The internet has evolved very rapidly in the last 15 years. We used to use it for simple research and accessing data. Now we use it for just about everything. We make reservations online, buy all sorts of items, apply for jobs, and pretty much anything you can think of. Weblogs or blogs for short have become increasingly popular due to their ease of use and versatility. We can post ideas at an instant and have feedback from just about anyone who is interested in what you have to write. You can easily connect with those blogs you like by being a follower or joining their network. The best part of blogs is that they are free. Who likes free? Educators love the word free. Educational leaders such as principals, superintendents and technology leaders have jumped on the bandwagon and have started using Blogs to become better leaders. Many principals around the nation have used blogs to post their thoughts, ideas and experiences (Dana, 2009). As a result, principals can now share with other leaders in a very informal manner and achieve unprecedented results. Principals who choose to follow and join the blogs can asynchronous access the blogs and contribute ideas or suggestions without having to be anywhere near geographically. One principal, David Truss, has been able to transmit his ideas online for others to read and also for his self reflection (Dana, 2009). Some of those ideas may have been lost forever in his mind had he not posted them on his blog. The support one receives on a blog can lead to collaboration of ideas that can truly make a difference in leadership decisions. Blogs allow you reach specific audiences with permission (closed community) or can be put out there for the whole world to read (open blog community). Blog also serve another purpose. They may be able to capture lightning in a bottle. Blogs are a great place to collect your data. Author Nancy Fichman Dana explains that "blogs can capture their thinking as an inquiry unfolds." This allows for continuous learning because a principal can access his or her collection of data rapidly to make better informed decisions as well as share them with other colleagues who may be in dire need of the data. The author believes that this is crucial to the "evolution of your inquiry" (Dana, 2009). I think the question most educational leaders should be asking themselves is "why haven't I started a blog yet?"
Sources:
pp 87-89 & 149-151 from
Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Action Research
This week I've had the opportunity to learn about a whole new concept that I have never in my life heard about. It is known in the education realm as action research. I have a degree in business administration and I try very hard to relate business with education. I have been able to successfully compare the education field with the business field in many instances. In the business field you may hear about strategies such as Total Quality Management or "kaizen" (continuous improvement) or Six Sigma to minimize defects or improve processes. All of these strategies have a common goal and that is to improve processes and perform "change for the better" (Wikipedia). After reading about action research I am convinced that is very similar to these strategies except they apply to education and the improvement of education processes. It strives to have continuous improvement and uses data to decide on the actions to be taken.
Administrative inquiry or action research sometimes used interchangeably is defined in various ways by the author Nancy Fichtman Dana and others. My understanding of the definition is: “administrative inquiry is a process taken by principals that lead to changes not by traditional research rather by action based continuous learning and improvement with a fundamental core stemming from posing questions and putting into practice their inquiries to become effective leaders and head learners”.
You must be careful however not to confuse action research with traditional research. In traditional research, you may not get the results you need because the information may be general and not specific to your situation. My overall understanding between traditional and action research is comparing “general vs specific”. Traditional research is very general information because the research can be a blanket concept related to various schools while action research is very specific in nature to what principals may need to better understand and serve their specific problems or situations at their campus or district.
Sources:
pp. 1-15 from
Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Kaizen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen
Administrative inquiry or action research sometimes used interchangeably is defined in various ways by the author Nancy Fichtman Dana and others. My understanding of the definition is: “administrative inquiry is a process taken by principals that lead to changes not by traditional research rather by action based continuous learning and improvement with a fundamental core stemming from posing questions and putting into practice their inquiries to become effective leaders and head learners”.
You must be careful however not to confuse action research with traditional research. In traditional research, you may not get the results you need because the information may be general and not specific to your situation. My overall understanding between traditional and action research is comparing “general vs specific”. Traditional research is very general information because the research can be a blanket concept related to various schools while action research is very specific in nature to what principals may need to better understand and serve their specific problems or situations at their campus or district.
Sources:
pp. 1-15 from
Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Kaizen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen
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