Internet Research for TechQuest Project

Introduction
In my previous post, I listed the URL's for five websites I used to help me write the description for my TechQuest project. In this blog post, I have annotated each site in reference to how it has helped guide my quest, and I have followed these annotations with a summary of how I performed my search for these sites and what I learned about the process of searching for Internet resources.

Research and Resources

• "Focus on Effectiveness: Integrating Technology into Research-Based Strategies"
by Dr. Robert J. Marzano
http://www.netc.org/focus
This website outlines Dr. Marzano's 12 research-based instructional strategies for improving student achievement. I am implementing two of his strategies in my TechQuest: "Homework and Practice" and "Cooperative Grouping". Two of Marzano's thoughts on practice: "Practice means students are engaged in applying new learning, often repeatedly. The goal of practice is for students to get as close to mastery as possible." A key thought from Marzano about cooperative grouping: "Organizing students in heterogeneous cooperative learning groups at least once a week has a significant effect on learning."

• “Putting the Pieces Together: Integrating Technology with Marzano’s Instructional Strategies”
by Sherri Miller
http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008
This site provides examples of how technology can be integrated into each of Dr. Robert J. Marzano's effective instructional strategies. I focus on two of Dr. Marzano's strategies in my TechQuest:
1. Increasing Value in Homework and Practice
This site suggests using "ExamView" to create online practice quizzes
and tests. I looked into accessing "ExamView" to incorporate with my
students; however, it is not free. There are many free quiz-making sites
so I plan to use the idea of providing online quizzes with immediate
feedback as a strategy in helping my students study more effectively.
2. Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively
This site suggests many ways for students to engage collaboratively while
using technology. The site does not specifically recommend using wikis,
however, it does mention several ideas that follow the same principle of
what I am proposing to do in my TechQuest.

• “Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis”
by Naomi Augar, Ruth Raitman, and Wanlei Zhou
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.133.1456&rep=rep1&type=pdf
This article begins with defining what a wiki is and gives examples of different kinds of wikis available. The article then moves into describing a problem Deakin University had in regards to students collaborating in online classes and how a wiki proved to be a successful solution in increasing collaboration among peers. This article supports using wikis for collaboration in educational settings. The article offers a balanced perspective of integrating wikis into the classroom by citing two problems along with its support for their use in learning:
1. "Inappropriate posting of content" and
2. "Unintentional deletions"

• "Using Learning Technology to Support Student Study Skills"
by Jen Harvey and Helen Watt
http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/implementing-it/support.htm
This article discusses reasons why it is important for students to learn how to study effectively in the context of what is required of students who enter college. The authors point out that students need a large array of study skills to be successful in college, and the student needs to know when to employ which skills. "Ultimately, their [the students'] success or failure within university courses can be determined by their ability to adopt the most appropriate strategy within a particular learning situation. This might, for example involve working within a group to prepare an oral presentation on a given subject or studying for a multiple choice question test." The article also points out that because study skills are not a specific discipline, it is not designated as any one grade level or teacher's responsibility to teach these skills. This can lead to students not being prepared for the expected tasks in college. Along with providing support for study skills to be taught to students, the article also suggests several programs and technologies to help aid students in college who are deficient in these skills. Ultimately, this article supports my claim that my educational concern is valid.

• “Wiki as a Teaching Tool”
by Joseph T. Chao and Kevin R. Parker
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.105.8172&rep=rep1&type=pdf
This site focuses on the use of wikis in the classroom. It outlines instructional approaches such as cooperative learning and collaboration and the constructivist approach to learning. A list of uses for wikis in the classroom is also given such as "group authoring" and adding documentation for a research project. In support of using wikis for collaboration the authors state, "Wikis can be used to facilitate computer-supported collaborative learning, i.e., the development
of collaboration by means of technology to augment education and research."

Reflection on Searching for Internet Resources
The first step I took to locate Internet resources for my TechQuest was to use the links provided to me by my fellow colleagues in this course from feedback on my draft of my project description. I copied and pasted these three links into my web browser and read the content. All the links suggested to me were applicable and became a part of my supportive research. Two of these links were related to effective instructional strategies and one of the links was about the study skills students need to be successful in college. Knowing the information I had, I knew I needed to find information about how people are using wikis to support collaboration in the classroom. I then went to my favorite search engine, Google, and typed in "using wikis for student collaboration". I was able to find the remaining two articles I cited above in this search. I was selective, however, and my two articles were in the form of pdf files. I didn't know this at the time, but Valenza recommends typing in "pdf" in your search options to get more scholarly articles.

When performing Internet research, I automatically go to Google without even thinking of other options because it is so convenient. I have a Google search window as a part of my toolbar on my Internet browser and I am so used to using it to answer quick questions, that I don't even think of going to the MSU research publications. However, even though I think I found credible sources in my Google search, I am going to try and remind myself to use a different means of securing quality information the next time I need to perform research. I don't want to be stuck in the same pool of facts that everyone else is drawing from, and settle for "good enough" as a part of the "information underclass" when I have the opportunity to access more (Valenza)!

From my research, I learned that my solution to my educational concern is grounded in sound research by Dr. Marzano and that others have found wikis to be a powerful tool to promote collaboration among students. I have also learned that there is a lot more information available on the topics included in my TechQuest than I have time or space to annotate here. My research is proof that Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way we learn and share our learning experience with others.