MAC Week 4 - Publishing_Leadership Project

Photo by Flickr user kampers

The time has come to put my publishing plans into action.  I have two journals that I'm on which I'm going to focus.

The first, Journal of Interactive Learning Research, I discussed in my 2nd Think Out Loud Blog post. After completing that post, I wanted see if there was a journal that combined my original content training in English/Language Arts with my current training in technology, especially since E/LA was part of the focus of my research.

This led me to Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE), which publishes a general edition, along with four content specific editions. My focus would be the English/Language Arts publication.

MAC Week 3 - Think Out Loud Part 1: Publish or Present.

MAC Week 4 - Think Out Loud Part 2: Where?

Drummond_Justin_PubLeadProject.docx

MAC Week 4 - Think Out Loud Part 2: Where?

So, I've been thinking about where I'd like to publish my research, and I've narrowed it down to two national publications.

Graphic from
http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/submission-information/journals-submission-information/jdlte-submission-guidelines.aspx

Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education

I'm considering this journal because they have a varied scope that covers areas that are Practical, Leadership, Research, or Theoretical.  I feel that my action research could be a good fit for their publication because it deals with practical issues that arise in the application of Challenge Based Learning (CBL) and it is research based.

Graphic from http://www.aace.org/pubs/jilr/default.htm

Journal of Interactive Learning Research

This journal has a a very long list of categories that they consider, including computer-supported collaborative learning.  Because of the collaborative nature of CBL and the fact that it is conducted online and with computers, I think this could be a good fit for my paper.

ETC Final Movie

For my final video in my ETC course this month, I created a movie to introduce the big idea of apathy to my students for when we begin out Challenge Based Learning project later this fall. You can view the video below.

Week 2 Reading

The CBL Framework

This week, I looked at three articles in relationship to my Action Research (AR) project.

The first was Challenge Based Learning: An Approach for Our Time from The New Media Consortium. Since my AR project is focused on using Challenge Based Learning (CBL) as a means to increase motivation and engagement, I needed to read more about CBL and how it can be implemented.  This research study presented information from the six schools which piloted the CBL model during the 2008-2009 academic year, and presents the findings related to student motivation and engagement.  Through this, I also found the topic for my CBL project in our classroom, which will be Apathy.

The second article I read was the Challenge Based Learning White Papers from Apple, Inc., which further outlines the program and provides sample challenges.  This was mainly a description, so I'm not sure it will provide much support to the research beyond the guidelines for the project.

The final article I read was"Redefining Rigor: Critical Engagement, Digital Media, and the New English/Language Arts" by Jessica Dockter, Delainia Haug, and Cynthia Lewis.  This too brief article chronicled the use of documentary film making as the frame of study in a combined English/Language Arts (E/LA) and History class, and its affect on the students.  All though it gives no quantitative supportive data, the qualitative data collected from student interviews and reflections demonstrates that the use of digital media and Internet resources can motivate and engage students, especially when a focus challenge and real world scenario are included.  It also demonstrated the importance of having a showcase for student work, in this case a film festival for the student created documentaries, that was open to family, friends, and the community as a whole.  This showcase was a high motivating factor, and I think I might use a film festival as a showcase for the work my students create in their CBL projects.  Although it was not a CBL project by name, the design of the E/LA curriculum in the study had many similarities to the design of CBL.

BP_Diigo Group

Here is a screen capture of my Diigo group for my Action Research (AR) project. Right now I only have  three group members, but many more have been invited, including my critical friends. 

BP2_iGoogle Screen Shots

Like Google Reader, I've been using iGoogle for the last few years, and it's been my homepage for a majority of that time.  Before this assignment, I hadn't considered creating tabs for different areas of focus with their own gadgets on them.  Mainly, I had my homepage with multiple tools, and it may have been too many. After a while, I was only using one tool on the page (Gmail) and pretty much ignoring everything else.  Using different pages will allow me to focus my attention on a certain class or project and make my time more productive by clearing away the clutter.  Here's what my pages look like right now.

HOME

So you don't think I'm morbid with a person in a casket across the top,
it's a scene from one of my favorite TV shows, LOST.

FSO

I'm also a fan of Ohio State football.  Also, the LinkedIn gadget is there, but it isn't functioning properly.  

AR/CBL

Like the LinkedIn gadget, the Diigo gadget wasn't functioning either.

ETC

I love the look of the books at the top of this page. I think I'm addicted to books.

After creating these pages, I can see how some of the features I added will enrich my web surfing and make is easier.  The biggest example of this is the Flickr gadget.  I love photography, and the "Interesting" tab has some really creative and unique photography in it. 

However, I already had processes for some of the features I added that I think will stay with me and not be supplanted by these features.  The main example that I have is my bookmarks bar vs. the box of links.  I have folders on my bar that serve the same purpose, with each folder containing the necessary links or folders of links to streamline my browsing.  I know I'll always access FSO from the link in my Full Sail folder, but I can see me using the box links for APA resources and some of the new sites we'll be accessing this month that I've never used before.