PROPOSAL
FOR CANDIDATURE Doctor of Philosophy |
|
|
This is an On-Line version of my Candidature
Proposal designed to explore ways of presenting information as hypertext
and hypermedia.
|
"The Impact of Hypermedia Pedagogy on Secondary School StudentsÕ Writing in EnglishÓ |
|
Peter Thomas | November
1998 |
|
Multimedia | Interactive Multimedia | Hypertext, hypertext document | Hypermedia |
Multimedia -
This term, when used to discuss education and computers,
refers to the use of more than one media to present information, entertainment
pieces or creative work. The media
usually consist of text, graphics, still pictures and sound, but can include
animation and digital video images.
Interactive Multimedia -
This term includes all the above and the element of audience
or user participation in the multimedia presentation, usually through mouse
clicking on elements such as pictures or icons on the screen.
Hypertext, hypertext document-
These terms refer to a non-linear way of organising and
reading texts usually on computer. The
reader is allowed to pursue their own interests by interactively making decisions
about the paths they wish to follow in the text, usually from one passage of
text to another, but also including individual words.
Hypermedia -
This can include all the elements described above, it
is interactive multimedia with hypertext style linking for the various elements.
The reader can follow paths or elements.
(Note,
many authorities make the point that a new and greatly broadened understanding
of the term "text" is now used, so that it can include along with
the written word, pictorial information and sound.)
Computer
technology has changed many aspects of the teaching of English. Many students successfully use word processing to aid with
composition, editing and presenting their work. (Owston
and Wideman 1997) Video and
computer games, multimedia CD-ROMÕs and the Internet have become major influences
on young peopleÕs culture and this is beginning to be more obvious in the material
they are ÔreadingÕ and that teachers are using as class material.
I seek to establish a bridge between these two developments.
I am interested in students constructing hypermedia ÔdocumentsÕ in the
same way that they create text based stories and other fictional narratives.
Computer
technology has changed many elements of teaching practice, hand written material
has lost its primacy, in many ways text could also be loosing its primacy in
the teaching of English. This is
possibly speculation but what is not so contentious is the rise of new forms
of media and the different demands and responses that follow. What computers have allowed the English teacher and his or
her students to do has been to manipulate the words they typed in via a keyboard.
Through the magic of the computer, this has appeared as text and with the aid
of a printer it is transformed again into the rather more familiar form of a
text on paper. Such a use of computers
has become almost the norm, yet it is limiting the computer to being like an
elaborate typewriter. The metaphors
of pages and books, with borders, paragraphs, text in columns, beginnings and
ends, with each word following the other, is more a product of the limitations
of printing presses than the demands of the reader. (Snyder
1996a) With a computer the reader/writer is no longer bound to a page, or
a volume or a book, the computer allows for a hypertextual link between and
across any part of the text. The same magic that allowed the student to see
the screen with text also allows the student to manipulate sound and images.
The computer can even make the images move since it treats all information in
the same way - as bits.
We call this hypermedia.
Hypermedia
is an are additional element that should be incorporated into the curriculum,
just as film and television have been in the past. Writing and reading are still
of utmost importance to the English classroom. The project I am working on is
in response to the lack of detailed investigation into this area (Russell
1997). I want to model one
way of teaching Hypermedia that engages students to produce a certain type of
outcome. What will be the impact
in terms of skills needed by students and teachers? How do we assess the work
completed or the processes explored? What
sorts of impacts will learning with these new technologies bring to the teaching
of English?
There is now pressure from governments and from the public for schools to reflect the changes that Communication and Information technologies have brought. Education in the use of computers, ÒComputer LiteracyÓ, is only part of any approach. Computers are opening up unexpected and challenging avenues all the time; one of these has been the rise of hypertext, which, with the growth of the World Wide Web, has become immensely important in the last four years. Schools need research into all the impacts of computer influenced pedagogies and I hope to supply some of the research into my field of English.
The aim of my proposed thesis is to thoroughly examine the impact of Hypermedia on students learning in the English classroom; on their expression skills and communicative abilities, as well as any new understandings of English, attitudes to the subject and their levels of motivation. My aim is to conduct an Action Research Project into my own educational practices in the area of Hypermedia, to understand further these practices and the classroom situations they are conducted in. In conducting an Action Research project I am also aiming to include a range of collaborators in the process such as the English classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators and the administration of the school I am planning to work with.
I will divide a discussion of the literature into 3 sections. The first discusses the origins of hypertext and hypermedia with some comments on the types of software involved, the second discusses some of the theory and concepts raised by the use of hypermedia and the third section looks at some of the classroom research into the use of hypermedia and multimedia.
Hypertext
and hypermedia are the products of at least two main streams of application
and theory, the more obvious one stems from Vannevar BushÕs memex idea through
Englebart's Augment work and Ted Nelson's coining of hypertext and his Xanadu
concept. Myers
and Burton (1994) and Collins,
Hammond and Wellington (1997) both discuss this history in some detail.
The other stream is historical and aligned with the history of the book and
printed text; it is about the nature of linearity and the evolution of ways
to present knowledge. Russell
(1997) suggests such things as an annotated Bible and a footnote are all
types of hypertext, and any textual examples that resist linearity such as JoyceÕs
Ulysses could be argued as hypertext.
(Snyder 1996 a and Landow 1992) The invention of the personal computer has made
the promise of much of this earlier thought into something more concrete.
An early example of using the computer to create texts with the possibility of non-linearity and the addition of multimedia for the mass education market was HyperCard in 1987. The program used a Card file index metaphor with the addition of buttons that could take the user to any other card in the stack (as the file or collection of cards was called). Thus, the stack author could construct a variety of ways for the user to navigate through the information provided. HyperCard (1987) initiated a large number of imitators and other programs that developed on the same basic idea such as ToolBook 11, Linkways, Director, Authorware and HyperStudio. HyperCard allowed links between objects explicitly but for links between texts and words in texts, it was less well designed. Other programs such as StorySpace (1990) and later the World Wide Web (1991) itself used text as the basic anchors or nodes to hang links from. All Ôauthoring' programs, including software for creating web pages, are converging together since all are seeking to incorporate multimedia and hypermedia in the end product.
There
can be two ways to approach educational research into hypermedia and hypertext,
to view it as a consumer product or as a means to produce a software product
(Ayersman 1996). The consumer approach
is to see hypermedia as commercial or local teacher produced material that is
used by students to gain information - facts, pictures, images, music and sound.
The research into this area is generally favourable though with qualifications,
"multimedia information helps people learn -sometimes" (Najjar 1996)
It was found that multimedia worked best when it encourages the dual coding
of information, when the media elements support one another and when the multimedia
was used by learners with low prior knowledge.
The
second approach is as producers, where the individual is constructing or designing
software to share with other learners or as an end in its self. Ayersman also
described this approach as using hypermedia as tutee and that "active learning
theory, constructivism, constructionism, and many other theories of learning
that have at their core the axiom that learning is doing are particularly suited
to using hypermedia in the role of tutee" (p.515).
Proponents of constructing hypermedia have been very enthusiastic.
Papert (1993) thought that
such activity (though he was referring to LOGO)
"was intellectually exciting and joyful in its own right."
(p.72) Another author made a similar point "It
is worthwhile asking ourselves if the personal excitement and satisfaction that
come from working with HyperCard are not best shared by giving students themselves
the tools rather than a finished product" (Marcus 1993) Other authors
(McMahon and O'Neill 1993) expressed similar sentiments ÒThe magic comes
because children are operating with digitised sound, digitised graphics and
digitised text; in this form, the sound, graphics and text all become fully
manipulable, they can be cut and pasted, twisted, turned, repeated, and linked
in any number of ways"
It
must be noted that the discussion of hypermedia and hypertext is only decades
old. Its impact on education is
still very much being investigated though the consensus, as noted above, seems
to be positive. Its impact on the
English curriculum is almost unknown (Snyder 1996 b). Russell (1997) suggests
that the concentration of hypermedia in the science and social science area
of the curriculum with its emphasis on information gathering and retrieval and
its evaluation on utilitarian aspects of cognition has hampered its adoption
by the English Language educators, who might be more interested in the expression
of ideas and the nature of the communication.
Hypertext and hypermedia have encouraged some literary theorists and practitioners who have been equally as ebullient as those mentioned above (Coover 1992). They see in hypertext a new form of discourse equally as important as the invention of writing and the printing press. (Landow 1992) Fortunately, there have been some words of caution as Snyder (1996a) and others point out it is difficult to produce research data in support of the very positive claims made on behalf of hypertext in the teaching of English.
Hypermedia
and hypertext use in society and education is still in relative infancy there
is not a great body of research into its use in the classroom. Much of the research
is anecdotal and observatory, some have more elaborate designs.
Turner
and Dipinto (1992) in their study had classes of Grade 7 students use HyperCard
to create multimedia research projects on mammals as part of the science curriculum.
The researchers purpose was to answer some process oriented questions
especially about the benefits of investing the necessary time in learning the
software, some social and affective questions about student and teacher interactions
and some content specific questions about whether this form of learning might
offer new insights to the students either in the science they were working on
or the process of writing about it. There
were four sources of data: Participant observations, teacher interviews, student
reflections and an analysis of student's stacks. The conclusions were generally
very favourable all the students mastered the program sufficiently to produce
a stack, and the benefits in terms of an increase in synthesis skills was noted
by one of the teacher researchers. Student
interactions were positive and cooperative.
The researchers did not notice any appreciable enhancement in the content
learning but they did unexpectedly find that the students developed greater
appreciation of writing skills especially such notions as breaking the long
stream of information into manageable chunks.
The students were also very aware of revision and editing, probably because
of the shared nature of the activity and the acute proximity of their audience
- the other students. One student commented that "Going through HyperCard
is like going through someone's mind."
A
second study (Lehrer, Erickson and Connell 1994) was interested in the idea
of students designing knowledge collaboratively using hypermedia because "it
can be used to encourage students to think about how to represent an idea, to
think about how to link different representations of an idea, and to think about
relationships among ideas." The
researchers instructed a class of Grade 9 American history students in a hypermedia
program called HyperAuthor with the goal of the students developing a hypermedia
presentation as an educational tool for their peers.
They described their instruction method as scaffolding. The study was
evaluated by examining student discourse (through videotaping), surveying student's
perceptions of design, of their mental activities, and by assessing their competence
with HyperAuthor. The results showed that students increasingly became less
engaged in off-task behaviour as the project went on. The researchers also claim
that "students participating in design activities seem to explore topics
more deeply, converse substantively about the topics, develop personal interests
and involvement, and begin to develop critical standards for knowledge."
A
third study (Toomey and Ketterer 1995) was interested in Multimedia as a cognitive
Tool and described three case studies, two Australian and one American, where
primary school teachers and their students used multimedia technology in the
classroom. The case studies revealed
that the very function of multimedia on the computer and the purpose of the
activity, which was to present information can lead to a situation of mediated
activity, where the students' peers and the teacher are drawn together into
a collaborative working environment.
All
these studies focused on subject areas other than the study of English.
Some researchers in English have focused on a Literature approach to
hypermedia where the students were involved in creating multimedia presentation
of existing texts such as Hamlet (Read and Wells
1997) and The Masque of The Red Death
(Harris and Cady 1988). Others
have approached it as a tool for the creation of the student's own work, which
is the area of my own research. The first study, from the United States (Wilhelm
1995) follows the experience of three students as they improve their writing
skills and learn to enjoy research. The author uses HyperCard with the students
to construct Personality Profiles, A stack on Psychology and one as a Cultural
Journalist. Aside from technical problems of availability and number of computers,
software learning on the run and the inevitable disk crashes the outcomes were
generally favourable. The students were able to master hypertext sufficiently
to produce their own stacks. The researchers noted the increased enthusiasm
and remarked on the development of critical literary and research skills.
Two
other studies were perhaps less subjective, the first (Buckingham, Grahame and
Sefton-Greene 1995) was about a British program that introduced HyperCard to
an all girls class at Year 8 level. The students were given some background
work on story writing and some instruction in the use of the program and asked
to complete hypermedia stories. The researchers found an initial problem in
this approach ÒWhich comes first:
the ability to write in non-linear narratives or the experience of reading them?
Could the students invent non linear narratives without being competent uses
of the technologyÓ (p.54) There were no obvious cultural forms to imitate.
Even so the students were collaboratively able to create a range of interactive
stories, though some were more interactive than others were, it was noted that
some groups did not grasp the non-linear potential of the program. The authors
noticed that the program forced the students to be explicit about a how a reader
might view their work. They also suggested that the students
Òengagement with the work clearly took it beyond a mechanical exercise
in narrative construction.Ó
The third study (Russell 1998a and 1998b) involved using the program
StorySpace to create interactive stories with Australian classes at Year 8 level.
Russell like almost all the authors
mentioned stressed the collaborative nature of the exercise. He was also concerned with the impact that hypermedia pedagogy
has on teaching and learning as well as such "school" issues as assessment,
homework and authorship. Another
aspect of this study that is also echoed in Jordan (1997) is the explicit use
of multimedia elements such as colour, images and pictures to convey meanings
in a similar way to text. A movement that reflects the influence of the Internet
and modern youth "cyberculture".
The research studies discussed tend to be fairly positive about the use
of hypermedia in the classroom. A
range of curriculum areas were covered and though the non-English studies stressed
the research nature of their activities all the studies noted the way that hypermedia
programs explicitly encourage the authors to be aware of their effects on the
reader.
To summarise 1. Collaborative work, usually dictated by the limited availability
of computers, was praised for the way that students were able to derive benefit
from working cooperatively
2. The researchers noted
the benefits for presenting information, for the students increased ability
to structure their work into more meaningful forms.
3. The increased engagement of students to take part in the task, enthusiasm
that was measured in recording off-task time in Lehrer, Erickson and Connell
(1994) and noted in Wilhelm (1995)
where the students came back after the exam time to finish their HyperCard stacks.
Major problems were not encountered, though some authors noted the need for a reappraisal of many school based practices that were impractical or self defeating when the teacher introduces hypermedia pedagogy.
As Russell (1997) has mentioned and Snyder (1996b) has
said, "the research agenda is fertile with possibilities".
Further work needs to be done on the skill development of adolescents
especially since many of the studies in other curriculum areas noted the incidental
development of such skills, as students needed to rethink the way information
was structured. Russell and others made some small mention of the use of non-traditional
forms of textural, iconic or illustrative communication in the hypermedia produced
by students, this area seems to have had little attention and seems well worth
pursuing.
The role of the teacher in hypermedia pedagogy is certainly an issue. Many of the studies do not cover the differing responses that students with learning difficulties might make or the particular needs they may have in these situations.
I am proposing to conduct an Action Research project in a secondary college. Previously in my role as a classroom teacher, I conducted pilot studies using Hypertext and hypermedia in the classroom. The following is the account of one such study.
Brief
Outline
In
1997, I organised my Year 9 English class into doing a project using computers.
The students were introduced to the idea of creating an interactive and
illustrated story with the HyperCard program.
The project was undertaken over a ten week period, and consisted of lessons
on the software program, classes on branching stories and creative writing and
computer lab time spent creating and presenting hypermedia interactive stories.
Further Research
I was struck by the seeming success of this exercise,
but I was concerned about whether the students were really picking up enhanced
skill development in English. I also noted that many students handled text differently
and included the multimedia elements as explicit replacements for texts as well
as enhancements of the texts. In
this situation, I had a mixed ability classroom where some students seemed to
be progressing beyond my competence level while others seemed to be facing enormous
difficulties. These seemed obvious
areas to investigate and helped with my formation of the research questions.
I
have established these questions from my own practice as well as from my research.
1.
On the basis of analysis of evidence available from records of students' English
classes and samples of their English work, and from questionnaires and interviews
with students and their parents, what behaviours do students in Years 7 and
8 in a semi-rural secondary school in Victoria display?
Specifically what is their:
(a)
level of attainment in effectively using the linguistic structures and features
of English eg spelling, punctuation,
sentence structure and paragraphing
(b)
level of attainment in effectively using creative writing to access ideas and
issues eg plot, characterisation and descriptive writing
(c)
attitude to the study of English eg enthusiasm, awareness of the importance
of high skills in English as conveyed by parents
and the wider community, perceptions of their current skills, perceptions
of their capacity to develop their current skills and commitment to developing
their current skills.
2.
After considering the analysis
described above in Question 1 in what ways does the implementation in the selected
classroom of a hypermedia-based curriculum, involving sound, animation, video
and text, over an initial 16 lessons
promote the development of:
(a) level of attainment
in effectively using the linguistic structures and features of
English as defined above and as measured by selected hypermedia samples
chosen by the teacher?
(b)
level of attainment in effectively using creative writing to access ideas and
issues as defined above and as measured by analysis of hypermedia stories nominated
by students as representing their Ôbest
workÕ?
(c)
attitude to the study of English as defined above and as measured by classroom
observation during implementation, interviews of selected pupils at the end
of lessons, and questionnaire surveys of all pupils at the end of the total
sequence?
The
primary focus of the research is the whole class but I would also like to study
the material in terms of differences with in the group.
Two important groups would be gender and any
whose attendance at the lessons was irregular.
3.
In the light of a review of this evidence of pupil development, and consideration
of personal records maintained by the researcher over the course of the lessons,
what hypotheses may be developed about the specific contribution of the content
and process of the hypermedia curriculum to the fostering of positive attitudes
to English and enhanced linguistic features and structures, and creative writing
skills?
Action
Research is a method of approaching research that involves the researcher actively
participating in the process of enquiry with a view to improving practice and
increasing knowledge. (Kemmis and McTaggart, 1988) The proposed research is
based around my interests in the use of hypermedia. I would describe my research as Practical Action Research,
as distinct from Technical or Emancipatory.
I am very much interested in improving my practice and understanding
in the area of hypermedia education and with sharing this with a wider education
community.
I
will also be working in collaboration with a range of colleagues, some of who
I hope to take with me in my different approaches towards English teaching.
This is not strictly Emancipatory Action Research but it does hold some
promise of promoting change at the local level.
One
of the main features of Action Research involves using a cycle of reflection,
action, reflection on and analysis of action and then further action based on
this. (McNiff, Lomax and Whitehead 1996).
Using such a model, I have divided my proposed project into a number
of phases. Only Phase 1 can be
mapped out with any certainty as the methodology for the following phases should
emerge as a result of the reflective nature of the Action Research process
This
will involve negotiations with the school administration, the teaching staff
and the Department of Education. My initial plans are to set up and teach units
of work that involves the students creating an interactive
Hypermedia computer document or file (a stack) using a multimedia authoring
program called HyperStudio. The target
age group will be Years 7 and 8. The units should run for 3 to 4 weeks.
The units should contain
Preliminary work on story creation and the formation of writing groups
or production teams
1.
An introduction to the program HyperStudio
2.
It should model a range of hypermedia documents to allow students to understand
the concepts of non-linearity and linkages.
3.
Class time devoted to creating and finding a range of digital resources such
as images, photographs, music and sounds.
4.
Preparation for Collaborative group work on computers and with the aim of creative
writing.
5.Adequate
time for discussion and planning on creating the interactive stack.
At
the end of the unit, each student or group of students should produce a piece
of Interactive Fictional Hypermedia (to a set of criteria to be established).
The whole process will be monitored and the students handling of the
process and the outcomes that they achieved will be recorded for later analysis.
After carefully examining all that happened, I propose
to repeat the whole process again with another set of students paying careful
attention to any of the shortcomings of practice or resources that the first
set revealed.
I
would also like, as time went on, to revisit the earlier classes and run a more
advanced approach to hypermedia. I will need to judge if the earlier classes
had any impact on the attitudes towards using the computers in this way and
to their abilities to produce more elaborate or effective Interactive fiction.
As
a participatory research project I am planning to include a variety of Information
gathering devices (Good and Brophy 1991) and analyses of studentsÕ completed
work to enrich my research and allow for triangulation of data (Hopkins 1985).
I will be maintaining a Research Diary that will contain a summary of
what happens each day of the hypermedia lessons, stories of conversations, discussions,
interviews, planning sessions with fellow teachers and students, observations
and reflections and plans for future action or research.
I will be using a range of survey types, interviews and observations
in pursuit of data related to answering my research questions. The focus for
the students in this study is as much the use of hypermedia as it is creative
writing. In dealing with an evaluation of the studentÕs work in this area I
am guided by EisnerÕs (1985) ideas of appraising the value of the studentÕs
work and bringing an artistic view of informed categorising when dealing with
it.
Table 1 Shows the types of data and collecting methods I will
employ for Phase 1 of the project. For
example for the first part of the first Research Question I am interested in
data related to Skill development in English, areas such as punctuation, spelling,
sentence and paragraph construction. To
achieve this I will consult the students' academic records, interview the students'
English teacher and undertake a self-assessment profile. I will also use my
appraisal of their previous creative writing in English (Associated with my
second research question) to aid in establishing a baseline of Skill Development.
This will then be compared, after the hypermedia classes, with a follow
up self-assessment profile, teacher interview and appraisal of the completed
hypermedia documents.
Table
2 Illustrates how I propose to analyse the data I will be collecting.
In my example from the previous paragraph I will be comparing the Baseline
data on skill development with data from after the lessons (or Treatment) This
will be a direct comparison, I will be interested in any differences that can
be attributed to the hypermedia pedagogy.
Similarly for students attitudes to English I will use teacher interviews, students' own perceptions and a parent survey. This will establish a range of attitude types that I will compare to similar data collection methods after the "Treatment". During the Hypermedia classes, I will be recording students' involvement with the activities with either audio or video. This can be compared and contrasted with the other data in an attempt to triangulate the information so as to arrive at a more accurate analysis of whether students attitudes were in fact changed in any way by their involvement with the pedagogy.
Table 1. Phase 1 Data types and Methods of Collection linked to Research Questions
R Qu's |
Data | Methods of Collecting |
1(a) | -For Skill development: baseline data and skill development after the study. | -Teacher interviews, studentÕs academic record, self
assessment profiles. Analysis of previous creative writing compared for
skill development with hypermedia productions. |
1(b) | - For Attitudes to English
|
-- Survey of parents , teachers and students perceptions
of the students attitudes - prior and post test |
2(a) | -On application of hypermedia to creative writing
|
- Analysis of Students Stacks Interviews and participant observations ( video or
audio taped ) focusing on
students describing what they understand to be going on |
2(b) | -On engagement
|
- observation of student discourse over the length
of the study to gauge student off-task time |
Table 2. Illustrative Analysis of Information for Research Questions in Phase 1 of the Action Research Cycle.
|
Data
Collection |
| |||
Stages |
I Baseline Data |
A1 |
B1 |
C1 |
|
|
|
Formal English Skills |
Attitudes to English |
Creative Writing |
|
|
II |
Hypermedia lessons and the writing of creative interactive fiction |
| ||
|
III Outcome Measures |
A2 |
B2 |
C2 |
|
|
IV |
A2-A1 |
B2-B1 |
C2-
-C1 |
|
The
secondary college that I will be basing my research in has two computer labs
of 25 machines each; the school has the necessary software, HyperStudio with
scanners and printers. The use
of a video camera for recording interviews may also be available in the school.
The research I am undertaking
will involve
Observing classrooms.
Interviewing students about the activities they are participating
in and transcribing the results.
Storing the digital results of the students activities for analysis and
later presentation.
Preparing the Thesis for examination
Item | Use | Price | ||
Video tape |
Class room observation |
5 x $5.00 |
$ 25.00 |
|
Sony 2 CM tape recorder |
Taping interviews |
$85.00 |
$ 85.00 |
|
Audio tapes |
Taping interviews |
5 x $ 5.00 |
$25.00 |
|
Batteries |
Taping interviews |
10 x $2.00 |
$ 20.00 |
|
Printing paper |
Preparing Thesis |
$6.00 |
$ 6.00 |
|
Printer cartridges |
Preparing Thesis |
$ 65.00 |
$ 65.00 |
|
Iomega Zip Drive (SCSI) |
Storage of Files |
$245 |
$ 245.00 |
|
Zip Drive disks |
Storage of files |
3 x $20.00 |
$ 60.00 |
|
Total Costs
$ 531.00
(Tape recorder and Zip drive to remain the property of the School of education
at the completion of research)
July - November 1998
¥ Approach VUT with tentative proposal, write Candidature
Proposal and conduct initial Literature Research.
Discuss viability of project with selected school.
December 1998 - March 1999
¥ Preparation
of phase 1, including creating instructional material and examples, ensuring
equipment availability and selecting appropriate class groups.
Initial data collection on student's skill levels, attitudes and expectations.
April - May 1999
¥ Delivery of Phase 1 in classroom.
June -September 1999
¥ on going data collection and post-delivery modelling.
Data Analysis and preparation of report on Phase 1 (Action Research Period of
reflection)
October - December 1999
¥ Phase 2, the details are dependent on all the analysis
and reflection of Phase 1 but preparation of materials, resources and equipment,
delivery of class and data collection will be involved.
January - May 2000
¥ Phase 3. Growing out of the Action Research Cycle of
Phases 1 and 2 and including material, resource and equipment preparation, and
delivery of class and data collection.
June 2000- May 2001
¥ Completion of Literature research and analysis and the writing of the
Thesis.
The
research into the area of hypermedia in education has generally been positive
and even enthusiastic. As a practicing
teacher, I also felt some of the enthusiasm of undertaking hypermedia activities
individually and with a class. What
I felt the need for though was a more systematic examination on what was going.
The students are engaging in English with media in a way not possible
a decade ago, they are using, in addition to text, a variety of media that are
usually not associated with the English curriculum such as pictorial images,
music and sound, and applications that require the mastery of a range of new
concepts such as hypermedia links and action buttons (In secondary school anyway,
primary schools have a different focus (Kress van Leeuwen 1990)
In my proposed research I want to take some of the findings
already published on the impact of a hypermedia pedagogy and investigate and
develop them in the junior secondary sphere.
I want to examine hypermedia in the realm of creative writing as I consider
this area to have a particular resonance with the nature of multimedia and hyperlinking
and an area not covered in any depth in the literature.
In particular I want to focus on the students learning in the ever increasing
and influential world of hypermedia.
Ayersman, D.J. 1996 'Reviewing the Research on Hyper5media-Based Learning'
Journal of Research on Computing in Education
28(4)
Bonk, CJ, Medury, P.V. and Reynolds, T.H. 1994 'Cooperative
Hypermedia: The Marriage of Collaborative Writing and Mediated Environments'
Computers in The Schools 10(1/2)
Beekman, G.1990 HyperCard in A Hurry. Belmont:
Wadsworth Publishing Company
Buckingham, G., Grahame, J. and Sefton-Green, J. 1995
Making Media Practical Production in Media
Education London: The English and Media Centre
Collins,
J. Hammond, M., & Wellington, J. 1997 Teaching
and Learning Multimedia
London: Routledge
Coover, R. 1992 'The End of Books'
The New York Times Book Review
21 June
Eisner, E.W. 1985
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