My survey might finally be posted to the internet where people can go out and fill it in and I might get the results. It only took three different attempts and finally writing the survey and capture code by myself.
Initially I was going to use an open source product called Lime Survey that Dr. Pfaffman has set up for us. This cumbersome piece of software looked like I might be able to use it until 2 hours later I finally made it to the part of my survey with a semantic differential. For those that don't know, that is a question with a word on both ends and you select the choice that is closest to your feeling for example,
I think this blog post is:
Brilliant 1 2 3 4 5 Stupid
A good source of information 1 2 3 4 5 A bad source of information
etc...
Anyway, Lime Survey won't do that. We have this group of people in OIT that are dedicated to statistics. SPSS makes a program called MRInterview. Since SPSS is the leading statistics software package one would think that their survey software would be superb. NOPE! It was slightly less cumbersome than Lime Survey, but I was left at the point where I e-mailed back and said: "My survey is now ready for you to finalize so I can use it. Please let me know what else needs to be done."
Apparently MRInterview doesn't do S.D.s either. I thought this was a standard survey item type, but I must be wrong about that. They need to apply a template that was written by one of the people that use the software... that's in limbo at the moment.
SO.... I wrote my own form in PHP which is SIMPLE and laid it out how I want it. Then I wrote code to capture the results which ended up being easier than I anticipated. The only problem I encountered was skipping a page when someone indicates that have never participated in a webcast. Then I had to generate a userid for each person. I was going to have a file with a number in it, but I used the date function to generate the number instead.
Of course the HOURS I spent with Lime Survey and MRInterview were all complete wastes of time and one would think that with all these people out there doing research and putting surveys online that there would be a simple solution that would include at least the general survey type questions that are dicussed in most overviews of quantative research!
Ok, I'm done... take the box away. I'm going to work on my paper now.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Rethinking thinking
I really enjoyed the article I read for this week. It had plenty of good ideals in it. The only issue I took with it is that it kept implying that online collaborative learning needed to be studies from a developmental research approach, but never quite suggested how one would go about taking that approach.
It does highlight a key problem with the transition from face-to-face classrooms to online learning. Basically with all the power of technology to supposedly enhance online learning, it is the goal of many institutions to simply replicate the face-to-face environment online.
This goes back to the ideal that things are done the way they have always been done. Teachers are not inclined to learn a new way of teaching in addition to learning new technology to teach. Those that are forced to will learn how to use the technology to teach in exactly the same way they have always taught...
How do I deliver a lecture online? How do I allow the class to ask questions while I deliver my lecture? How do I post lecture materials where the class can find them? How do I examine the class using the technology available?
Teachers have simply tried to use the technology to replicate what they do in the classroom without having the classroom in front of them.
The article points out that part of the reason is that faculty are not given sufficient time, training, or support for properly transitioning, but "perceive the primary problem as an inability of academic staff and instructional designers to think "outside the box" when it comes to developing online courses"
One other note of particular interest was in describing changes that would need to be made to meet the "vision" of online collaborative learning, "Educational researchers should be rewarded for participation in long-term developmental research projects and their impact on practice rather than for the number of refereed journal articles they publish."
Not sure I agree with the first part, but I agree 100% with the second part of that statement. (The part after rather than).
This goes back to some of the things that we have been touching on the entire semester. How do you change a system that has been in place for so long? At what point do you try to change the system. This paper obviously calls for a change not only to the way course materials are designed and taught, but to the way the higher education functions in general.
If colleges begin to change the way they “teach” students, then how does primary education (elementary, middle, and high school) adapt to prepare students for this modified learning environment? Will students begin to attend high school classes online from the comfort of their home? Does this get pushed down into the middle and elementary schools? Is a better vision to hold class in the classroom, but use the technology as if the classroom were virtual?
We have talked about a pedagogy change multiple times this semester, but I am still trying to figure out where that change would occur. At what level does the educational system need to be modified (or does it). Is the whole thing not working or do we just have a modified vision of what the educational system should be doing? I guess the question is what exactly is the problem that is created by the current educational system and where does that problem occur?
It does highlight a key problem with the transition from face-to-face classrooms to online learning. Basically with all the power of technology to supposedly enhance online learning, it is the goal of many institutions to simply replicate the face-to-face environment online.
This goes back to the ideal that things are done the way they have always been done. Teachers are not inclined to learn a new way of teaching in addition to learning new technology to teach. Those that are forced to will learn how to use the technology to teach in exactly the same way they have always taught...
How do I deliver a lecture online? How do I allow the class to ask questions while I deliver my lecture? How do I post lecture materials where the class can find them? How do I examine the class using the technology available?
Teachers have simply tried to use the technology to replicate what they do in the classroom without having the classroom in front of them.
The article points out that part of the reason is that faculty are not given sufficient time, training, or support for properly transitioning, but "perceive the primary problem as an inability of academic staff and instructional designers to think "outside the box" when it comes to developing online courses"
One other note of particular interest was in describing changes that would need to be made to meet the "vision" of online collaborative learning, "Educational researchers should be rewarded for participation in long-term developmental research projects and their impact on practice rather than for the number of refereed journal articles they publish."
Not sure I agree with the first part, but I agree 100% with the second part of that statement. (The part after rather than).
This goes back to some of the things that we have been touching on the entire semester. How do you change a system that has been in place for so long? At what point do you try to change the system. This paper obviously calls for a change not only to the way course materials are designed and taught, but to the way the higher education functions in general.
If colleges begin to change the way they “teach” students, then how does primary education (elementary, middle, and high school) adapt to prepare students for this modified learning environment? Will students begin to attend high school classes online from the comfort of their home? Does this get pushed down into the middle and elementary schools? Is a better vision to hold class in the classroom, but use the technology as if the classroom were virtual?
We have talked about a pedagogy change multiple times this semester, but I am still trying to figure out where that change would occur. At what level does the educational system need to be modified (or does it). Is the whole thing not working or do we just have a modified vision of what the educational system should be doing? I guess the question is what exactly is the problem that is created by the current educational system and where does that problem occur?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Worthless Research
Since I will not be in class on Thursday to give my thoughts and reflections on the reading assigned for this week, I decided to present my findings in my blog. So, to recap the study:
Purpose:
This study examines the extent and causes of digital inequality, or differences in IT access and use, between natives and immigrants in the United States, with a particular focus on the role of English Language Skills.
Data:
Data was collected from the Current Population Survey and the 2000 U.S. Census. 402,778 observations were made from the CPS. The data collected from this survey was used to indicate computer use and ownership. Because the CPS does not adequately cover the variable, on English Speaking ability. For this reason, the researchers attempted to combine data from the US census with data from the CPS.
Results:
The results indicate that immigrants are substantially less likely than natives to use IT for every measure of IT that was examined.
Individuals living in Spanish-speaking households are generally much less likely to live in a household that owns a computer and to use IT.
Other interesting things pointed out in the article:
“Our consistent finding that immigrants are less likely to use IT than natives is in striking contrast to results for Australia reported by Chiswick and Miller (2005). They find that immigrants there are more likely than comparable natives to use computers.”
“Immigrant households tend to be poorer and less educated than households headed by a U.S. native.”
“The vast majority of Internet sites are in English, with 68 percent of the web pages in English and only 3 percent in Spanish in 2000.”
My thoughts and conclusions:
I don’t know the person who conducted the study, but it seems to me like this is a case of “REALLY?? Wow… who didn’t know that?”
Let’s see… people that immigrate to the US (and the concern was with Latin Americans) tend to have less money than people already in the US. Therefore they don’t have the money to purchase and use technology. If they didn’t use it in their native country, why would they start using it in the US?
Of course if the majority of the webpage’s on the Internet are in English, use of the internet is going to be tied to your ability to speak English.
I’m going to design a study… I’m going to show that there must not be a problem with immigrant using IT… see, I am going to a country that doesn’t speak English and I am going to interview people that immigrated there from the US in the last 5 years and find out what percentage of them have access to and use computers. I bet my findings will be more in line with the study in Australia than the one done in the US.
I guess part of the reason this seems to be such a waste to me is that I understand that computers belong to a younger generation. Use of a computer implies extra money and free leisure time. An immigrant to the United States from another country will not typically have extra money or leisure time. They will also be older (since the CPS concentrated only on people aged 18+) and will be less likely to have grown up in their own culture using computers.
So my problem would be to figure out how we convince people that if they want to be part of the American culture part of which is this large adoption of technology that one of the things they have to do is learn how to speak English. I’m not going to go over to Russia and complain that I can’t use Russian technology because all the instructions are written in… Russian!
The study from Australia used “comparable natives”… so if the study really wanted to prove something, it should have compared immigrants to natives within the same socio-economic status.
But that’s beside the point. The purpose of this paper was to show that the ability to speak English influenced immigrants usage of technologies that the primary language for is English… DUH! If I can’t read what I am using, I can’t really use it, can I?
Purpose:
This study examines the extent and causes of digital inequality, or differences in IT access and use, between natives and immigrants in the United States, with a particular focus on the role of English Language Skills.
Data:
Data was collected from the Current Population Survey and the 2000 U.S. Census. 402,778 observations were made from the CPS. The data collected from this survey was used to indicate computer use and ownership. Because the CPS does not adequately cover the variable, on English Speaking ability. For this reason, the researchers attempted to combine data from the US census with data from the CPS.
Results:
The results indicate that immigrants are substantially less likely than natives to use IT for every measure of IT that was examined.
Individuals living in Spanish-speaking households are generally much less likely to live in a household that owns a computer and to use IT.
Other interesting things pointed out in the article:
“Our consistent finding that immigrants are less likely to use IT than natives is in striking contrast to results for Australia reported by Chiswick and Miller (2005). They find that immigrants there are more likely than comparable natives to use computers.”
“Immigrant households tend to be poorer and less educated than households headed by a U.S. native.”
“The vast majority of Internet sites are in English, with 68 percent of the web pages in English and only 3 percent in Spanish in 2000.”
My thoughts and conclusions:
I don’t know the person who conducted the study, but it seems to me like this is a case of “REALLY?? Wow… who didn’t know that?”
Let’s see… people that immigrate to the US (and the concern was with Latin Americans) tend to have less money than people already in the US. Therefore they don’t have the money to purchase and use technology. If they didn’t use it in their native country, why would they start using it in the US?
Of course if the majority of the webpage’s on the Internet are in English, use of the internet is going to be tied to your ability to speak English.
I’m going to design a study… I’m going to show that there must not be a problem with immigrant using IT… see, I am going to a country that doesn’t speak English and I am going to interview people that immigrated there from the US in the last 5 years and find out what percentage of them have access to and use computers. I bet my findings will be more in line with the study in Australia than the one done in the US.
I guess part of the reason this seems to be such a waste to me is that I understand that computers belong to a younger generation. Use of a computer implies extra money and free leisure time. An immigrant to the United States from another country will not typically have extra money or leisure time. They will also be older (since the CPS concentrated only on people aged 18+) and will be less likely to have grown up in their own culture using computers.
So my problem would be to figure out how we convince people that if they want to be part of the American culture part of which is this large adoption of technology that one of the things they have to do is learn how to speak English. I’m not going to go over to Russia and complain that I can’t use Russian technology because all the instructions are written in… Russian!
The study from Australia used “comparable natives”… so if the study really wanted to prove something, it should have compared immigrants to natives within the same socio-economic status.
But that’s beside the point. The purpose of this paper was to show that the ability to speak English influenced immigrants usage of technologies that the primary language for is English… DUH! If I can’t read what I am using, I can’t really use it, can I?
Research Project
Based on our discussion at the end of class last week, I decided that I would post my research project for the class here. That way you can guys can look over it and make comments or suggestions at your own leisure.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Research Question:
What factors influence the adoption of webcast technologies among college students?
Webcast Definition:
Any LIVE broadcast over the internet that allows the user some type of interaction.
Theories:
Roger's Diffusion of Innovations identifies 5 characteristics of an innovation that will determine its adoption. They are: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, and Observability.
The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis predicts that Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) will indicate a user's attitude toward a technology and that attitude will indicate acceptance of.
Based on definitions given in the texts for Perceived Ease of Use and Complexity, it is seen that the two concepts measure roughly the same thing. Additionally Perceived usefulness and Relative Advantage are seen to be approximately the same.
Therefore, TAM and Diffusion can be combined into a single study that measures 5 variables and uses them as an indication of a person’s attitude toward a technology and the likely acceptance / adoption of that technology.
Target Population:
Both Graduate and Undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee
Method:
A survey containing likert scale questions has been developed which in prior studies has been shown to be reliable in measuring the 5 variables. The survey will be hosted online and participants will be solicited through e-mail, classroom announcement, and hopefully through the snowballing effect. Data will be analyzed using SPSS.
For this Class:
My hope is that I will get 25 participants to take the survey for this class. That will give me some data so that I can run the factor analysis and reliability tests on the data to ensure that my measurements are correct.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
If anyone has questions or comments on the design of my study, I would love to hear them. This is my first research project ever and I am still learning most of this stuff. An understanding of any of the concepts or constructs that aren’t clear to my classmates would help indicate what I need to look for when I complete the study and attempt to write it up.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Research Question:
What factors influence the adoption of webcast technologies among college students?
Webcast Definition:
Any LIVE broadcast over the internet that allows the user some type of interaction.
Theories:
Roger's Diffusion of Innovations identifies 5 characteristics of an innovation that will determine its adoption. They are: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, and Observability.
The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) developed by Davis predicts that Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) and Perceived Usefulness (PU) will indicate a user's attitude toward a technology and that attitude will indicate acceptance of.
Based on definitions given in the texts for Perceived Ease of Use and Complexity, it is seen that the two concepts measure roughly the same thing. Additionally Perceived usefulness and Relative Advantage are seen to be approximately the same.
Therefore, TAM and Diffusion can be combined into a single study that measures 5 variables and uses them as an indication of a person’s attitude toward a technology and the likely acceptance / adoption of that technology.
Target Population:
Both Graduate and Undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee
Method:
A survey containing likert scale questions has been developed which in prior studies has been shown to be reliable in measuring the 5 variables. The survey will be hosted online and participants will be solicited through e-mail, classroom announcement, and hopefully through the snowballing effect. Data will be analyzed using SPSS.
For this Class:
My hope is that I will get 25 participants to take the survey for this class. That will give me some data so that I can run the factor analysis and reliability tests on the data to ensure that my measurements are correct.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
If anyone has questions or comments on the design of my study, I would love to hear them. This is my first research project ever and I am still learning most of this stuff. An understanding of any of the concepts or constructs that aren’t clear to my classmates would help indicate what I need to look for when I complete the study and attempt to write it up.
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