| Team: |
Jolin,
Mona |
| Source: |
T/TAC
staff members (SME's) |
Date
(Planned, Completed) |
Week
of 09-22-03 |
| Summary: |
Through
interviews with various sources, at this point we have consistently seen
the need for pedagogical re-engineering of current TTAC staff instruction
to online instruction. To address this issue we feel that the method of
contextual inquiry would be most efficient. We hope to observe five to eight
TTAC staff members throughout various regions as they are the ones who will
need support with pedagogical re-engineering as well as technical support
for uploading Webshops. Currently we are focusing on two to three staff
members at the GMU TTAC center. We will set up a test site similar to that
of their typical environment and attempt to upload a Webshop ourselves to
better understand the information domain and also to avoid any technical
problems during the actual inquiry. During the analysis, we will attempt
to partner with the SME’s to obtain data, allowing times for reflections
or comments on why certain actions were taken, but not too deep so as to
alter any typical behavior. We will attempt to establish a rapport with
several the participants to make the environment for contextual analysis
comfortable and thus effective. During the inquiry process we will follow
the pattern of introduction, warm-up, general issues, deep focus, retrospective,
wrap-up as discussed in the text. We will collect various types of information
consisting of the tools used, the sequences in which actions occur, their
methods of organization and the kinds of interaction they have. |
| Questions: |
Questions
to prepare for Contextual Analysis (To learn the domain ):
1. Which, if any, TTAC staff members have uploaded Webshops
or know the process and can attempt to do so?
2. What kind of environment do we need to set up for them to be able to
perform the task of constructing and uploading a Webshop?
3. What kind of equipment, tools or software do they need to perform this
task?
4. What kind of preliminary overview or information about Webshops do
we need give them before observing their first attempt to do so?
5. What is the general period of time required to construct and upload
a particular Webshop?
Once we have gathered this data, we will send an email
to the selected participants stating the general goals of the research,
time required, what equipment will be used and what kinds of things we
will be looking for. (not in detail)
Questions to consider during actual Contextual Analysis:
1. What are their actual needs, not necessarily our initial
assumptions? Is it anxiety that can be addressed by training and familiarizing
them with the process and technology?
2. In what situations do the actual problems occur? What does problem
entail? How do they deal with it or solve the problem?
3. What is the environment TTAC staff memebers work in?
4. What tools and technology do they have easy access to?
5. What could they possibly have access to?
6. What tools do they need to function in that environment day to day
or otherwise?
7. What is their mental process as they attempt to create a webshop?
8. What information or guidance would be of most value to them?
|
| Answers: |
- Which,
if any, TTAC staff members have uploaded Webshops or know the process
and can attempt to do so?
No they never had the experience in uploading a workshop to T/TAC online.
They are experts in teaching but not in technology. They are not interested
because of lack in technology skills.
-
What kind of environment do we need to set up for them to be
able to perform the task of constructing and uploading a Webshop?
I believe a workshop or presentation in teaching our staff how to transfer
contents to a productive e-learning environment is what we need. We
are not concerned about technical or uploading issues, because we think
it is not a big deal. We can always ask shaoboa if we face any technical
difficulties, but we are really concerned about productivity.
- What
kind of equipment, tools or software do they need to perform this task?
Most of the T/TAC staff knows only Powerpoint. They would love to learn
any new software that may improve their reengineering of content, such
as flash or any other program that can help them present an interesting
Webshop.
- Do
you think that T/TAC online could be an alternative of the traditional
face-to-face presentation?
No, we believe that we will not stop face to face presentations. We believe
that T/TAC online will support our work:
- We could use T/TAC online for supporting our teachers to have some workshops
that relate to their expertise.
- Inform them about new events and conferences
- Enrich them with different sources or links.
- Provide some certificates for teachers who successfully complete some
of the workshops or courses through T/TAC online.
- T/TAC online may decrease our face to face presentations, especially
in Fairfax where technology is everywhere, but I believe that we will
still need face to face meeting especially in small towns where teachers
sometimes don’t even have an answering machine.
- From
your point of view, what do you think the drivers are for using T/TAC
online?
-The state is requiring that within the next few years, T/TAC services
will be facilitated by the state from a centralized location such as T/TAC
online. We need to support these state needs. We need to have material
online to be able to participate in state conferences if asked to do so
by the state. T/TAC online is an effective tool to be used in these conferences
- According to the goals of “No Child Left Behind”, the state
requires that we start transferring our information to T/TAC online to
meet various deadlines the law entails.
|
