Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Book Review
Integrating Literacy and Technology: Effective Practice for Grades K-6 (Tools for Teaching Literacy)
by Susan Watts Taffe and Carolyn B. Gwinn
The Guilford Press, 2007. 146 pages.
This book is written by Susan Watts Taffe and Carolyn B. Gwinn, instructors from University of Minnesota who are experts in integrating technology to teach literacy effectively. I find this book to be a very informative book. The authors share invaluable pointers on how to use technology in teaching students. The book stresses that technology must be thoughtfully embedded in lessons and not be used for the sake of using it. It also stresses that teacher must made sure that their lessons be meaningful and purpose driven. The book also reminds teachers to be mindful on how technology is used in their teaching. The importance of assessment of student learning and teachers reflecting on their instruction are also highlighted in the book. Other important aspects to be considered in integrating technology in instruction are also covered. These aspects include familiarity with learning standards, the use of technology according to students’ needs and attitudes and determining types of educational resources to be used. The last two chapters of the book are dedicated to the role of teachers as technology learners and being the agents of change in schools. I highly recommend that all teachers read this book. It is an excellent guide in helping teachers to integrate technology effectively in classroom.
by Susan Watts Taffe and Carolyn B. Gwinn
The Guilford Press, 2007. 146 pages.
This book is written by Susan Watts Taffe and Carolyn B. Gwinn, instructors from University of Minnesota who are experts in integrating technology to teach literacy effectively. I find this book to be a very informative book. The authors share invaluable pointers on how to use technology in teaching students. The book stresses that technology must be thoughtfully embedded in lessons and not be used for the sake of using it. It also stresses that teacher must made sure that their lessons be meaningful and purpose driven. The book also reminds teachers to be mindful on how technology is used in their teaching. The importance of assessment of student learning and teachers reflecting on their instruction are also highlighted in the book. Other important aspects to be considered in integrating technology in instruction are also covered. These aspects include familiarity with learning standards, the use of technology according to students’ needs and attitudes and determining types of educational resources to be used. The last two chapters of the book are dedicated to the role of teachers as technology learners and being the agents of change in schools. I highly recommend that all teachers read this book. It is an excellent guide in helping teachers to integrate technology effectively in classroom.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Internal Review Board
To my knowledge school teachers in Malaysia are able to carry out action research without having going through any review board. In schools, teacher can carry out their action research studies without problems. They just have to inform the heads of department (Panel Heads) and carry out their action research. The findings from action research are then translated into action research reports. These action reports when completed are sent to the District Education Department. There are also no internal review boards at district and state levels. This is actually something new to me.
But after reading the Belmont Report (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html) I realized the importance of having internal review board particularly in protecting and safeguarding the interests and welfare of research participants in research.
Here are some things that I picked up from the Belmont Report:
- In 1979, the Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research was published in the United States.
- It led to mandate for review of research involving human research participants.
Research must adhere to these basic ethical principles:
i) Respect for persons
- demands that participants enter into a research program voluntarily and and were informed adequately of the research goals.
ii)Beneficence
- must protect participants’ well-being and not harm the participants
- obligated to maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms
iii)Justice (benefits and risks of research be distributed fairly)
- concerning who ought to receive the benefits of research and who are the ones who bear the its burdens
- In 19th and early 20th centuries the burdens of serving as research subjects fell largely upon poor ward patients, while the benefits of improved medical care flowed primarily to private patients.
- Other injustices are getting participants from vulnerable populations such as
prisoners, racial minorities, welfare patients and etc. due to research convenience and their easy availability due to their compromised position rather than for reasons directly related to the problem being studied.
- According to Purdue University Committee on the use of Human Research Subjects, participantsshould not be selected due to class, socioeconomic status, or race unless justified by the research objectives. (http://www.irb.purdue.edu/belmont.shtml)
But after reading the Belmont Report (http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html) I realized the importance of having internal review board particularly in protecting and safeguarding the interests and welfare of research participants in research.
Here are some things that I picked up from the Belmont Report:
- In 1979, the Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research was published in the United States.
- It led to mandate for review of research involving human research participants.
Research must adhere to these basic ethical principles:
i) Respect for persons
- demands that participants enter into a research program voluntarily and and were informed adequately of the research goals.
ii)Beneficence
- must protect participants’ well-being and not harm the participants
- obligated to maximize possible benefits and minimize possible harms
iii)Justice (benefits and risks of research be distributed fairly)
- concerning who ought to receive the benefits of research and who are the ones who bear the its burdens
- In 19th and early 20th centuries the burdens of serving as research subjects fell largely upon poor ward patients, while the benefits of improved medical care flowed primarily to private patients.
- Other injustices are getting participants from vulnerable populations such as
prisoners, racial minorities, welfare patients and etc. due to research convenience and their easy availability due to their compromised position rather than for reasons directly related to the problem being studied.
- According to Purdue University Committee on the use of Human Research Subjects, participantsshould not be selected due to class, socioeconomic status, or race unless justified by the research objectives. (http://www.irb.purdue.edu/belmont.shtml)
I find that there are truths in all the philosophical frameworks when we conduct research. The question on which philosophical framework to subscribe to in my opinion depends on what kind of research that we are going to undertake. I am glad to discover I am in the social constructivism category that after undergoing the philosophical framework self-assessment. While I acknowledge the truths in other philosophical frameworks, I feel I am more comfortable with the social constructivism framework. The main reason is that I believe very strongly that researchers must interact frequently with the participants of the research.
All researchers when conducting research should possess critical thinking skills such as analysis, inference, explanation, evaluation, interpretation and self-regulation in order to produce the best research outcomes. They should be able evaluate and analyze their research questions, research procedures and data collection. The researchers would also have to assess the statements of participants and determine if a given argument is relevant or applicable.
After evaluating the data, researchers also should be able to interpret and form inferences from their observations and data. To do this they need skills in querying evidence and conjecturing alternatives. Then there is the explanation part where the results of the research are presented. Researchers need to justify the research procedures and present their arguments. Finally researchers also should practice self-regulation when conducting research. This means that he needs to consciously monitor and examine one’s cognitive activities, the analyzed results, evaluating and correcting either one’s reasoning of the results.
Apart from these attributes, researchers also must display the correct disposition toward critical thinking when conducting research such as truth seeking, being open-minded, analytical, systematic, and judicious and be confident in reasoning. All these dispositions will help researchers in producing the best results of research and finding the solutions for the research problem.
All researchers when conducting research should possess critical thinking skills such as analysis, inference, explanation, evaluation, interpretation and self-regulation in order to produce the best research outcomes. They should be able evaluate and analyze their research questions, research procedures and data collection. The researchers would also have to assess the statements of participants and determine if a given argument is relevant or applicable.
After evaluating the data, researchers also should be able to interpret and form inferences from their observations and data. To do this they need skills in querying evidence and conjecturing alternatives. Then there is the explanation part where the results of the research are presented. Researchers need to justify the research procedures and present their arguments. Finally researchers also should practice self-regulation when conducting research. This means that he needs to consciously monitor and examine one’s cognitive activities, the analyzed results, evaluating and correcting either one’s reasoning of the results.
Apart from these attributes, researchers also must display the correct disposition toward critical thinking when conducting research such as truth seeking, being open-minded, analytical, systematic, and judicious and be confident in reasoning. All these dispositions will help researchers in producing the best results of research and finding the solutions for the research problem.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
By Burke Johnson, Larry B. Christensen
Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2007). Educational research: an introduction (8th ed.). Boston, MA [etc.: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.
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