The course began as a general and vague overview of a variety of topics and progressed to focus on more specific aspects of online communities. The study that I conducted worked to bring all of the different topics covered throughout the course together. I was able to apply much of the information covered in the course to my study to produce a more valid conclusion.
The "Research Methods" website was a very informative source. I was having trouble determining how I was going to conduct my research on the type and frequency of activity on Facebook by males and females. I utilized the concept mapping that I learned from the site to lay out my research question and the data that I would need to come to conclusions. I was first going to observe the activities of ten males and ten females and collect general activities that they participated in. Concept mapping made me realized that I needed to collect more specific data. I went back through and sub-categorized different types of interactions such as status comments. For these interactions I found that I had to qualitatively assess the types of updates and comments to determine if they represented and emotion or activity, a quote or were just random. This sub-categorization allowed me to draw further inferences such as the percent of total activity that was perceived as portraying an intimate interaction. The website also taught me that in order for the conclusions of my study to be valid I would need a larger sample size so I enlarged my study from ten to twenty-five of each gender in order to make my results more generalizable.
Readings that were provided in class provided a great deal of information that was useful for my study. "The Writing Lives of College Students" allowed me to infer that a small percentage of the participants may have been the producers of a large percent of the activity recorded. I also used the structure of provided readings to base the structure of my report off of. I found it interesting that I was excited to discuss the limitations of my study at the end of my report. The limitations of my study showed me how many different directions a study can go in. Although I was interested in the differences in activity between genders I found that my research and data collection methods did not allow me to determine whether or not a small percentage of users were responsible for a large percentage of the activity. Also, I thought it would be interesting if I would have been able to determine the correlation between the frequency of interaction between users offline and online interactions to see if users were more likely to interact on Facebook if they did not or were not able to interact frequently offline.
After collecting the observational data I found that it was lacking the qualitative data that would help me make conclusions from the observational data. I decided to randomly chose fifty users to send a questionnaire to. The questionnaire was designed to allow participants to provide information about their perceived value of the interactions that they participated in on Facebook. Although the response rate was very low, only receiving nine, it was very interesting and informative. I was able to conclude that picture sharing and commenting was perceived to be very valuable. Without the questionnaire the study would not have revealed that because I was unable to observe the users' activity unless they posted something that could be quantitatively annotated.
Conducting my own research raised as many questions as it answered for me. I was able to gain some insight into a question that I have wondered about for some time but it also led me to even more questions, as I stated earlier. I learned different methods and terminology relating to research that will and did help me articulate my research while the provided readings provided me with information and examples of how to display my findings.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Research Methods and Asynchronous Online Discussions
From my perspective, the third week’s readings and discussions have been the most educational. I found myself a little overwhelmed by the first reading about research methods. As I read specific portions of the article, such as the “conceptualization,” “sampling,” “analysis,” and “write up” portions of the website I began to realize how complex research is. The article discussing the potential of asynchronous online discussions reinforced many of my preconceptions about educational value. The “EXAMINING SOCIAL PRESENCE IN ONLINE
COURSES IN RELATION TO STUDENTS' PERCEIVED LEARNING AND SATISFACTION” article exposed me and forced me to critically think about the idea of social presence which I had never thought of prior to this article. Finally, I was exposed to fanzines and their popularity among those that are passionate about anything from gardening to comics.
Understanding the complex structure of research and reporting that research has proven crucial to my ability to conduct my original research project. I found myself struggling to find the right words to describe the methods that I was employing and the groups that I was discussing. I learned to use concept mapping to produce a visual representation of my research. That allowed me to more easily express my the relationships between the different variables of my research, such as the discrepancies between gender activity on Facebook. While I will not go into every aspect of the article that was of great benefit because I have already explained them in my posts I will cite one of my post to help show the learning that I did experience from the article.
When describing the research topic and method of research that I chose, I had to constantly stop and think of how to describe specific and general groups that I was trying to discuss. The “Sampling” portion of the “Social Research Methods” website provided me with terminology that will make it easier to reference certain groups without having to describe them in great detail. The intent of my research is to be able to generalize the information that if gather from a sample, which according to the article is the ”group of people who you select to be in your study,” that I chose from a sampling frame (the accessible population or my current “friends on Facebook) using a systematic method, to a theoretical population (all Facebook users).
The potential educational value of asynchronous online discussions had not gone unnoticed by myself and the article “Predicting Learning from Asynchronous Online Discussions” supported many of the preconceptions that I had of their potential. The article discusses how “the learner can take an active role in the learning process” through participation in the discussions which is a major reason why I find them so beneficial.(p. 140) The peer interaction and critical inquiry that that interaction requires is integral to my ability to comprehend information. Some of my peers disagreed with my assessment of these discussions as providing a forum that allows every student to participate in the discussion of materials which they would not have the ability to do in a traditional classroom. Jeffrey thinks that these discussions are a sort of cheap replacement of face-to-face classroom interactions I responded by saying, “the asynchronous aspect of discussions, such as this one, allow students a greater amount of time to pose questions, arguments and statements and to support them in a more effective manner.” The time restrictions of a traditional classroom simply do not allow for everyone to express and support their opinions on topics while posing questions that require other students to critically examine the texts to formulate a response. The article, “Examining Social Presence in Online Courses in Relation to Students’ Perceived Learning and Satisfaction” supports that opinion. It states, “another advantage of asynchronous learning is it allowsstudents to reflect upon the materials and their responses before responding, unlike traditional classrooms.”(p. 69)
The article “Examining Social Presence in Online Courses in Relation to Students’ Perceived Learning and Satisfaction” exposed me to the idea of “social presence.” I had experienced my own perception of social presence and believe that it did affect my perceived learning and motivation but had never thought of it in that way. As I discussed this issue with my peers I expressed to Michael how my perception of interaction and social presence had influenced my learning for this course. “The structure of this class is very similar to another course that I am in this summer and I have found them both to be very engaging. I don’t memorize information so that I can complete the typical multiple choice “blackboard” quiz. The structure of these classes creates a desire, for me, to critically analyze and comprehend the information so that I can interact in an interesting and meaningful dialogue in an intelligent manner.” Other online courses, in which I did not perceive an online social presence, as I mentioned above, did not make me feel as though I had a role in the learning process, therefore, I was less motivated to learn the material and just memorized it in order to get through the quiz that week. The article supports my experience with the different online course structures, it found that “Students with high social presence also perceived high levels of learning in class discussions.”(p. 75)
This week’s readings and discussions have taught me to how to create and articulate my own research more effectively. They have supported many of my preconceptions about the potential educational benefits of asynchronous online discussions as well. Although some of my peers disagreed with my opinions regarding the benefits of those types of discussions we were all able to understand the point that the other was making, finally coming to the conclusion that some students benefit from one type of course more than the other depending on learning style.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Online dating: the whos, wheres, and whys...
The week mostly focused on online dating and the dynamics that it entails. Scams that occur as a result of interactions through online dating sites do happen. The ABC news report showed some cases of that. My point of view and, from what my reading of other posts on the topic, what seemed to be the view of the majority of the students, was that scams are a possible hazard of dating sites. However, I believe that they are perceived to occur more than they actually do. The people that were scammed in the report could have avoided the scams if they did not willingly give their information of money to a person that they had never met. Incidents like this bring the question of how safe is online dating. The homemade documentary asked for the perspective of a younger crowd on this issue. Some saw online dating as potentially dangerous. The documentary did a good job of showing both the potential positives and potential negatives of online dating. In the end, online dating was not successful for the twenty-four year old male conducting the research but was successful for older couples that may not have access to many people their age. "Down the rabbit hole" dove a little deeper into who uses dating sites versus virtual communities. The article explored the different intents of visiting different sites and how users are signalling that intent by subscribing to them. It also discussed where the majority (at least for the eighty-two couples studied) long term relationships spawned that began on the internet. This article was, by far, the most informative and I thought the most interesting article to date. The "Expectations of finding a Soul Mate with Online Dating" sparked quite a bit of debate on the discussion thread. I did not focus on the "soul mate" aspect much at first. Instead, I was intrigued by the researchers conclusion that online daters were quite conservative and probably proportional close offline daters in their perception of the likely hood of their being a perfect someone "out there" and their ability to find them if there is. The articles flowed nicely into each other. It was quite rewarding to discover that many of the questions that a previous article had led me to construct in my mind were answered in the next article.
Many of my discussions with other students about the relevancy of scams in regards to online dating continuously ended in the majority of the blame being placed on the person being scammed. The subjects of the ABC report gave out personal information or money to someone that they had never met. That is not to say that it would be any better if they had met them but to the majority of my classmates and I it seems like common sense not to do it with someone that we had never met. These discussions gradually led me to contemplate whether or not online daters were just the most desperate to find love and, therefore, easier prey for scam artists. I put myself in the shoes of a scam artist and found that I saw the dating sites in much the same way that I would if I was using it to find a mate. Just as dating sites provide potential daters with a larger pool to fish from it provides that same pool for scam artists. My contemplation was that it seems like the people that get taken by online scams are just as likely to be taken if approached by a scam artist offline. Therefore, the only increased danger is that those that are more apt to be less cautious with their money and information are more accessible to scam artists on dating sites.
"Down the rabbit hole" and "Expectations of Finding a Soul Mate with Online Dating" answered a lot of the questions that I had arisen from my thoughts on the earlier articles. First, I questioned the marketing of online dating sites in a discussion with Anthony. We both concluded that part of the negative perception of dating sites is because they market themselves in way that implies, or overtly states, that there is a perfect person "out there" and that they can find them for you. For one thing, if their is a perfect person "out there" they would have to be a member of that particular site for it to match you with them. Secondly, as the article on expectations of finding a soul mate showed, people do not necessarily think that their is a "soul mate" "out there" but instead people that are more highly compatible than others.(Houran and Lange p.303) The research by Houran and Lange also showed that "there is little evidence that online daters' attitudes toward online dating distorted the anticipated quality and quantity of their computer dates."(p. 303) That conclusion later led me to a portion of my research question: does perceived quality of online education have a significant positive correlation. But also, that statement implies that the statistics derived from this research could, quite likely, be very similar to the same research if conducted on people that responded that they would not use online dating sites. I then came to the conclusion that the marketing of dating services was probably not at fault for creating the negative perception.
I began to think of virtual communities as the new bars and coffee shops. I discussed this with some of my classmates and received mixed replies. Some thought that could be the case and actually thought that whole generations may turn to online interaction to satisfy their social desires. I did not agree. My reply was that although the popularity of these sights seems to be on the rise as the taboo of them is being washed away, they are only attractive to certain groups of people. As the homemade documentary that was assigned earlier in the week showed, certain sites fill certain niches. For those that attend college or have jobs that allow for a fair amount of socialization with people of similar age, which according to the Pew research on online dating account for the starting point of 38% couples that are internet users and in a married or committed relationship, their is not a great appeal to subscribe to dating sites.( Madden and Lenhart p. 6) Also interesting was the type of sites that produced the most long term committed relationships. chat groups or online games. The final third were from discussion boards, posting asynchronously. "Combining the people at chats, games and discussion boards shows that nearly two-thirds of the couples met at VC’s."(Down the rabbit hole, no page numbers) This statistic led me, in part, to the earlier question; whether virtual communities were the new work and school. Also, I found it interesting that the sites that are entered with the implied intent of discussing personal interest with out the intent of meeting offline are producing two thirds of the long term relationships that were studied in the this research (which was only ninety-two).
I am a firm believer that if dating sites are used for the purpose of finding people to date they can be very beneficial for certain people. I am not a believer that they are a place people should carry on relationships. If users are carrying on intimate relationships online I think that it is social stunting. If the potential dater uses the site for a greater pool of dates I do not see a problem. As far as the negative perception of dating sites, I think that comes from misunderstanding and the emphasis of past news stories on scams.
Many of my discussions with other students about the relevancy of scams in regards to online dating continuously ended in the majority of the blame being placed on the person being scammed. The subjects of the ABC report gave out personal information or money to someone that they had never met. That is not to say that it would be any better if they had met them but to the majority of my classmates and I it seems like common sense not to do it with someone that we had never met. These discussions gradually led me to contemplate whether or not online daters were just the most desperate to find love and, therefore, easier prey for scam artists. I put myself in the shoes of a scam artist and found that I saw the dating sites in much the same way that I would if I was using it to find a mate. Just as dating sites provide potential daters with a larger pool to fish from it provides that same pool for scam artists. My contemplation was that it seems like the people that get taken by online scams are just as likely to be taken if approached by a scam artist offline. Therefore, the only increased danger is that those that are more apt to be less cautious with their money and information are more accessible to scam artists on dating sites.
"Down the rabbit hole" and "Expectations of Finding a Soul Mate with Online Dating" answered a lot of the questions that I had arisen from my thoughts on the earlier articles. First, I questioned the marketing of online dating sites in a discussion with Anthony. We both concluded that part of the negative perception of dating sites is because they market themselves in way that implies, or overtly states, that there is a perfect person "out there" and that they can find them for you. For one thing, if their is a perfect person "out there" they would have to be a member of that particular site for it to match you with them. Secondly, as the article on expectations of finding a soul mate showed, people do not necessarily think that their is a "soul mate" "out there" but instead people that are more highly compatible than others.(Houran and Lange p.303) The research by Houran and Lange also showed that "there is little evidence that online daters' attitudes toward online dating distorted the anticipated quality and quantity of their computer dates."(p. 303) That conclusion later led me to a portion of my research question: does perceived quality of online education have a significant positive correlation. But also, that statement implies that the statistics derived from this research could, quite likely, be very similar to the same research if conducted on people that responded that they would not use online dating sites. I then came to the conclusion that the marketing of dating services was probably not at fault for creating the negative perception.
I began to think of virtual communities as the new bars and coffee shops. I discussed this with some of my classmates and received mixed replies. Some thought that could be the case and actually thought that whole generations may turn to online interaction to satisfy their social desires. I did not agree. My reply was that although the popularity of these sights seems to be on the rise as the taboo of them is being washed away, they are only attractive to certain groups of people. As the homemade documentary that was assigned earlier in the week showed, certain sites fill certain niches. For those that attend college or have jobs that allow for a fair amount of socialization with people of similar age, which according to the Pew research on online dating account for the starting point of 38% couples that are internet users and in a married or committed relationship, their is not a great appeal to subscribe to dating sites.( Madden and Lenhart p. 6) Also interesting was the type of sites that produced the most long term committed relationships. chat groups or online games. The final third were from discussion boards, posting asynchronously. "Combining the people at chats, games and discussion boards shows that nearly two-thirds of the couples met at VC’s."(Down the rabbit hole, no page numbers) This statistic led me, in part, to the earlier question; whether virtual communities were the new work and school. Also, I found it interesting that the sites that are entered with the implied intent of discussing personal interest with out the intent of meeting offline are producing two thirds of the long term relationships that were studied in the this research (which was only ninety-two).
I am a firm believer that if dating sites are used for the purpose of finding people to date they can be very beneficial for certain people. I am not a believer that they are a place people should carry on relationships. If users are carrying on intimate relationships online I think that it is social stunting. If the potential dater uses the site for a greater pool of dates I do not see a problem. As far as the negative perception of dating sites, I think that comes from misunderstanding and the emphasis of past news stories on scams.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
SNSs and interaction
As a future Social Science teacher I found this weeks readings to be very interesting. Throughout my education I have been confronted with the question of how to incorporate technology in the classroom. During observations I have witnessed teachers that refuse to incorporate newer technology, they continue to use overhead projectors to display texts and maps. Other teachers attempt to incorporate so much technology that the message of the lesson is drowned out. Understanding how and why people use the internet is crucial to gaining a better understanding which technologies are best to use and how to use them to make classes as efficient and interesting as possible.
The "Revisualizing Composition Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year College Students" article showed how students are using different platforms to communicate and learn. I have observed at University High School where students are supplied laptop computers which are make them more proficient as students. What I have noticed, however, is that more times than not these computers are more of a distraction than a tool for learning. The research provided in this article shows that college level students perceive their educational writing to be more important than that of SNSs and other composition platforms. The question I am now asking myself is, at what age are students mature enough to see technology as more of a tool to increase their ability to learn and less as something to play games on when they are supposed to be learning? I would like to find a study, similar to this one, that is done with younger students.
I also found "The Anthropology of Online Communities" research by Samuel M. Wilson and Leighton C. Peterson to be very interesting as a future teacher. Students are connected to an increasingly large number of people. They are able to create groups based on similar interests which allows them access to interactions to discuss those interests. I think that these online communities have great potential for educational purposes. I would like to try to facilitate interactions in my history classes between my students and students from another country in order to discuss historical and current events. I would monitor those discussions and grade according to comprehension of subject being discussed, engagement, and their ability to reference material from class or independent research. This would allow students to use technology that they are comfortable with to interact with other students or non students in an independent way. Because they are engaging in a dialogue, I feel, that they would be more likely to utilize the technology available to them in a constructive manner. This type of interaction would also make it seem less like the dreaded homework and more like something fun that they "get" to do. Students would learn how to formulate and argument, support their opinion and facilitate a deeper understanding of the content being discussed in a fun and interactive way.
As of now I think that research about inter-school programs that offer programs like this or students' interest in an activity such as this would be very interesting.
Some good sites regarding inter-school online discussions:
Some good sites regarding inter-school online discussions:
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