Capstone 15-21: Research paper on Educational Technology

In the last seven things, there were many different ways to get resources and to share them with others that are interested in the same things.  The Michigan Electronic Library is an awesome tool with full text articles about all areas of thought. It has improved my practice by giving me access to materials that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.

The Michigan Electronic Library provides an excellent collection of databases that students can use to take notes and summarize a topic. With these summaries, a student can identify similarities and differences between author’s writing and generate and test hypotheses about their thesis statement for their research based on what they have read. Having a wide body of peer-reviewed articles to chose from that have been verified for use in research helps students to create better research papers.

Objective:
Students will create a research project about a current or new technology using the Michigan Electronic Library.  Students will use Evernote to create notebook of their research. They will cite their sources using MLA format. Students will share their reports in a short video presentation.

Introduction:
Students have many different technology resources around them. Helping a young person understand the background and growth of a current technology will help that young person to better use the technology in the present. This project will put together research using digital tools like the Michigan Electronic Library and screencasting for effective communication of ideas that they have learned.

Standards Used:
http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/nets-s-standards.pdf?sfvrsn=2

2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including
at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
b. Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats

3. Research and Information Fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
a. Plan strategies to guide inquiry
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
c. Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
d. Process data and report results


Materials:
internet access, computer, ip address in Michigan, login information for Evernote.

Activity:
Students will be introduced to the databases in the Michigan Electronic Library. The teacher will discuss the merits of the Academic OneFile and Expanded Academic: ASAP databases for research.  Students will create, if necessary, and use their Evernote account to clip articles for their research project.. Students will download the “add to Evernote” button to their toolbar.

Students will write a hypothesis about educational technology that they want to research. They will develop a thesis statement based on that hypothesis. Once students have developed an initial thesis statement, they will be directed to search for articles that both support and refute that thesis statement. We will discuss how to tag articles in order to categorize based on similarities and differences. and to write notes about the articles that are clipped to their Evernote account. Students will be asked to expand on their tagged similarities and differences between individual articles in their notes in their Evernote notebook. Students will accumulate sufficient articles to develop a basis for the body and conclusion of their research paper.

Practice:
Students will revise their thesis statement based on their research and develop their logical argument to support their hypothesis. They will create a research paper using a word processing software package. Students will perform peer edits on 2 other students papers in the classroom using the attached rubric.

Assessment:
Students will revise their research papers based on their peer edits. They will submit their papers for assessment by the teaching using the same rubric used by the students. Students will create a 2 to 3 minute screen cast using Windows Movie Maker, Ink2go, Jing, or Screen-cast-o-matic. These screencasts will be used to assess the student’s understanding of their research topic. Students will be assessed using the video production rubric.

Resources:

Research Paper Rubric on Google Drive

Video Production Rubric