This has been a enlightening week for me. It has been a week of reading and learning.I believe I am finally beginning to clarify my thoughts about my action research. I understand that this action research needs to be very specific and directed. It is very easy to chase rabbit trails all over the Internet about subjects that are realted to other subjects. I have finally narrowed my action research down to a very specific problem, and that is the lack of the use of WimBa in on-line classes.
Chapter 2 of Dana’s, Leading with Passion and Knowledge helped me organize my thoughts about the different areas that educational leaders need to consider as they reflect on their actions. I have gained a new respect for research in the form of action research. Believe I have done action research all my life, but never formally and never methodically. I am happy to understand this process better, and plan to incorporate it into my routine.
Another thing that was emphasized to me this week is the need for collection and analysis of data. While listening to the videos from area scholars, I noticed that was a very large focus in all of their talks. In one of our videos, Pasadena ISD Superintendent, Kirk Lewis, got me thinking of all the ways to collect data so it can be analyzed in many different ways. In action research it could be easy to want to jump straight from the problem to the solution without the necessary, intermediate steps of conducting a literature review and data collection. I appreciate the thoughts reflected in these videos.
I have also had several conversations with Dr. Li, a professor at Brazosport College about incorporating more technology into on-line classes. I discovered there are tools available to instructors that can be inserted into WimBa, including a writing tablet and screen projection called Campasia, which is screen recording software. In addition, Dr. Li is familiar with Skype, and the decision was made to work together using Skype to see how it could be integrated into classes. I plan to work up an instruction sheet to be used by the students to help them learn how to enter and use Skype.
I am getting more comfortable with my master’s program. I can get around to all the websites and do not feel the panic that I am missing something that I have had previously. We are already about to begin Week 3, and I feel like I just started. This has been a very helpful class for me.
Dana, N.F. (2009) Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Chapter 2 of Dana’s, Leading with Passion and Knowledge helped me organize my thoughts about the different areas that educational leaders need to consider as they reflect on their actions. I have gained a new respect for research in the form of action research. Believe I have done action research all my life, but never formally and never methodically. I am happy to understand this process better, and plan to incorporate it into my routine.
Another thing that was emphasized to me this week is the need for collection and analysis of data. While listening to the videos from area scholars, I noticed that was a very large focus in all of their talks. In one of our videos, Pasadena ISD Superintendent, Kirk Lewis, got me thinking of all the ways to collect data so it can be analyzed in many different ways. In action research it could be easy to want to jump straight from the problem to the solution without the necessary, intermediate steps of conducting a literature review and data collection. I appreciate the thoughts reflected in these videos.
I have also had several conversations with Dr. Li, a professor at Brazosport College about incorporating more technology into on-line classes. I discovered there are tools available to instructors that can be inserted into WimBa, including a writing tablet and screen projection called Campasia, which is screen recording software. In addition, Dr. Li is familiar with Skype, and the decision was made to work together using Skype to see how it could be integrated into classes. I plan to work up an instruction sheet to be used by the students to help them learn how to enter and use Skype.
I am getting more comfortable with my master’s program. I can get around to all the websites and do not feel the panic that I am missing something that I have had previously. We are already about to begin Week 3, and I feel like I just started. This has been a very helpful class for me.
Dana, N.F. (2009) Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher.Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
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