Project#4 Reflection &Objectives Addressed

Project#4: Exploring parent-interface interaction in K-12 web based learning (Fall 2016)

Objectives Addressed: 1, 3, 4, & 7

This paper was submitted for ETR 525 in the Fall 2016 semester. My research

project was a major part of the work of this class, which required that the project had to

be genuinely qualitative in nature. I was learning from all the assignments, which

contributed to my project work a great deal. I also found the feedback, which the

professor provided was really beneficial. Toward the end of the course, I had had the

opportunity to apply all the techniques of qualitative research in to the project paper. The

project involved learning the techniques of how to conducting interviews and

observations, transcribing of the interview texts, and theme coding as well as the

interpretations of the data collected from the participants through both the instruments of

the study. Therefore, when I started collecting the data for my paper, I was open and

candid about the purposes, nature, and possible consequences of my research. I also had

to spend long hours collecting, analyzing, and summarizing the data for my study.

In this paper, I used phenomenological research methodology to collect systematic

data and in-depth interpretations from five parents of 4th through 8th students in the

Chromebook initiative of 428 Education District, Dekalb area in Illinois. The participants

were recruited to be observed and to answer open-ended questions about the impact of

their interaction with the interface of the Chromebook, which the school district had

given to their children to be used at home. The Chromebook initiative is a part of a large-

scale national education program intending to improve school outcomes by means of

using technology education principles to enhance use of educational technology. Findings

revealed lack of parent interaction due to misunderstanding of the program goals. Lack of

parent engagement in the design of the interface is causing such misunderstanding to

hider parents from participating in the Chromebook initiative as required and expected

from them. In conclusion, I can say that my experience in doing qualitative research is

very little as this is my first time I have chosen to work with qualitative design. So this

paper was an opportunity for me to learn from this experience and to understand through

practical work how qualitative research is used to study phenomena that occur in

educational fields.

The project started with extracting three research questions using the activity theory

as a conceptual framework. I was able to create the following questions: 1) How does

parent-interface interaction take place in K-12 online learning? 2) Why is it important

that the parents of K-12 learners interact with the materials and tools of the web? 3) What

knowledge do parents need to have in order to interact effectively with the technological

interface that is presented as part of their kids’ learning?

What really attracted my attention and intrigued me was the amount of details one

can get from talking to people about their issues and concerns around technology and use

of technological tools in education. Although I approached this topic with very little

information about the context of my study (i.e. using Cromebooks in 4th through 8th grade

education for involving children in web based learning and online education), my initial

contacts with some of the participants (i. e. parents of 4th through 8th grade students) were

very fruitful and I soon became acquainted with such a context in relatively very short

time.
 As an ETRA Department student, I considered and reviewed many research papers

that investigated education problems and challenges to examine and explain the

significance of a phenomenon or to reach conclusions regarding the solution of certain

education problems. Then, I thought that, if I could explore this topic by means of

qualitative research design, I would be able to understand if such interaction could help

or otherwise hinder the students’ performance in doing their assignments at home. The

amount of information, which I needed for this study, actually came from the interviews

and observations that I had conduct as data collection procedures part of this research.

This project was based on the qualitative principle that being a researcher and an

interviewer at the same time means I had to learn how to design a qualitative study, how

to prepare the interview protocol and the observation field notes sheet, how to transcribe

the interviews and to utilize the field notes, how to do the theme coding, how to analyze

the themes, and finally how to reach interpret the participants responses and validate the

findings by means of feedback checks and triangulations. This interesting experience

with qualitative case study design also enabled me to learn the techniques of stating the

goals and objectives of conducting a qualitative research study. Finally, it was an

opportunity for me to compare the advantages and disadvantages of conducting

qualitative research.

Working on this approach of educational research (i. e. qualitative research

approach) will help me in my future as a researcher to vary my research designs, as and I

will be able to employ its techniques in many different ways. First, it will develop my

skills in the field of educational research so that my future research attempts will be

extensive. Obviously, it will enhance my potential to develop research designs based on

qualitative principles, which will help me in the field of education and my Ph. D

Dissertation study. Furthermore, my experiences in this area of research methods will

help me as an instructor of teacher preparation to evaluate articles and research projects

of my students and to help them learn about research methods. Now, that I have learned

two major methods of qualitative data collection, namely interviews and observation, I

feel that I am confident enough to conduct qualitative research and be able to collect

qualitative data for my future studies.

In conclusion, my gains from this project show evidence that I have satisfied the

following objectives of the MS-ERE program:

• Design and/or select appropriate assessment or evaluation tools for a given

educational problem

This project about was the Chromebook initiative, which is a new program in the

education of 4th through 8th students at 428 Education District, Dekalb area in Illinois. I

can say that my experience with qualitative research in this project reflects the extent to

which the project has met the objective above. Therefore, Now, had to learn and apply

two major methods of qualitative data collection, namely interviews and observation. As

a result, currently I feel that I am confident enough to conduct qualitative research and be

able to collect qualitative data for my future studies. I can design my instruments, pilot

them, and administrate them freely, and this alone is evidence for me that I have managed

to meet this objective of the program.

• Conduct a study pertaining to an educational research problem or phenomenon

Conducting the interviews and the observation was a real practice that is related to

my educational research future career. A qualitative study design would normally require
from me the application of qualitative data collection instruments, which means that my

experience of observations and interviews helped me to conduct a study pertaining to

such educational research phenomenon of Chromebook initiative.

• Design a study of an educational research problem or phenomenon using

appropriate methodologies

In this paper, I wanted to explore the challenges of a new phenomenon in education

and research methodology by collecting systematic data and obtain in-depth

interpretations from five participants. For me this class was an extremely important

experience because it involved understanding the assumptions embodied in qualitative

research, and their implications for conducting and evaluating qualitative studies. Being

able to conduct such a project shows how the objective of using the appropriate

methodology was highlighted and met by my procedures.

• Demonstrate effective communication skills by presenting and defending a

research project

What really attracted my attention and intrigued me was the amount of details one

can get from talking to people about their issues and concerns around technology and use

of technological tools in education. Although I approached this topic with very little

information about the context of my study (i.e. using Cromebooks in 4th through 8th grade

education for involving children in web based learning and online education), my initial

contacts with some of the participants (i. e. parents of 4th through 8th grade students) were

very fruitful and I soon became acquainted with such a context in relatively very short

time.
 • Distinguish between ethical and unethical behavior when conducting educational

research or evaluation

As the project developed, I had chances to practice all the techniques of qualitative

research such as conducting interviews and observations, transcribing of the interview

texts, and theme coding in addition to obtaining the required permissions and consent

forms/ verbal consent. I learned that conducting covert research is ethically problematic.

Therefore, when I started collecting the data for my paper, I was open and candid about

the purposes, nature, and possible consequences of my research.