CIDER Session I Overview

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CIDER Session I Overview

• Introduction to the CIDER Series by Terry
  Anderson, Director CIDER
• A word from our host Roger Hanley
• Todays Presentation DE Research and the CIDER
  Solution Terry Anderson, Director CIDER

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CIDER Session I

• The presentation will begin at 1100 AM MST
• While you are waiting, please set your
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• Click Connection speed on the Session menu.
• Select the modem or line speed that your computer
  uses for your Internet connection.

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Elluminate Offer to CIDER Participants

• Elluminate and The Canadian Institute of Distance
  Education Research (CIDER) have a special offer
• Try out the Elluminate Live! eLearning and web
  collaboration solution on your own for 14 days.
• Your personal virtual office space will seat up
  to FIVE participants at any time during your
  trial, and is available to you 24 x 7.
• Sign up for your free 14 day, 5-seat trail
  today!! Simply follow the link below.

http//www.elluminate.com/demo/cider.jsp

• Roger Hanley RogerH_at_elluminate.com

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Research for Effective Online Learning

• Prof. Terry Anderson
• Canada Research Chair in Distance Education
• Director Canadian Institute for Distance
  Education Research

CIDER Session March 11, 2005
Terrya_at_athabascau.ca
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Session Overview

• Problems of Distance Education Research
• Methodology Debates
• Design-Based Research
• The CIDER Solution

Research
Cross-Canada Checkup
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Qualities of Research

• . . . the systematic study of materials and
  sources in order to establish facts and reach new
  conclusions . . . Oxford Compact Dictionary,
  1991.
• Characterized by
• clear goals
• adequate preparation
• appropriate methods
• significant results
• effective presentation
• reflective critique
• Glassick, Huber Maeroff (1997).
• Are such descriptions exclusionary?

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What Makes Educational Research Effective?

• Can you think of one research result that has
  made a difference to your practice?
• Why does this particular research result make a
  difference?
• Question
• context
• methodology
• clarity of presentation?

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Educational ResearchJust Dont Get No Respect

• Much research is not valued by either funders,
  other academics or worse, practitioners
• Not funded financially

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Put in Perspective

• In 1999, International pharmacy giant Pfizer Inc.
  spent over 200 million U.S. in research related
  to treatments for animals
• 7X as much as the U.S. Government spent that year
  on educational research

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Assessment of DE Research

• Many experimental research projects do not
  display rigour in their design
• Many generalize inappropriately
• Cultural, linguistic and environmental factors
  often not taken into consideration
• Few concerned with teacher and tutor support
• Few studies based on current learning,
  pedagogical or psychological theories
• Olugbemiro Jegede (1999).

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Barriers to Educational Research

• Its nobodys job
• QUESTION? How many people at your institution
  spend 50 of their time on research related to
  your core business of teaching and learning?
• Negligible industry support
• No large scale focus on particular problems
• Nobody keeping score in meaningful terms
• Pervasive lack of trust in research efficacy
• In sum, lack of an effective research culture
• Burkhardt and Schoenfeld, (2003).

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How do we Build a Culture of Research in
Distance education?
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Research Paradigms

• Quantitative discovery of the laws that govern
  behavior
• Qualitative understandings from the inside
• Critical Investigate and expose the underlying
  power relationships
• Design-based interventions, interactions and
  their effect in real practice

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Do either qualitative, quantitative or critical
methods meet REAL NEEDS of practicing distance
educators?
The findings from this study cast doubt on
virtually every argument for the superiority of
any particular research genre, whether the
criterion for superiority is persuasiveness,
relevance, or ability to influence practitioners
thinking. Kennedy, 1999
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• In any dispute the intensity of feeling is
  inversely proportional to the value of the stakes
  at issue that is why academic politics are so
  bitter.
• Wallace S. Sayre, 1905-1972
• Quoted in Issawi's Laws of Social Motion, (1973).

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Design-Based Research

• Related to engineering and architectural research
• Focuses on the design, construction,
  implementation, and adoption of a
  teaching/learning intervention
• Related to Development Research
• Closest educators have to a homegrown research
  methodology

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Design-Based Research

• Recent Theme Issues
• The Journal of the Instructional Sciences, (13,
  1, 2004),
• Educational Researcher (32, 1, 2003)
• Educational Psychologist (39, 4, 2004)
• See bibliography at http//cider.athabascau.ca/CI
  DERSIGs/Design-based/dbrreferences

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Integrative Learning Design
Bannan-Ritland (2003).
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Design Studies
Design studies are . . .

• Iterative
• Process focused
• Interventionist
• Collaborative
• Multi-leveled
• Utility oriented
• Theory driven and generative
• Shavelson et al., (2003).

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Building the Research Culture

• More funding and support
• Better dissemination within combined research/
  practitioner communities
• Better tools
• Less fighting!

CIDER as a solution???
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Research
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cider.athabascau.ca
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Fellows and Grad Students Create a record of
yourself in the CIDER Research or Student
database
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• A virtual space to foster community amongst
  Canadian DE researchers
• A website portal for
• v Resources/ knowledge repository
• v Sharing
• v Finding collaborators, research assistants,
  and coordinating distributed projects
• A community of support, discussion and debate
• CIDER Press, an open access publisher
• A capacity building organization!

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Online Journals

• International Review of Research on Open and
  Distance Learning www.irrodl.org

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The Net Shares Knowledge

• v Open Source Solution
• v Dissemination of research results
• v 4,200 PDF print document downloads in the
  first 2 weeks
• v Peak of 12,464 PDF print document downloads in
  April, 04
• v Currently over 40,000 copies downloaded
• Averaging over 4,000 combined HTML/PDF downloads
  per month

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CIDER and You

• CIDER Needs
• Plone, Python Open Source programmers and
  developers
• Cider Web Master Dan Wilton dwilton_at_k12connect.
  ca
• SIG Owners
• Instructional design
• Evaluation
• Design-based research
• Others ??
• Panners Filtering Gold from the Net
• Research Tutorial Builders and Linkers
• Special Events Animators
• Virtual World builders

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Conclusion

• v E-Learning research is grossly under-resourced
  to meet the magnitude of opportunity and demand
• v Design-based research offers a promising new
  research design model
• v CIDER designed to enhance and support Canadian
  Distance Education Research

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Possible Discussion Items

• What are the biggest barriers you find to being
  an active DE researcher?
• What is the most critical contribution CIDER
  could make?
• Should non-Canadians be allowed to register as
  CIDER Fellows?

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Stay Tuned! CIDER Session II
What? Research on Formal Virtual Learning
Communities in Higher Education Who? Richard
Schwier and graduate students Ben Daniel and
Heather Ross Why? Research Matters! When?
March 24, 2005 1100 a.m., MT Where? Online
at Eluminate!

• Terry Anderson, Ph.D. terrya_at_athabascau.ca