Online Learning and Education Technology Term Paper

Two weeks after the course, a follow-up survey will be given to assess if they have increased their level of computer knowledge and level of usage in the classroom.

Methodology

Sample participants for the study will be selected from among elementary school teachers in several local school districts. They will be teachers for grades 1-6 and will be selected by announcing the study and allowing volunteers to sign up. They will be offered an incentive for participation to encourage enrollment in the study. The course itself will be an incentive to participate. The study will consist of 50 participants from among at least three local school districts. They will be a demographically mixed group.

The study will consist of two phases. The first phase will consist of administering a survey to assess the level of computer knowledge and current level of computer usage in the classroom. This will serve as the independent variable of the study. After the initial survey, teachers will be asked to participate in an online course designed to increase their level of computer knowledge and usage. Two weeks after the initial survey another survey will be given.It will be identical to the first survey.

A waiting period of two weeks was chosen because it could be expected that test scores will be significantly higher right after the test. A waiting period of two weeks will help to assess the information that was retained and put into actual use in the classroom setting. An increase in knowledge will be used to indicate an improvement in knowledge.

In conclusion, it is expected that both knowledge level and usage scores will be significantly higher on the second test than on the first one. This will indicate that the online course was successful in increasing knowledge level and computer usage in the classroom setting. Participants will be from three different local school districts to eliminate the possibility of sample bias. It is possible the one school may have more computer savvy teachers than others. This sampling technique will help to eliminate these biases (Creswell, 2005).

Works Cited

Creswell, J.W. (2005). Educational Research: Planning, conducting and Evaluating quantitative research. Upper Saddle River,….....