Assignment 10, Method Section

To understand the impact of new media in online learning, structured research methods were developed to assist in clarifying this relationship. For this study, research participation, instrumentation and implementation are included and outlined forthwith.

Participation:

For this study, participants were selected through an informal process of acquaintances through email and face-to-face requests. The selection criteria sought to seek participants who had some higher education as well as some familiarity with online learning. The acquaintances who were contacted were all individuals who worked in secondary education in an administrative capacity; all of these people possessed at least a Bachelors' degree. All participants were sent the hyperlink in the email, and were informed that the results of their survey were anonymous.

Instrumentation:

The instrument used for this study involved an online survey. The development of the questions in the survey involved graduate level students enrolled in an online Instructional Technology class reading research articles pertaining to new media and online learning. These article reports were posted on a blog for classmates to comment on and to be used to formulate potential research questions. With the submission of several questions from all of the students, the instructor formulated major areas of interest and selected three research questions for the focus of the survey:

Research Question 1: Is there a relationship between the amount of portable media (podcasts) a student consumes and their desire for portable media use in online learning?

Research Question 2: What level of involvement in planning, organizing, and making media choices do adult online learners desire?

Research Question 3: Is the use of collaboration to comment on other students’ work viewed as beneficial by online students?

Research Question 4: What media types to students express a preference for using for a variety of activities related to instructor-student interaction, student-student interaction, and student-content interaction?

From the research questions, several specific components in each question were included. Participants were asked to select on a Likert Scale from 1-5 to share their preferences towards portable media, types of media forums, and types of student involvement. An answer of one meant that they did not like it at all, and an answer of 5 meant that students liked it a lot.

In the beginning of the online survey, information is provided about the source of the survey. It also reassures the participants that it is fine if they are not familiar with some of the technology asked about in the survey. Additional information in the form of definitions is also provided to clarify the different types of technology being asked for in the survey. Finally, participants are reassured that their responses are anonymous and that they may withdraw from participating in the survey at anytime if they so choose.

Procedure:

Implementing the online survey involved selecting the potential pool of participants, collecting their email addresses, and preparing the email - including the hyperlink to the online survey. They were informed about the nature of the survey, the time it would take them to complete it, and that their responses would remain anonymous. They were also told that they did not need to reply to the email nor participate in the survey. Without knowing who has and who has not completed the survey, one of the difficulties is to determine the reliability and validity of the information collected. Additionally, without knowing the specific educational background and other participant demographics, valuable correlates may not be verifiable from the research collected.

Appendix

The survey itself:

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this class study about online learning being conducted as part of a class project in ETEC 543 under the direction of Dr. Brian Newberry (newberry@csusb.edu). We are interested to know more about how students view a variety of technologies used for online learning and how online courses may be organized.

The survey you are about to answer will ask about a variety of technologies that may be used in online classes. Please read through the following description of these technologies and their characteristics. In some cases you may not know very much about a particular technology. That is ok. Use your best judgement about the technology and its suitability for the described activities. Some of the technologies that this survey will ask about are:

Email - Text based asynchronous communication.
Video Conference - Video based synchronous conversation.
Blog - Student ‘owned’ webspace for posting text, graphics and documents.
Podcast - Audio file that is downloaded and played on a portable media player (iPod) or computer.
Podcast Enhanced with Graphics - Audio and visual file that is downloaded and played on a portable media player (iPod) or computer.
Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board - Text based asynchronous communication that stores threads or posts for everyone to view and respond to.
Voice Over Internet - Synchronous audio conversation, similar to a phone call but using the Internet and computers instead of phones. For example, Skype.

This survey is voluntary and completely anonymous. No attempt will be made to connect you to your responses and you may choose to withdraw from this study at any time. This survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.
By continuing on to the survey you are agreeing to participate in this study and you are stipulating that you are over the age of 18. Again, thank you for your participation.

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Do you own a personal media player (iPod etc.)? (y/n)

Directions: On the following items indicate your preference for an activity with a 1 meaning that you do not like it at all and a 5 meaning that you like it a great deal.

Listen to non-music podcasts on a portable media player.

Directions: Please respond to the following items as if you were about to begin an online class that had podcasts as a way of providing course content. For the purpose of this study a podcast is an audio file that is downloaded and used by the student when and how they choose. On the following items indicate your preference for an activity with a 1 meaning that you do not like it at all and a 5 meaning that you like it a great deal.

Listen to course podcasts while I engaged in other tasks such as commuting, working, walking etc.
Read a transcript of a course podcast on my computer instead of listening to the audio version.
Print a transcript of a course podcast to use as a listening guide and to help me focus on the podcast content.
Listen to an audio only podcast on a portable media player.
Listen to an audio only podcast on a computer.
Use a podcast that included visual aides such as charts, graphs and images to help illustrate the content of the podcast.
Use a podcast that included visual aides such as charts, graphs and images on a portable media player.
Use a podcast that included visual aides such as charts, graphs and images on a computer.

Directions: Please respond to the following items as if you were about to begin an online class that had a variety of communications possibilities. On the following items indicate your preference for using each media type for the listed purpose with a 1 meaning that you do not like it at all and a 5 meaning that you like it a great deal. Please mark your preference for each technology based on your understanding of the technology, even if you do not posses the ability to use that technology at the present time. Keep in mind that you are rating the technology and its use for the listed purpose and not the task or purpose itself.

Communicating with the instructor about problems in class:

Email Video ConferenceBlog (Text Based)Podcast (Audio Only) Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics) Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based) Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)
Communicating with other students to learn more about them:
Email Video ConferenceBlog (Text Based) Podcast (Audio Only) Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics) Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based) Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)
Receiving grades and instructor evaluations of my work:
EmailVideo ConferenceBlog (Text Based) Podcast (Audio Only) Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics)Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based) Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)
Submitting my assignments to the instructor for grading:
EmailVideo ConferenceBlog (Text Based) Podcast (Audio Only) Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics)Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based)Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)
Sharing my assignments with other students for peer review:
EmailVideo ConferenceBlog (Text Based)Podcast (Audio Only)Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics)Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based)Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)
Receiving course lectures and course related content:
EmailVideo ConferenceBlog (Text Based)Podcast (Audio Only)Podcast (Enhanced with Graphics)Threaded Discussion or Bulletin Board (Text Based)Voice Over Internet (Example: Skype, Audio Only)

Directions: Please respond to the following items about choice in online classes. On the following items indicate your preference for an activity with a 1 meaning that you do not like it at all and a 5 meaning that you like it a great deal.

Having a lot of choice about the assignments that I do for the class.
Having a lot of choice about how assignments that I do for the class are graded or evaluated.
Having a lot of choice about the due dates for assignments in the class.
Having a lot of choice about the type of media or communications technologies used in the class.

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