Learning Technology Research Frontiers , Master of Learning Sciences and Technology,
The University of Sydney.
The use of Wiki Technology
for Collaborative Knowledge Creation
in a Professional Development Course for Teachers.
Research
Proposal by Annette Culley
Friday
17th November, 2006.
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I propose a small scale intervention study [1]
on the use of a specific Information
and Communication Technology (ICT).
I will explore how ICT can be used to train practicing teachers
about a particular pedagogical theory and practice. I intend to conduct a professional development
course for a small group of secondary school teachers on the use of
Wiki technology [2] for collaborative Knowledge Creation [3].
These
teachers will build an information repository about pedagogical theories
and teaching practices based on social
constructivism and Knowledge Creation (KC) and at the same time
actively participating in the process of KC.
Through their participation
in this joint
enterprise, I suggest that
the Wiki-site can become the “hub” for a teachers’ community
of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
The general
aim of this study is to develop an effective professional development
course to train teachers to use ICT in such a way that the ICT resource
is embedded in their teaching practice. (Cole
et al., 2003a, page 33).
There
is a growing body of evidence relating to the positive impact of ICT
on learner attainment and other outcomes, but we need to develop further
our understanding of effective ICT pedagogies and how they can be supported.
(Becta Review, 2005, P 32)
Research has
repeatedly and consistently shown that teaching practices need to change
if technology is to be integrated into the classroom in ways that enhance
learning experiences (Cole et al., 2003).
The classroom ethos and the pedagogical approach
adopted by the teacher determine how successful the use of ICT is.
“… culture trumps medium. If a
culture is incompatible with a medium, the medium will fail. (Rick & Guzdial, 2006, p. 24).
The
success of KC depends on the provision of a classroom climate that encourages
mutual trust and respect, tolerance for each others’ ideas so they feel safe to say what they believe,
and the cultural shift towards seeing KC as the primary aim rather
than task completion or product construction. (Hewitt, 2004) Providing this climate is a significant shift
in pedagogy and teaching style for most teachers.
For these reasons
it is essential to start with the training of teachers if KC is ever
to become an accepted and practiced teaching method that teachers can
add to their repertoire. My intention
is to conduct follow up studies of the same teachers implementing KC
in their classrooms.
The affordances
provided by Wikis makes them an ideal tool for collaborative writing. The collaborative process of building communal
Wiki resources reflects the
dynamic, ‘always improvable’ nature of knowledge which can help to “prepare
learners for successful participation in the new practices of creating
knowledge.” (Lankshear et al., 2002, p.24, cited in Bruns et al., 2005) A Wiki enables activities that will involve
learners in the construction of personal and collective knowledge (Boulos
et al., 2006). The Wiki
becomes the joint work space
for collaborative KC. Wikis enable
learners to write their shared understanding of new concepts and provide
archival storage for products of group work, thereby supporting knowledge
building (Koschmann & O’Malley, 1994).
Wikis can be used as a form of Computer Supported Collaborative
Learning (CSCL) when it is used as a mediational tool within a collaborative
method of instruction (Koshmann, 1996). CoWeb [4] has been chosen as the Wiki software
because it was specifically designed for teachers.
My
aim is to recruit a small group of 3 to 5 secondary school teachers
all from one particular school or at least in the same geographical
area so that face-to-face meetings will not be too difficult to organise.
The
course will integrate skills
using Wiki technology with knowledge
of KC, aiming to bringing the two into alignment.
It is essential that “…teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and values
change in line with affordances provided by new technologies” (Cox et
al, 2003b, p. 10).
The
aim of the course is to:
- Give
teachers the time and resources to develop their pedagogy as well
as their ICT skills (Cole et al 2003b, p 34).
- Change
the pedagogical reasoning behind the teachers’ practices (Cole et
al 2003b, P 35).
- Make
these teachers confident with Wiki technology.
- Build
a group Wiki resource about socio constructivist learning theories
and KC.
- Introduce
them to learning communities.
The
course will cover:
- How
to use and teach with Wikis, in particular using CoWeb software.
- What
are the characteristics of the KC metaphor?
- What
are the guidelines for KC classrooms?
- What
are the characteristics of successful KC classes?
- How
to foster a KC community.
Research
questions:
- How
can Wikis be used for KC?
- How
does the use of Wikis facilitate KC?
- Are
Wikis a suitable medium for a KC approach to teaching?
- Does
explicit knowledge of the research on collaboration [5]
promote collaboration in this project?
- Does
knowledge and understanding of the Knowledge Creation metaphor and
related pedagogy change teachers’ beliefs and values in relation to
their teaching practice?
- Can
CoWeb software be improved to make it more effective as a medium for
KC?
The course
will be run over eight weeks for one and a half hours each week. Three
of these sessions will be face-to-face group meetings with the other
five sessions to be done asynchronously online in Wikis.
Data
will be collected from the following sources:
- Online
questionnaires before and after the course.
- The
contents of the Wikis they produce during the course.
- Interviews
before and after the course.
This
research will be carried out in accordance with the requirements of
the University of Sydney ethics committee. Teacher confidentiality is to be respected at
all times. Teachers will be informed of the purposes of the study and
methods to be used in the study. They
will be able to withdraw from the study at any time. The Wiki resources
produced by this study will be jointly owned by participants and researcher. Interviews will only be recorded with the permission
of the participants. All participating teachers and schools will be
given a certificate of appreciation and participation from the University of Sydney.
| Research Plan |
| December
2006. |
Write
to particular head teachers and principals outlining my research
and request appointments to speak to them. |
| Feb - March |
Develop
the course. |
| Jan 2007 |
Develop
a flyer/information sheet to recruit teachers |
| Feb-March |
Talk
at a staff meeting. Recruit teachers to do the study. |
| March 2007 |
Brief
teachers and negotiate a time and place for 2-3 face-to-face sessions. |
| April-June |
Conduct research |
| July-Nov
|
Analyse data
and write report. |
The
audience for this research will be my supervisor/professor, the teachers
involved, the co-operating schools’ executive staff and possibly related
professional associations.
Resources
required:
- Wiki
engine (CoWeb) and storage on central server with user name and password
access.
- Venue
with computers for face-to-face sessions, preferably at the schools.
- Audio-recording
device for interviews.
The
feasibility of this study will be determined by the availability of
technical resources and the willingness of teachers to participate,
depending on the demands on their time.
Footnotes
[1]
Intervention Studies
Intervention
studies are those in which the researchers have introduced a specific
ICT resource. In intervention
studies, the settings in which the ICT is used as well as the teachers’
pedagogical practices are affected, and this will affect the outcome.
(Cox et al., 2003a, p.5) In
this study the ICT resource I am introducing is the Wiki .
The setting for this intervention is in a professional development
course and the pedagogical practices are social constructivist.
[2] The Wiki
A Wiki is a
freely expandable collection of interlinked Web “pages”, a hypertext
system for storing and modifying information – a database, where each
page is easily editable by any user with a forms-capable Web browser
client. (Leuf & Cunningham, 2001, p. 14)
[3] Knowledge
Creation
Paavola et al. (2004) propose Knowledge Creation
as a new metaphor for learning. Knowledge Building as proposed
by Scardamalia and Bereiter is one significant branch of Knowledge Creation
pedagogies. Scardamalia &
Bereiter (2003) define Knowledge Building as “the production and continual improvement of
ideas of value to a community” (p.1370). It is based on the premise
that although the level of achievement may differ, knowledge building
is the same regardless of age or ability.
“The goal is to advance the frontiers of knowledge as they perceive
them.” (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003, p.1371)
[4] CoWeb
Mark Guzdial, associate professor at the College of Computing at Georgia
Institute of Technology, has developed a cross platform, open source
Wiki project that has been adopted by teachers all over the world (Lund
& Cunningham, 2001). It is
easily adaptable to the needs of the school.
Rick et al. have found CoWeb to be a popular and useful tool
for collaborative work with low infrastructure costs (p.11).
[5] Collaboration
The characteristics of Collaboration to be used in
the professional development course are in line with researchers such
as Dillenbourg, Roschelle & Teasley.
References
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