Conducting Internet Research

So, just the other day I was asked by my younger sister, currently in college, "What is the right way to conduct internet research?" You see, her first semester she had a writing composition class and had asked me to review her research paper, which I may add was extremely well written... a little too well written!

When I asked her where did she find all of this information, she answered, "the internet of course." I smirked and told her that this paper was not going to fly with her professor without resource documentation and citations, and we would have to start over from scratch. Needless to say, she was quite upset.

After helping her with her paper, I thought it would be a great idea to share the steps we walked through in properly conducting research on the internet:

1. Know your topic - you will need to define your topic and determine what you need to know, and how you plan to present it. This is a good time to brainstorm or mind map ideas that you wish to present in your paper, and create your thesis statement.
   
2. Plan your project - when applicable, develop a basic project timeline to determine what you need to accomplish at the different phases of the research project.
3. Develop questions - by knowing what types of questions you need answered, you could determine where you need to look and what resources (i.e. magazines, encyclopedias, search engines, field-specific databases, statistics, etc.) to use.
4. Identify keywords - identify keywords and phrases to research. Using different approaches can help return better results--approaches like search mechanisms (and/or/not), synonyms, author names, alternate spellings, etc.
5. More is better - never will you find the answers to all of your questions from one source. It is best to combine content, facts and/or opinions from different resources. 
6. Organize - organize your research findings to plan where it will go within your paper. Keeping in mind what you have determined to be key points (see step 1) and the evidence you now have to support these ideas.
   
7. Citations, Citations - document all resources accurately and build a bibliography list to incorporate into your research paper. Remember to use appropriate citation styles when building your list or citing in your paper, i.e. MLA, APA, etc. and one entry per finding.
8. Reevaluate and rework - revisit your thesis statement and determine if you have enough supporting evidence for your argument or ideas. If you find gaps in your research or determine there are still not enough findings, you will need to go back and complete additional research.
9. Write - given that the above steps were completed thoroughly, you can utilize your mind map and outlines to finally write your paper. Remember to keep in mind your thesis statement and the argument/ideas needed to be mentioned.

AG09 - 502: Creating Curricula for Multiple Delivery Methods – Tools, Tips, and Tricks

Presented by: Rebecca Jimenez, CUNA Mutual Group.

So this session is about the Tools, Tips and Tricks utilized by instructional designers... but not every instructional designer. Rebecca first completed an audience analysis because this session was more only towards novice instructional designers, and those ISDer’s who manage other beginning instructional designers. Fortunate enough, I fit into this audience so I decided to stay.

Some of the multiple delivery methods or platforms that were discussed throughout Rebecca's presentation were:

• Online
• Synchronous
• Web
• Virtual
• Research Centers
• Job Aids

Throughout the session there were many great tips for designer's presented from Rebecca that I would like to share:

Tip #1: DON’T get caught up in the end solution. DO focus on the assessment.

• If you don’t know what you will be accessing, you can not get there.
  
  
• Tools to use – Questionnaires, Performance Data, Task Analysis, Observations, etc.
• Assessment Tools - GAP Analysis (Needs Analysis) and Real World Scenarios (Observations).

Some assessment questions:

• What does future state look like?
• What does current state look like? (Ask future before current because it is usually difficult to view current; it is best to work backwards.)
• What does the learner need to DO that they don’t DO now? (Tasks)
  
• What situations will the learner DO this in? (Scenarios)
• What is currently available to aid the learner in DOING this? (Tools)

Tip #2: DON’T assume you know how a solution will fit the business need, or that your client does. DO tie the solution to the business need

• Define the business need.<!--[if !supportLists]-->The “audience” are making too many mistakes “doing what activity”, which results in “business impact”. When “audience” performs to “level and measurement”, this results in “business impact”.
  
  

Tip #3: DON’T focus on the development. DO focus on the design.

• What's the difference? Designer is the architect (writer), creates the blueprint based on assessment, theories, etc. Developer is the constructor (illustrator), builds the building from the blueprint.
• Why is it important? Because it is very difficult to do both at the same time.

Other useful tips:

• Tell a story
• offer most EFFECTIVE solution
  

"Your SME's are not SME's on development, they are SME's on content." - Rebecca Jimenez