CEP 900-930

Year One Proseminar in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology

Research Interests

My research interests focus on the affordances and constraints associated with online collaborative environments and their impact on student learning and achievement. Of particular importance to me is whether online collaborative tools may be used to meet both teachers’ instructional needs and students’ learning needs, and the contextual factors such as teacher comfort-level with technology that may moderate these effects. At present, I aim to examine these issues within the early grades, and ideally within the social studies classroom.

Article Critiques

Review of "Who Acquires Friends Through Social Media and Why? 'Rich Get Richer' versus 'Seek and Ye Shall Find'"
Tufekci, Z. (2010). Who Acquires Friends Through Social Media and Why ? " Rich Get Richer " versus " Seek and Ye Shall Find " Online Friendship : The Subject Never Dies. In Proceedings of the 4th International AAAI Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (ICWSM, 2010). AAAI Press. Retrieved from http://www.msuedtechsandbox.com/hybridphd/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Zeynep_2...>

Review of "Affordances of Mobile Technologies on Experiential Learning"
Lai, C., Yang, J., Chen, F., Ho, C., & Chan, T. (2007). Affordances of mobile technologies for experiential learning: the interplay of technology and pedagogical practices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 23(4), 326-337. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2007.00237.x.

Review of “Strategies for Internet Reading with Different Reading Purposes: A Descriptive Study of Twelve Good Internet Readers”
Zhang, S., & Duke, N. (2008). Strategies for Internet Reading with Different Reading Purposes: A Descriptive Study of Twelve Good Internet Readers. Journal of Literacy Research, 40(1), 128-162. doi: 10.1080/10862960802070491.

Motivation in Learning

On Wednesday, July 14, I interviewed a student of mine. Chris is fifteen years old and projects the promise every parent dreams of their child. I called Chris a few days prior to this interview to ask if it were possible and to inform him of the questions I'd like him to respond to. Allowing an adolescent time to think seemed an appropriate thing to do. The next day he sent a text that read "Mr. Bruce, Is there anyway you can make that interview Wednesday? I won't be ready tomorrow. Thank you much :)". Clearly, I had chosen the right student.

His interview lasted well over two hours and his exchange of thoughts, beliefs, and motivations were as much of a learning experience for me as it was for him. I have had few conversations as deep, intellectual, and moving as this one. I hope I have captured the essence, Chris. See complete blog post for more.

(download)

Mixed in Garageband; background audio "One" by U2 (Fair Use)

Research Development Project (RDP)

As a novice academic, I have embarked upon a journey to the top of the Mount Enlightenment. From there I hope to look upon the land of promise and revel in its beauty. View my road map.

Behaviorism in Education

This project was created on campus at MSU (Erickson Hall) during the first Proseminar in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology PhD. We were given the weekend to devise a script for a very vague assignment: sell behaviorism. We came back to class Monday and were given less than two hours to produce this movie. My group conceptualized and drew four pictures. I took a digital image of them, went home and produced what you see.

My Research Interest Story

As stated in my Research Development Project, I aim to develop a blueprint that may be used for the sustainable employment of online collaborative environments in face-to-face, online, or hybrid classrooms. The technology exists and students are already using them, but the educational setting is averse and it may be due a lack of support and development of pedagogy. The concerns facing education are real and the change is upon us.

When I set out to begin a PhD in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, my aim was to explore the educational and academic possibilites of online collaborative environments toward the development of a blueprint of sorts for their proper employment in classrooms. Education has been historically slow in realizing the potential that many tools have for classroom use and as a result, technology must be repurposed in order for it to be used effectively in schools. What I mean by this is technology has been received with skepticism, as being unnecessary, and an inhibitor to learning over the last several decades. In a technology-infused society, tools with the capability to bridge distances and connect people in ways never before possible, it is unwise and negligent to keep them out of the classroom. However, these technologies have already been purposed in society as a means of social networking for entertainment and correspondence. When the potential exists for them to be used for greater functions such as addressing academic and educational concerns, teachers, administrators, and parents, resist their ability to serve those capacities. The result is a generation of individuals who are unable to see how powerful technologies can be used differently.

If online collaborative tools are employed in younger grades and used during the formative years of education, children will develop an understanding of the full function and capabilities of powerful forms of networking, collaboration, cooperation, and collective abilities. Resistance to such simply extends the unfocused purposing of this technology and perpetuates the generational inability to realize the potential of online collaborative environments toward social, economic, and political issues plaguing our society.