Exploration

__The Context: University of Cape Town__
The institution which runs the Masters in Education in ICT University of Cape Town (UCT) has good Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) infrastructure in accordance to the South African policy of White paper on e-Education 2003. The policy foregrounds the need to incorporate ICTs in teaching and learning processes, with the view of creating new possibilities for both teachers and learners to engage with information, and the need to turn educational institutions into centres of quality learning and teaching for the 21st century (Department of Education, 2003).

UCT has therefore adopted ICT policies in accordance with the government initiatives. The UCT ICT policy of ‍2003 states the position of the university with regard to the integration of ICTs in teaching, learning and research. The department of ICT services in the institution offers extensive services and is continually adding access and value to the use of ICTs at UCT. Furthermore, the Centre for Educational Technology which facilitate the course Advanced Research Design is an inter-faculty department which is strategic is supporting the use of ICTs in teaching, learning and research. The aim of the programme MED in ICTs is to encourage the use of ICTs in education, hence technological tools are used where ever possible to support teaching and learning in this programme. The Advanced Research Design course is a pre-requisite of the minor dissertation that the students in the course have to submit for summative assessment by the end of the programme.

The Masters of Education in ICT is a part time programme offered in a blended mode, were students learn online with a one week intensive face-to-face session. Students in the course are from all over Africa, who take time from their work to attend the face-to-face session. The masters’ level course is supposed to be a continuation of an honours course, Research methods (EDN5098F) but the students in the class have not gone through that course hence they lack the basic foundations of research design. It is, therefore, vital to maximise time during the face-to-face session with an online intervention which can be carried out outside classroom time. An online intervention needs to promote deep learning in which the learner engages with the learning material and resources, other learners and the facilitator to contribute to the development of skills (Boud et al in Hricko and Howell, 2006).

An online intervention is ideal for this group of students as they have good access to computers and the internet. The students have a special dispensation to unlimited internet access due to the technologically based nature of the MED ICT programme and the fact that besides the face-to-face session most of the learning is done online. Despite the fact that they have access to computers in such facilities as the library and the Knowledge commons, there is also a special lab for postgraduate humanities students, the Postgraduate Humanities Commons and another lab especially for Masters and PhD students the Research Commons.

Both these labs have state of art computers, good internet connection and conducive learning and research environments. In recent years UCT has made great strides in increasing Wi-Fi hot spots around the campus, ensuring access to internet even in some social venues. Thus the students in this course have no problem with access to computers and internets on campus, beside that, all of them have laptops. As aspiring educational technologists the students embrace any chance they get to be involved in online learning tasks and the online intervention is a good way of maximising learning time during the face-to-face session.

**__References __**
Hricko, M.,Howell, S.,(2006). Online Assessment and Measurement. London: Information Science Publishing

Department of Education (2003). White paper on e-education: transforming learning and teaching through ICT. Department of Education Pretoria. Pretoria, Government Printers, from [|http://www.info.gov.za/whitepapers/2003/e-education.pd]

UCT Educational Technology Policy Document (2003) from[]

The number of students in the course Advanced Research Design is between 10-12 students. The small number is ideal for learning as it encourages individualised and collaborative learning activities and also a conducive community of practice. Most students are fulltime educators and as already mentioned are from all over Africa, which means they take a one week leave from work necessitating the need to maximise the one week intensive face-to -face session. The online intervention which is scheduled to be carried outside class time is considered an ideal way to maximise time. Lockitt in Beetham and Sharpe (2007) noted the importance of learners’ ICT competence in online designing as it is not a stand -alone issue but can impact on a wide range of factors such as learners confidence, location and support requirements. The learners competency in using ICT’s range from good to extremely good as some of them hold bachelors or masters degrees in disciplines such as Computer Sciences. Generally the students work with computers both in their professional and personal lives. Their background in the PGDE which is the first year of the MED in ICT programme exposed the students to a variety of tools for learning both on the Learning Management System (LMS) of the institution, Vula, and on the cloud. On Vula, in the four courses done in the first year, the students have used tools like blogs, discussion forms, chatrooms, wikis, podcasts, DFAQ, and drop box. Other tools they have used include Google docs, Google maps, audacity, audio boo and Cmaps. On the cloud they have used such tools as Adobe connect, Audacity, audio-boo, wiki spaces and sound cloud quite efficiently. Though the students might not have the latest technologies such as tabs, iPods’ or live scribe they have seen such technologies being used by the various experts in ICTs they were exposed to in the PGDE programme. The students are, therefore, flexible and have a good knowledge of using different ICT tools for learning and also, as aspiring Educational Technologist they are more than willing to engage in online oriented tasks.

**__References __** Beetham. H., Sharpe R (2007). Designing and Delivering E-learning in Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing and Delivering E-learning. New York: Routledge.

The course Advanced Research Design (EDN6015F) is a pre-requisite of the minor dissertation the students have to produce for summative evaluation at the end of the programme.The main aim of the course is to equip students with the required skills to carry out a detailed academic research at Masters Level. EDN6015F is a follow up of an honours course Research Methods: EDN5098F offered by the School of Education. The course as the name suggest mainly covers the research methods of Maxwell (2005) Interactive Model of Research Design. The assumption in the Advanced Research Design course is, therefore, that students have a background of research from the honours course and at this level all the components in Maxwell (2005) model are consolidated as an interacting whole.

[[image:edn-5101s-portfolio-magunje/Maxwell_s+2005+Interactive+Model++of+Research+Design[1].jpg width="539" height="406"]]
__The Topic: Data generation in Research__ According to Cohen et al. (2000) data collection is an important aspect of any type of research, and inaccurate data collections can impact the results of study and ultimately lead to invalid results. Thus data collection skills are important for a student who is to undertake both qualitative and quantitative research using valid information. Information and data are collected in various ways which include literature review, surveys which might be through self completion questionnaires or audience research through face to face and telephone interviews (Carr et al. 2001).

Face to face interviews are the ideal way to collect data but there are instances when telephone interviews can be the best option. Thomas and Purdon in McHorney et al. (2011) noted how conducting interviews over the telephone is an increasingly utilised method of collecting data in a variety of research fields. McHoney et al. (2011) purports that telephone interviews are less time consuming and less expensive and the researcher has ready access to anyone on the planet who has a telephone. Although the response rate is not as high as the face-to- face interview Cohen et al. (2000) argue that it is still considerably higher than a mailed questionnaire. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">The skills of a telephone interview are very important for this group of students considering that in their African developing context distance is always an issue in reaching respondents for research, thus telephone interviews become imperative. Research in most African countries reveals that most people have access to mobile phones making it easier to collect data even in the most remote places (Moon in Hodgkinson-Williams and Ng'ambi, 2009). The online intervention, therefore, will go a long way in ensuring that students are equipped with the necessary skills needed to conduct a telephone interview promoting the collection of valid data. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References __** ====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Carr, E.F., Worth, A. (2001) The Use of Telephone Interview for Research. [] Retrieved on 14/09/11. ====

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Cohen, L., Manion, L., Morrison, K., (2000) Research Methods in Education. New York: Routledge
Hodgikinson-Williams, C., Ng’ambi, D. (2009). Case study 5: mobile learning, from __[|http://www.cet.uct.ac.za]__ = __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">‍‍‍The Educators **__ = <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland (2005) emphasised the need for online developers to involve all the stakeholders in the learning process especially the educators, to determine the type of task required in accordance to what the students need to achieve. The Masters in ICT course is co-convened by the School of Education and the Centre for Education Technology (CET). This particular course, however, is run by CET thus the use of ICTs in learning is emphasised and the lecturers grasp any chance to use technology to enhance learning.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">The educators in this course face the problem that though this course is linked to the EDN5098F Research Methods course in the honours programme none of the students in the class have gone through it. The students in the course, as mentioned earlier are from all over Africa and most African universities do not offer research methods courses. The lecturers are therefore faced with a situation in which they are supposed to continue from the Research Methods course but in reality they have to start from scratch.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">To compound the problem the convener for the course Advanced Research Design course Professor Hodgkinson-Williams is going for sabbatical leave in 2012. The stand in convener, Dr Brown feels that there is so much work to be covered during the one week block session because of the huge curriculum. She feels that an online intervention on telephone interviews would allow student to interact with content and with each other if they are to do it outside class time, for example the night after the class scheduled lecture or activity on tellephone interviews. Also the telephone interview skills have to be acquired, meaning there must be proof that students have practically been involved in the task.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Dr Brown has been involved in extensive research using telephone interviews as a data collection tool herself hence she realises the need to ensure that students acquired the necessary skills. Skills such as planning the telephone interview, conducting the interview in an articulate manner and transcribing the interview would equip students not only for their research on the minor dissertation but even in their professions as researching academics. The online task can therefore be something that the student can always refer to throughout the year as they carry out their research and even in future endeavours.

**__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Dabbagh, N., Bannan-Ritland (2005). Online Learning Concepts, Strategies and Application. New Jersey: Pearson Education

Hricko, M.,Howell, S.,(2006). Online Assessment and Measurement. London: Information Science Publishing.
McHoney, C.A.,Kosinki,M.J.,ware,J.E.(2011) Comparison of Costs and Quality Norms of the SF-36:Health Survey Collected by Mail versus Telephone Interview. []

= __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Learning Design Model **__ =



<span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Online or instructional design is a systematic process that is employed to develop education and training program in consistent and reliable fashion (Gustafson and Branch, 2007). According to Britain (2000) the provision of content for ‘read and test’ is not sufficient in learning design, she argues that to learn effectively people need to be involved in a wide range of learning activitities. An online design model is, therefore, important as it provides a framework for teachers to reflect in a deeper and more creative way about how they design and structure activities for different learners or groups of learners (Britain, 2000). The overall learning design model informing my online intervention is the ADDIE model. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Before deciding on the ADDIE model, however, I considered using the Merrill's Pebble-in-the-pond model because I thought the model’s concept of progression of problems with difficulty and complexity was ideal for the learning task in this intervention. I then decided against the pebble-in-the-pond model because I realised that the task the learners were required to perform, did not increase in difficulty and complexity as it progresses, rather it was the opposite. I perceived that the interview guide was the most challenging part of the three processes, and both the interview and transcript are somehow dependant on the interview guide. The step-to-step guidance of the ADDIE model, therefore, seemed more appropriate. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">The words analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation which make up the word ‘ADDIE’ have been used in traditional instructional system design but have been also applied to online learning material (Dabbagh and Bannan-Ritland 2005). Instructional designers believe that the use of systematic design procedures can make instruction more effective, efficient and relevant than less rigorous approaches to planning instruction (Gustafson and Branch, 2007). The ADDIE model is appropriate for the behaviourist step-to-step task in the online intervention. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Gustafson and Branch (2007) described the ADDIE processes as follows: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Analysis: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> conducting a needs assessment and identifying a performance problem in the environment. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">In this intervention the needs assessment is based on the need to capitalise on time during the one week face-to-face block session and an online intervention carried out overnight after a lecture on telephone interviews seems to satisfy this need. There is a need not only to teach learners about data generation techniques, in this case telephone interview, but for them to acquire skills which would be useful to them as they conduct research for the minor dissertations. Formative feedback from peers and the educator on the online task is important as individual learners have to use these comments to improve their skills. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Design: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> writing objectives in measurable terms, classifying learning as to type specifying learning activity and specifying media <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Objectives of this online design are: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Learners should be able to: __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Classifying learning as to type __ <span style="font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The learning in this intervention is a continuation from a face to face class presentation. The assumption is that after the lecture on data generation techniques, specifically telephone interviews, learners would work on the online task after class hours. The online task involves presenting a model or a demonstration to the learners which aims to expose to them a real research telephone interview from the telephone guide, real interview and a transcribed version. The learners are then given a situation problem which requires them to work in pairs, drawing up the telephone interview guide, conducting the interview (they have to role play in pairs as researcher and interviewee) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">and transcribing the telephone interview. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Specifying media __ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">The type of media or technological tools that I have to use ensure that learning takes place has to be decided in accordance to the objectives and the learning activities. The Technological affordances section in this e-portfolio gives a detailed description of the tools used and the reason for their choice. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Development: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">preparing student and instructor materials as specified during design <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">For the preparation of material I was completely dependent on Dr Brown from Centre of Education Technology not only because she will be convening the Advanced Research Design course, but also because she has done extensive research using telephone interviews as a major data generating technique. Dr Brown gave me access to a site that they used for the //Access and Use Survey// to store the data they gathered from five universities in South Africa. It is from this resourceful site that I chose the three artefacts for the model interview guide, the telephone interview podcast and the transcribed version of the telephone interview. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Implementation **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: delivering the instruction in the settings for which it was designed <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Though this online intervention has not been implemented it is a valid prototype that allows a learner to practically engage with it. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Evaluation **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: both formative and summative evaluation as well as revision. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Formative evaluation was provided by a potential student of the Advanced Research Design course and the course convener Dr Brown. The details of this process are under the Evaluation section of this e-portfolio. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Gustafson and Branch (2007) noted several characteristics of instructional design that should be evident when ADDIE process is employed. I used these characteristics to determine the effectiveness of my design. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1 __**Instruction design is learner centered**.__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">According to Gustafson and Branch (2007) learner-centered instruction means that learners and their performance are the focal point of all teaching and learning activities, that is, teaching and other forms of instruction are simply means to the end of learner performance. The online intervention, hence, has to put the learner at the centre of the learning activity; he/she has to be involved in the learning process. The fact that the students are given a situation in which they have to draw up the required questions to ensure collection of data, carry out an interview and transcribe it, means the task is focused solely on the learner and it aims to empower the learner with required skills in telephone interviews. Kozma et al. (1978) noted how in learner- centered leaning activities personal assessment as well as subjective evaluations by teachers and peers would provide feedback necessary for student growth. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">2 __**Instruction design is goal oriented**__. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Gustafson and Branch (2007) describes this characteristic as establishing well-defined project (learning) goals, they purports that identifying and managing client (learner) expectations is of importance on the project manager (educator) but team members (learners) need to share a common vision for the anticipated outcomes of the project (learning activity). The purposes and goals of the learning activity were clearly defined, where learners have to acquire the required knowledge and skills of conducting telephone interviews. This characteristic is important in that the learners have to carry out the task, not just for marks but for the effective use of telephone interviews for research purposes. It is crucial that learners as team or community members in this learning activity share the common vision and aim for the anticipated outcome in the learning process, to ensure the effectiveness of the online intervention. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">3 __**Instruction design focuses on meaningful performances.**__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Rather than requiring learners to simply recall information or apply rules on a contrived task, instructional design focuses on preparing learners to perform meaningful and complex behaviors including solving authentic problem (Gustafson and Branch, 2007:14). The online intervention could just have exposed the learners to a model telephone interview, but to enhance meaningful learning, learners are given an authentic problem in which they get to perform meaningful and complex behaviors required in telephone interviews. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">4 __**Instruction design assumes outcomes can be measured in a reliable and valid way**__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Gustafson and Branch (2007) noted the importance of a valid assessment technique that would involve an observer with a checklist and also examining the quality of the product created. The artefacts that the learners create in the learning task are to be assessed by peers and educators and there is a rubric which acts as a checklist. By studying the interview guide and transcript on Google docs and listening to recorded interview on audio-boo both peers and the educator get to examine the quality of the interview, determining whether the learning outcomes were met or not. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">5 __**Instructional design is empirical, iterative, and self correcting**__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Gustafson and Branch (2007) noted how data is at the heart of instructional design. They argue that data collection begins during the initial analysis and continues through implementation, guidance and feedback from learners and subject matter ensures the accuracy and relevance of the skills and knowledge to be taught. This characteristic describes the processes I had to go through in data collecting and in determining the instruction problem. Even when I thought I had done it all, sometimes I would examine my prototype and note a change that was imperative or something that woul aid clarity to the task, for example assessment rubrics, this showed me the self correcting and iterative nature of ID even before an online design is implemented. The formative feedback from my evaluators and even the comments from the summative evaluation of my prototype clearly demonstrated the empirical, iterative and self-correcting nature of instruction design. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">6 __**Instruction design typically is a team effort**__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Although it is possible for a single individual to complete an ID (Instructional Design) project, usually it is a team effort (Gustafson and Branch 2007:14). This is something that I have really experienced in this intervention. Though I might have produced the online prototype, I depended heavily on my educators, subject and technological experts and also prospective students of the Advanced Research Design course, to ensure the online intervention’s feasibility. I agree with Gustafson and Branch (2007) in that ID projects require the specialised skills of a variety of individuals. **__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">References __** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Britain, S. (2000) Learning Design Systems: Current and Future Developments in Beetham H., Sharpe R. (eds) Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age: Designing and Delivering E-learning. New York: Routledge.Dabbagh, N., Bannan-Ritland (2005) Online Learning Concepts, Strategies and Application. New Jersey: Pearson EducationGustafson, K. L., Branch R.L., (2007) What Is Instructional Design in Reisser, R. A., Dempsy, J. V.,(eds) Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. New Jersey: Pearson Education. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'times new roman','serif'; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Kozma, R. B., Belle, L. W., William, G.W., (1978). Instructional Techniques in Higher Education. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Draw up an interview guide with questions that are clear and focused on the topic under research that will guarantee collection of relevant data.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Carry out a mock telephone interview with a peer that shows the learner’s ability to ask relevant questions and maintain the telephone conversation on the topic on hand to guarantee collection of valid data.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Transcribe the telephone interview in an appropriate manner that would ensure that the data is useful for research analysis.