choice of methods/instruments to your partner (critical friend)

We will then feedback to the group?

Interviews

We talked about

(a) recording versus note taking (recording was recommended)
(b) identifying the participants (or not) in my academic paper
(c) allowing the participants to vet the transcripts
(d) allowing the participants to vet the final paper

Triangulation

Something to think about…

Does the analysis of qualitative data involve some quantitative methods?

Does the design and analysis of quantitative data involve some qualitative judgements?

Questionnaire Design

Perhaps jumble up the negative and positive responses in a Lichter scale

Interviews as a Method

Interviewing: a method of data collection that involves researchers seeking open-ended answers related to a number of questions, topic areas, or themes. (O’Leary, 2010)

Interviews yield rich…..
(May, 1997)

Different epistemological conceptions of the role, different rules of the game and potentially different data…
(Kvale, 1996)

Interviews and Ethical Considerations

It would be considered unethical to…

Trying to get interviews at all costs
Not safeguarding anonymity and confidentiality
Making promises you cannot or do not intend to keep
Not being honest about the purpose of the interview or your intentions in relation to the data being collected

Interview Considerations (Planning)

Formality
Structure
Single or Multiple
In Person or Distanced

Interview Questioning

Structured – fixed and predetermined questions. No new questions added during…
Semi-structured – some questions fully decided, others might not be fixed. Researcher has scope to ask follow-up questions. Mixed framework for analysis.
Unstructured interviews – small set of self prompts to investigate research question. One question can lead to others.

Types of Questions

Closed
Open-ended

How to do a research interview (You Tube)

Commentary by Graham R Gibbs, University of Huddersfield

Knowledgeable
Structure
Clear
Gentle
Sensitive
Open
Steering
Critical
Remembers
Interprets (summarise what the interviewee has just said)

Balanced (don’t talk too much)
Ethically sensitive

Bad Interview

No eye contact
Asking two questions at the one time
No prompts, no follow-up questions

Good interview

Have a good introduction
Ask the interviewee if they still wish to participate in the interview
Inform the interviewee that they don’t have to answer a question.
Use follow-up questions on interviewee answers.

Developing Your Questions

Decide on research topic
Generalise puzzlements
Create a list of research questions
Generate list of issues, topic, themes, subjects, etc

 

M4-Week 7-Home

Educational Research Design Module (Week 7)

The following is a description of searches I carried out in the week immediately after the class that took place on 30th May 2017.

Description

THIS WEEK:  I researched the following topics:
(1) Adaptive Learning v Personalised Learning – I looked at a very good YouTube Video
(2) Adaptive Learning (Searches) – I conducted a number of comprehensive searches

Adaptive Learning v Personalised Learning

ASU GSV Summit: Next Generation Digital Platforms

Adaptive Learning (Searches)

Google Scholar
evaluating instructional design domain models
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=evaluating+instructional+design+domain+models&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=
240,000 results

Google
“adaptive learning” “machine learning”
https://www.google.ie/?gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=tnQ1WczdDY_cwALo7JbgBw#q=%22adaptive+learning%22+%22machine+learning%22
161,000 results

5 STAR – Excellent Article
EDUCAUSE REVIEW

Adaptive Learning Systems: Surviving the Storm
by Lou Pugliese (first CEO of Blackboard Inc, former CEOP of MoodleRooms, currently Senior Innovation Fellow and Managing Director at the Arizona State University (ASU) Action Lab).
17 October 2016
http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/10/adaptive-learning-systems-surviving-the-storm

GETTING SMART

8 Ways Machine Learning Will Improve Education
by Tom Vander Ark
26 November 2015

(1) Content analytics that organize and optimize content modules

Gooru
http://about.gooru.org

IBM Watson
https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SS5RWK_3.5.0/com.ibm.discovery.es.nav.doc/iiypofnv_prodover_cont.htm

(2) Learning analytics that track student knowledge and recommend next steps

(a) Adaptive learning systems:

DreamBox

DreamBox Learning

ALEKS
https://www.aleks.com

ReasoningMind

Home

Knewton
https://www.knewton.com

(b) Game-based learning

ST Math
https://web.stmath.com

MangaHigh
https://www.mangahigh.com/en-gb/

(3) Dynamic scheduling matches students that need help with teachers that have time

Teach to One Math
NewClassrooms

Personalized Learning School Model

(4) Grading systems that assess and score student responses to assessments and computer assignments at large scale, either automatically or via peer grading:

WriteToLearn (Pearson)
http://www.writetolearn.net

Turnitin
http://turnitin.com/en_us/what-we-offer/revision-assistant

 

M4-Week 7-Class

Educational Research Design Module (Week 7)

The following is a reflection on the Tuesday morning class that took place on 30th May 2017 from 10:00 to 13:00 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Description

THIS WEEK:  Presentation of Past Graduates Work (Part 1); Ethics in Research (Part 2)

NOTES:  from today’s class…

PART 1

PART 1 – 10:00 – 11:15
Presentation of Past Graduates Work
Room 2069
Padraig McDonagh

Applied Research Methods

He uses software called Packet Tracer in teaching Networks.

He teaches using: Concepts, Theory, Simulation Software

Screencasting to reduce interruptions in class. He used the Active Presenter software. He used unlisted YouTube videos. There are very good analytics.

Research Question:
FROM: Can screencasts improve performance in using simulation software to lean computer networking

TO: Can screencasts aid student’s use of software in learning computer networks?

Papers on cognitive load, simulations software, screencasts, research (Grix 2010)

Websites http://www.infed.org

“I have adopted a post positivist approach to my research.

Action Research
Create some screencasts
Release them to students
Get feedback on what works / what doesn’t
Records views/usage
Refine the screencasts
Produce second set of screencasts for more advanced tasks
Get feedback

Surveys
– Likert scale
– Open to all students
– Anonymised through Google Forms

Metrics
– Google analytics to record page views

Data
– ???

Creating quality screencasts
Getting students to take the survey (approx. 100 first year computing students)
Analysing results from Google/Surveys
Missing a key piece of information
Ethics approval

Google Forms (he would use this again). Good spreadsheets.

Please agree to,the following before proceeding:
(Getting them to agree

Note: I like the way it displays the comments beside (to the right of) the graphs.
Note: He used a mobile phone for recordings of focus groups and he did his own transcripts.
Note: He said that if he was to do the research again, he would do more focus groups and for longer duration.

What did he learn?

Test, test, test your survey questions.
Make sure your questions aren’t leading.
Focus groups are a wealth of information.
Data collection is tough if you don’t plan ahead.
A critical friend is very valuable.

Presentation of Past Graduates Work
Room 2069
Jennifer Burke, DIT Bolton Street

Methodology: Action Research

4 sessions of pre-test and post-test.
She also used surveys.
Reflective Journals.
Note: She gets a lot of views of her SlideShare presentations.
Note: She thinks Pinterest is great. She and her students upload a lot of material there.

She had her journal paper published in AISHE (All Ireland Society for Higher Education).

Caitriona Ní Héigh

PART 2 – 11:30 – 13:00 (Dr. Frances Boylan)
Ethics in Research
Room 5037

What is a human participant?
– Living human beings
– Human beings who have recently died
– Foetuses
– Embryos

What type of research will you be undertaking?

Note: Interviews, Surveys and Focus Groups

Note: I will probably be using mixed methods.

Different types of participation.
– Covert research (observing people who don’t know they are being observed for research purposes)
– Indirect or passive research (research on pre-existing data)
– Direct or active research (people actually involved. Clinical trials, filling in surveys, giving interviews, etc)

Research ethics is the application of moral rules and professional codes of conduct to the planning, conducting and reporting of information about research subjects.

Three codes that are appropriate:

– ???
– ???

Code of Ethics / Ethical Guidelines

1. Informed consent

I need to say what my research will be for.
Hand out an information sheet to my participants.
Detail purpose, method, possible outcomes (conferences, papers, etc), how much time they will need to devote (say 3 interviews over 5 weeks) e.g. survey and interview would be called material information.
Participants have to be volunteers.
Permission in relation to recording and transcribing.
Permission to have it published.
Have a couple of lines at the start of the survey stating that they agree to participate. Organise the survey so that they can’t continue past the first question if they say ‘No’ – they don’t consent.

2. Harm
This can be emotional harm, damage them socially, damage their reputation. Allow participants to withdraw at any point.

3. Confidentiality & Protection of Identity
Data should be anonymised. Storage of data. Encryption.

4. Conflicts of interest

5. Disclosure
…of confidential information.

N.B. I WILL NEED TO FILL OUT AN ONLINE RESEARCH ETHICS APPLICATION. THIS WILL BE IN TODAY’S POWERPOINT LECTURE.

https://form.jotformeu.com/…..

Note: You must have the Ethics Committee approval for publishing papers and conference proceedings.

Research Ethics Decision Tree for Educational and Teaching & Learning Projects.

M3-Week 7-Home

TELTA Module (Week 7)

The following is a selection of my contributions to the group chat on Slack from from Wednesday 22nd February to Tuesday 28th February 2017. The Slack ‘Chat Channel’ was set up by Dr. Frances Boylan on 10th January 2017 and I joined the channel on 11th January 2017.

28th February 2017

Gerard Kilkenny [12:53 AM]
I have been involved in different ways in eLearning for about 26 years. I get very involved for periods of time and then move on to do something else. The MSc in Applied eLearning (this TELTA module is an elective component) is my latest foray. The names and acronyms keep changing – CAI, CBT, TBT, eLearning – but one constant is that when I come back to the eLearning ‘fold’, everybody I meet, and everything I read, suggests that we are on the cusp of a digital breakthrough in education. The names of the principals often change, but the evolving eLearning community always seem excited that something is about to radically change education. Except it never does. There is a line from a Mary Coughlan song (from her 1996 album ‘Under The Influence’) that reads “…but every few years it’s right back to zero.

I was aware that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a long chat shortly before Jobs passed away in October 2011, during which they talked about education and technology. This is an excerpt from one of two postings below. (The second posting, which is nothing to do with Jobs and Gates, is a 7 minute video called “This will revolutionize education” which I think is well worth looking at in the context of today’s webinar).

QUOTE FROM MEETING BETWEEN JOBS AND GATES:
“True to form, one of the elements Jobs brought up during their final meeting was the failure of both men to “materially” improve education through technology.”

http://www.macnn.com/articles/13/05/13/friends.and.rivals.discussed.family.history.future/

Bill Gates emotionally details final meeting with Steve Jobs – (May 13) | MacNN
An unaired portion of a 60 Minutes interview with Bill Gates saw the founder of Microsoft in an unusually reflective state when questioned by interviewer Charlie Rose on the topic of the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, his friend and rival.

This Will Revolutionize Education

 

M2-Week 7-Home

The following is a reflection on Week 7 (Home) of the Instructional Design & eAuthoring module.

I have been experimenting with an accompanying free app for iPad called Adobe Captivate Draft, which is for storyboarding.  I created a three screen storyboard using some photos I had on my iPad from a Camino trip I did last year (nothing to do with composting!).  It was then possible to email the draft to others.

To use Adobe Captivate Draft, you need to sign up for a free Adobe account which gives you 5 GB of free Adobe Document Cloud storage.  Even with that account and cloud storage, I think that the Adobe Captivate Draft files are exported to Adobe Creative Cloud which requires a subscription.

So far, I have not been able to access the Adobe Captivate (storyboard) file that I created on my iPad in order to import it into the full blown Adobe Captivate application on my iMac.  I uploaded it from my iPad to an Adobe Cloud but when I subsequently logged into the Adobe Document Cloud on my iMac, there were no documents there.  So, I’m assuming that the file is in the (other) Adobe Creative Cloud.

When I used the email (‘export’) feature from Adobe Captivate Draft on my iPad, this just emails a web link which allows other members of the creative team to add comments to the (Adobe Captivate Draft) storyboard file but not to edit it. Furthermore, this link is not a file that I can import into Adobe Captivate on my iMac. However, Adobe Captivate on my iMac does have a facility to import Adobe Captivate Draft files. Frustrating!  I have ‘googled’ but no solutions so far. Anyway, I can’t afford to spend any more time now on this problem right now.

I think Allesio mentioned that he was interested in using Articulate Storyline for storyboarding.  If so, how will I be able to use the Articulate storyboard file to create the final project in Adobe Captivate? I assume that I will be able to somehow view the storyboard file that Allesio and Rachel create and then use this storyboard file to order the content (text, images, animation, video, audio) created / supplied by Mick with some content possibly being created / supplied by the rest of us?

The link below might be useful. Step 6 mentions Gagne’s 9 Principles which would tie in nicely to the Learning Theories module.

8 Steps for an Awesome eLearning Storyboard
http://elearningbrothers.com/8-steps-for-an-awesome-elearning-storyboard/

Here is a comparison of Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline:

Articulate Storyline 2 vs Adobe Captivate 9

Hmm, one of the Adobe Captivate 9 ‘cons’:
Steep learning curve.

That’s what I thought the first couple of times I used it. Anyway, I’d better start climbing!

M2-Week 7-Class

Instructional Design & eAuthoring Module (Week 7)

The following is a reflection on the Tuesday morning class that took place on 6th December 2016 from 10:00 to 13:00 using Gibbs Reflective Cycle.

Description

THIS WEEK:  Design, Learning Analytics and Evaluation

Design (Ciaran O’Leary)
====================
Herbert Simon, 1969, The Sciences of the Artificial

Design distinguishes the professions (schools of engineering, architecture, education)

Everyone designs
Product, Service, Assemblage
Expert Non-Expert

Failed Use, Non-Use
Faithful Use, Appropriation

“If you want to create a product that satisfies a broad audience of users, logic will tell you to make it as broad in its functionality as possible to accommodate the most people.  Logic is wrong.  You have far greater success by designing for a single person.”

Alan Cooper (2007)

“Self-referential design” – making the mistake of designing for yourself.

Learning Analytics (Pat Walsh)
===========================
Year 2 Project
Research Methodology – Sequential Mixed Method Approach

Blackboard
Data Analysis Tools

The Retention Center (Early Warning System)

Rules based on
(a) Missed deadlines
(b) Grades
(c) Course Activity
(d) Course access

Current debate about VLEs/LMSs – Effective learning tools or data repositories – NGDLE/NGVLE must provide greater analytic and predictive tools. (Brown, Dehoney, & Millichap, 2015)

Evaluation (Damian Gordon)
=========================
The Quantity versus Quality Issue

Evaluation Tools

MERLOT – www.merlot.org
LORI – Learning Object Review Instrument

Quality of Content

Feelings

Evaluation

Analysis

Conclusions

Personal Action Plans