Annotated Bibliography Assignment

Bibliography #1

Citation:

Dyke, Harding, & Liddon (2008) How can online observation support the assessment and feedback, on classroom performance, to trainee teachers at a distance and in real time? Journal of Higher Education, 32(1) 37-46

Summary:

This was a qualitative study in England about the real time observations of teachers using video conferencing technology. The research looked at initial teacher training. This research looked beyond the initial training where teachers video taped their teaching and then waited for feedback from the observer.

In this study, two cameras were placed in the classroom. The observer could remotely move the cameras to gain a better understanding of what the teacher, as well as what the students were doing in all areas of the classroom.

The classroom teacher was allowed to meet with the observer before the class and after the observation. This made it more personal for the teacher and limited the anxiety of teaching to a stranger.

Review:

The study found that careful placing of cameras and having the ability to remotely control them enabled the online observer to gain the proper perspective of the classroom. This made it more real as to how an observation on the classroom would go. By not having the observer directly in the classroom also limited the distraction for the students and the classroom teacher.

The study for this method to be comparable to face to face observation. It was also concluded that this is a cost efficient way to help new teachers, as well as extend this technology to on going teacher trainings in England’s schools.

The study seemed pretty solid. While it is a long term cost effective solution, it is still time consuming in the set up of the cameras, as well as the initial cost of the cameras and on line technology.

Bibliography #2

Citation:

Pittinsky, Matthew (2005). No Teacher Left Behind. T H E Journal, 32(11) 32-34

Summary:

This article summarized the findings of the National Summit conducted by Blackboard to address the topic of online professional learning. In the summit, they discussed how elearning had transformed higher ed learning. The major challenge discussed was implementing elearning to replace traditional professional development for teachers. Problems discussed for teachers using traditional professional development were many of the same as the argument for on l ine classes versus face to face classes. Time to travel, on going support after the class ends, and maintaining teacher interaction after the session ends were reasons discussed to move to on line professional development.

Review:

The article was a reinforcement of ideas that we have discussed in class as it pertains of on line classes versus face to face classes. With teachers having a 50% attrition rate after 3 years, districts are challenged in finding new ways to reach out too their teachers to support them in the classroom. The article highlights a few districts in their attempt to help teachers learn Spanish, create supported on line communities for teachers, and general on line classes for teachers.

The article is a good, basic summary of the necessary arguments that districts discuss when implementing professional development. While a bit elementary for a graduate program, it would be a good tool to deliver to teachers who don’t fully understand the importance and the advantages of elearning and professional devekoplment.

Bibliography #3

Citation:

Poftak, Amy (2007). Best of 2007. Technology and Learning, 28(5) 12-30.

Summary:

As a student who is still learning all the technologies out there, I found this article the most interesting. It was a summary of Technologies and Learning Best of 2007. The article covers the awards for a broad range of software and learning modules, picture dictionaries, library management, multimedia creation studios, on line communication and collaboration , and other categories. Criteria used to judge each product included if the program was a groundbreaker, pedagogically sound, crucial solution, user-friendly, and innovative.

A trend newly discovered in the review was a focus on teaching core skills in a self paced on line environment with a goal of showing measurable student growth and software solutions for managing and monitoring classroom computers.

Review:

Top Winner – Acheve3000 – We use this program at our school. It is a web based literacy program focusing on student growth in the core programs of elementary school. It focuses on the management aspect of the students and being able to track their growth and time on the system.

Other winners were WritetoLearn 3, Discovery Education, Brainpop, and Leapfrog Schoolhouse.

The multimedia winner was Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium version. It is a do it all web design and development suite.

I found this article helpful to me, the novice technology user, and thought it would help schools looking to guide them in software purchases and use. While the article isn’t really research of any kind, it is a good starting point for software investigation.

Bibliography #4

Citation:

Eroz-Tuga & Sadler (2009). Comparing six video chat tools: A critical evaluation by language teachers. Computers & Education, 53, pgs. 787 - 798

Summary:

This qualitative study discusses the evaluation and examination of six video chat tools. Two classes of graduate students conducted the study. One school was a large Midwestern United States school and the other a school in Ankara, Turkey. One student from the US paired up with a student from Turkey. The students are all current or future language teachers. The reason for the research was to investigate more advanced forms of CMC (computer-mediated communication). The focus of the project was to evaluate the technical aspects of the popular video chat programs to determine the practicality of personal and professional use. The study will be used as guidance for language teachers who wish to incorporate the technology in their classrooms.

The six video tools that were investigated were CUworld, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Paltalk, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger. They picked these six because of their popularity and availability to the public. The study first compared the audio and video capabilities (multi part, 1-1, and half/full – duplex) The students were then asked to discuss technology lessons using the six different video chats, but weren’t allowed to comment on the actual CMC.

The study ranked the 6 into 3 groups, bottom third, middle third, and top third. They ranked them on video and audio quality, community oriented category, and user friendliness. Skype and MSN Messenger ranked at the top for audio and video chat, but both tools lacked an integrated community component.

The overall rankings were broken onto two groups, personal use, and language learning with Paltalk scoring the worst for both and MSN Messenger scoring the best for both. Skype was ranked second for both.

Review:

I thought this study was very well organized and worth reading for anyone in the CMC field. The study’s strength lies in the different chat providers they used and tested. Having people from two different countries was a good way to differentiate the demographics. Another key point was that the students were not allowed to talk about the features of the actual video chats as to persuade the other student one way or the other.

Overall, it is well worth reading. The study recommended MSN Messenger and Skype over the others for both personal use and language learning.

Bibliography #5

Citation:

Whelan, Robert (2008). Use of ICT in education in the South Pacific: findings of the Pacific eLearning Observatory. Distance Education, 29(1), 53-70

Summary:

This was a qualitative study conducted in an online survey to assess levels of access to information and communication technologies in eductaion and to identify ways of lowering the barriers in the Pacific region. The importance for distance learning in the South Pacific is extreme, due to the large area that the University of the South Pacific serves. With the large increase of on line users in the past decade, distance learning has become a real importance to the region. The article discusses the use of the universities private satellite based telecommunications and ICT infrastructure, USPNet. It has had to triple its bandwidth of the last decade to accommodate the rising need.

The survey participants were policy makers, educators, and experts information technology. The “feedback” tool used to collect the data was Moodle. The survey addressed eight araes: demographics of the respondents, perceptions of ICT (information and communication technologies) in education and teaching practices, ICT access and school networking estimates, role of ICT in curriculum, current ICT initatives for education, strategies for the development and deployment, and current needs and challenges for development.

Review:

The article was focused on lowering the barriers to ICT in the South Pacific, but the research had external validity (thank you EDUC 607) in it’s findings. Some of the key finidings to tahe research were:

· Review lecturer workloads resulting from an increase in use of ICT’s.

· Provide an introduction and orientation for rural students mot in need of ICT.

· Study student behaviors online to develop models of effective practices.

· Design and test innovative ICT-based language learning resources to improve students’ academic and communication skills

On line learning is a challenge in all areas of the world, and it seems that they all have the same challenges. This study probably could have been conducted in Montana or upper Canada with close to the same results.