How Do We know What We Know … in Educational Technology?

A presentation by Bob Hoffman and Marcie Bober

Fellows/College of Education for the

Education Center on Computational Science and Engineering http://www.edcenter.sdsu.edu/

What is inquiry?

Studious examination of facts or principles; research

Investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws

Web-based inquiry learning experiments

Students can study research-validated principles (in any content area) by participating in replications of experiments or original studies. By presenting them online with database interactions, students can participate any time, anywhere … and they can receive immediate feedback in the form of their own and others' data.

Benefits of Experiments

· Students actively participate and discover knowledge

· Students immediately view congregated data in the context of their own responses

· Experiments model asking and answering questions using data

· Instructors can use data to further their own professional development

· Some examples of experiments students use in EDTEC 541: Multimedia Development:

Type design: http://edtechfm.sdsu.edu/bhoffman/type

Multimedia interaction http///edweb.sdsu.edu/canal/lockthru00.htm

Web-based strategies for collecting, managing, and analyzing/interpreting data

Students can become savvy information consumers by creating and deploying a variety of web-based instruments and using sophisticated applications to analyze and display the resulting data. Research and evaluation are core to instruction; they are, in fact, the processes by which we determine the strengths and weaknesses of what and how we teach. We short-change our EdTec students if we fail to model ways that technology itself can contribute to robust research and assessment practices.

Benefits of Technology-driven Data Collection/Analysis

§ Students actively participate in multifaceted data gathering

§ Students manage the process of data entry, making decisions about how best to organize their data and which specific analyses to perform

§ Students weigh the benefits and drawbacks of specific collection methods (time, labor, etc.)

§ Instructors can use data to further their own professional development

§ Some examples of technology-infused tools that ED791 students have built and implemented this Fall:

Gary Rossen/LeadingWay – evaluating return on expectations: http://et.sdsu.edu/Grossen/K1U%20Survey%202/K1u%20survey.htm

Mary McGibbons and Cindy Davis/Contexant – program satisfaction and integration of skills/knowledge on the job: http://et.sdsu.edu/mbrueckmann/conexant/index1.htm

Visit our Professional Development Circle: http://edweb.sdsu.edu/circle-inquiry