Action Research Draft Plan

Action Research Plan

Goal: To develop a set of standards for On-Demand Learning (ODL) as there are none that currently exist to align with the unique factors within the ODL realm.

Action Step(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: (completion dates)	Needed Resources:	Evaluation:
Identify the factors of On-Demand Learning (ODL) -review of Literature and Communities of Inquiry (COI) -find missing pieces in ODL -propose alternatives to fill gaps	Brandi Slaughter (student)	Feb 5th, 2011	Current research on Distance Learning, Online Learning, COI and other related literature of relevance to ODL	Approval of all by site mentor, Dr. Burgess, upon review of each Action Step. End product will be evaluated by entire Technology Integration team at ESC6 before it is published.
Correlate best practices with factors of ODL -iNacol, COI, OTEP and others	Brandi Slaughter (student)	Feb 8th, 2011	Computer, Internet
Develop standards for ODL -3 categories for ODL -subcategories	Brandi Slaughter (student)	Feb 15th, 2011	Computer, Internet, Research conducted
Develop Instrument to evaluate the developed ODL standards	Brandi Slaughter (student)	March 15th, 2011	Google Forms, Computer
Assess the measurement properties of the instrument	Brandi Slaughter (student) Dr. Moak Dr. Burgess	April 1st, 2011	Dr. Moak Dr. Burgess
Publish the ODL standards	Brandi Slaughter (student) Dr. Burgess	May 1st, 2011	Dr. Moak Dr. Burgess

Week 2 Reflection EDLD 5301

As week 2 comes to a close and I take a look back on the subject matter presented this week, I can definately say that as an individual who is not a classroom teacher and is not located on a campus at all, it was a huge learning experience on how action research is such an integral piece of the education sector. I am a recent undergrad student and now an employee of an Education Service Center, which makes me painfully unfamiliar with the innerworkings of districts and the topics that arise from being in the classroom with students on a daily basis, of which would have provided me with a body of knowledge for conjuring up examples of the 9 different types of action research in the assignment. Needless to say, I enjoyed reading my classmates' action research topics and am looking forward to solidifying my own applicable action research topic coming up this next week!

Until next time...

Educational Leaders Use of Blogs for Action Research

Blogs are a wonderful tool for use as they serve as an interactive, collaborative venue to collect, update and post information relating to action research. Educational leaders can share with other leaders and gain new insight from others through the ability of others to leave comments on items within their blog and due to the fact that others can subscribe as "followers" to as many blogs as they choose. Visitors to the blog can view the chronological entries (similar to a journal or diary) to the Weblog and see pictures, links, text and graphics which reach beyond simply logging your search in pen and paper.

Action Research

Throughout this week, we have been actively learning what "action research" is and how it can serve as an enormous benefit in the educational realm. In contrast to the linear, "process-product research" (Dana, 2009, pg. 4) that plagues traditional educational research, action research on the other hand is a dynamic, collaborative and insightful method to researching topics within our schools and classrooms. As action research is conducted by individuals within the school system (i.e. administrators, teachers, etc) and not done by outside researchers (or University Professors), points of inquiry for action research are formed around the concerns of the practitioners. The practitioners then engage in collecting data around their point of inquiry, work with others to interpret and analyze the data and are continually reflecting upon the different findings that the action research reveals along the way. 


In pursuit of my Master's in Education at Lamar in Educational Technology Leadership, I will be able to use action research to complete a portion of my internship in an area of technological interest. As I am not currently a classroom teacher or working for a school district (rather I work for an Education Service Center), currently I cannot directly pinpoint another area that I could use action research in the educational sphere that ties with my day-to-day activities at work.

Reference:

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher.Thousand Oaks,                          CA: Corwin Press.