Using DBR and SAMR to transform my practice

I am now in the process of formulating my design-based research (DBR) project that will be focused on improving my practice. It is through engaging with my personal learning network (PLN), such as my students, peers and others in my network, that I have been able to ascertain what problems exist within my practice. It is this PLN that I intend to work with through the "life cycle" of my project, particularly in arriving at solutions. I also intend to use the SAMR model that I have previously discussed as an essential framework that will enable me to gauge where my intervention sit in the application of networked technologies.

Over the course of the last few months I have found that participation in NGL has provided me with new practices, tools and theories that has helped me address practical problems in my everyday practice, from how I tutor and coach students, to what types of skills I want my students to develop. However, what has been most valuable is the interaction with individuals in my PLN. This includes the students that I tutor through my service, to other tutors within my field, particularly online tutors, and peers within NGL. Without this network I would not have been able to discern what challenges or solutions could apply to my practice. For this reason, their input has been invaluable and something that I am continuing to seek as I progress further.

What I have discerned so far is that by using Google Docs and Skype to deliver my service I am "modifying" the traditional approach to providing tutoring. As I have mentioned in a previous post, although I think face-to-face tutoring is the ultimate approach for individuals that enjoy in-person interaction, tutoring online, particularly with the tools I have mentioned, is "the next best thing." It is amazingly close. I have noticed that when I am tutoring clients that I have already met in-person and then we move to online tutoring, we both feel that it is very nearly the same. There's still the ready intervention into the task, role-modelling and opportunities for a laugh (one of the reasons tutoring can be so enjoyable for both my clients and I). I see my new approach to online tutoring as one intervention that will be a focus of my DBR.

Throughout NGL I have acquired other skills and insights into how digital technologies and online networks can enhance, and even transform, learning and teaching. I have expressed in a previous post about the benefits of blogging for not only critical reflection and enriched understanding of ideas, but also for improving writing and creating connections with like-minded individuals who share a passion. This is a fundamental skill that I want to develop in my students. I have noticed after many years of providing a tutoring service that it is not enough to only provide traditional practical activities (i.e. question sheets and templates), although these are still valuable and necessary, it is also essential to provide students with meaningful opportunities to express their ideas, such as through creating their own blogs or other digital artefacts that express who they are.

I have also written about how the acquisition of tools, such as Feedly, Diigo and Mendeley, that have improved the way I "seek<sense<share" information, has revamped my research skills, and the way I use the Internet. I have been sharing the tools and processes that I have acquired with students, encouraging them to develop Personal Knowledge Mastery, a skill that I think is essential for 21st learners. These changes have enhanced my students research skills, such as using Mendeley for not only citation purposes but also as a tool to record notes when reading materials, and categorising materials that are needed for different areas of their research. Thus, these skills have expanded my role from providing instruction on how to write effectively to how to research the Net most effectively.

I think the issues that I have identified so far and the solutions are in alignment with Wang and Hannafin's (2005) definition of the five basic characteristics of design-based research. They are "Pragmatic, Grounded, Interactive, iterative and flexible, Integrative, and Contextual" (p. 7). The solutions are pragmatic as they are grounded in solving "real-world problems," such as how to tutor in a world where time constraints prevent in-person interaction. I find this aspect of design-based research appealing, as it is focused on applying theory and practice, something that is necessary for creativity and innovation, two pivotal areas that I'm mostly interested in, particularly within the education field. Wang and Hannafin's (2005) design-based research approach also highlights how my approach to transforming my practice is informed by my interaction with students, peers and others in my network. Through collaboration, and "continuous development and refinement," I am formulating potential interventions that are likely to effect changes in my practice, perhaps even transformative ones.

Tentative research questions that can guide the formulation of my research project is:

How can online tutoring provide learners with the benefits of face-to-face tutoring?

or

How can NGL transform online tutoring and coaching practices?

Thus, these two questions are guiding my research process at this stage. Following Bakker's (2014) criteria for Research Questions, I know that they are "good" research questions because they address my "knowledge gap," as prior to NGL I had not considered online tutoring as a viable option, particularly due to the absence of in-person modelling of writing and other skills associated with writing effectively. The questions are also "pragmatically and theoretically relevant" to my practice, rather than being something that is not immediately applicable. The wording of the questions are also "precise and anchored" in the literature that I have come across that discuss the issues and potential solutions to online tutoring practices. Lastly, the questions are "manageable" and not something that is far beyond the scope of my practice. It is indeed providing me with the opportunity to implement my research findings directly to my practice. This is one of the reasons why I chose to study with USQ, I wanted something that was practically-based but also informed by the latest in research.

To focus my research even further I could ask about the "characteristics," as suggested by Bakker (2014), of my online tutoring intervention:

What are the design characteristics for practicable and effective online tutoring and coaching strategies that enable students to learn as effectively as face-to-face tutoring?

and

How can online tutoring strategies and approaches, aimed at providing students with the same level of engagement as face-to-face tutoring, be structured?

Thus, it is these questions that I will be using to guide further research and the early stages of writing my project. It is only after I have answered these questions will I be able to discern where I sit along the SAMR spectrum below. The model is certainly a useful guide for understanding where my intervention/s will sit along the technology integration spectrum.

   by  tim.klapdor 

At this stage I think that through my DBR project I will produce a "practical education intervention" that others in my field may be able to follow or improve upon. It is my goal, as informed by Edelson's (2002), that my approach will reveal a "design framework" - where my proposed "design solution" may provide an outline of a potential approach to challenges or issues within tutoring and coaching practice.