Happy Thanksgiving from Dr. Walker...

     So what an I thankful for?  I finally defended my doctoral dissertation this month!!  When the next person yells out in a restaurant, "Is there a doctor in the house?" I can reply, "Sort of?"  A number of "real doctors" have told me my kind of doctorate i recently earned is harder to get than their degree which is quite a compliment, but honestly, I think I'd rather have their salary than the compliment.
     At any rate, in keeping with the open source mentality that inspired the development of this blog almost three years ago, I will be posting my doctoral dissertation in the coming week for anyone who might be interested in learning from my research in order to take this whole mobile technology thing to the next level.  I hope my research continues to encourage people around the world to conduct action research and full blown empirical studies to identify best practices in the use of technology in education settings.  The conversation and collaboration have been rich.  I hope they will continue.  Stay tuned for a posting letting you know where you can find my dissertation.
     So now that I have my doctorate, what an I going to do when I grow up?  That's a good question. Still trying to figure out if I even want to grow up...

App Rubric Research Update

     I just completed the data analysis for the second round survey of my doctoral research utilizing the Delphi process to establish content and construct validity for the Evaluation Rubric for iPod/iPad apps.  Overall, very few changes to the rubric are indicated by the data.  One domain name will be changed and point descriptors in two of the domains will be revised as driven by the input from the subject matter experts who participated in my research.  Based on the data, I am not going to need to do a third round survey.  You can view the data summary from the second round by clicking on the link below.  I will be making the final revisions and publishing the validated rubric in the coming weeks.  I am hoping to have my dissertation completed sometime around the first of the year. Thanks for your interest in my work.  Stay tuned for the final validated rubric later this month.  Happy computing....

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bo_nURJgwTmvwmmGCSDzbt8tTUzuHVmdIJ4K_6Burfc/edit

Research Results Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

As many of you are aware, I am in the process of establishing content and construct validity for the evaluation rubric for mobile applications (apps) that hundreds of folks all over the world are currently using to make decisons about apps. Ninety-four subject matter experts from a number of different disciplines are participating in a Delphi Process as part of my doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University.  The first round of data is in and has been analyzed.  The results are very positive.  I am in the process of constructing the second round survey in order to further refine and improve the rubric, strengthening its validity.  The data from the first round of surveys will be posted on my blog sometime next week.  Stay tuned...

Got Favorite Apps?

Got Favorite Apps?  I have been asked by a number of people to put together a list of highly rated apps for use across all age ranges.  I am reaching out to you all for some help with this task.  If you would like your favorites included in a future blog posting, send me your favorites as soon as you are able. Please indicate why the app is rated highly by you (e.g., score on the Evaluation Rubric for Apps or some other quality measure).  Also I would like to cite you and your school/agency in the blog, so please indicate if that meets with your approval.  I look forward to hearing from you.

A Great Question about the APP Rubric

Hi Harry,  It's me Laurie from Australia, now living in Alexandria VA. 

I have a question about your rubric.  There has been a somewhat heated discussion within my research group around the domain "curriculum connection".   As you know, we are adapting the rubric to make it applicable to choosing apps for students with autism.  

One comment from the group, was that "curriculum connection" was too broad for our purposes because there is no "curriculum" for autism in Australia.

So we discussed changing it to "IEP connection".  Actually that was my suggestion.   I suggested changing skills and content to goals and objectives   I'm coming at this from the angle of a former state administrator and current research professor   Increasingly there is an expectation and indeed a mandate to include measures of accountability in the education of children with disabilities.   I'm also aware of a number of cases in the US where parents are retroactively suing the school district for the denial of FAPE after their child graduates because they are ill prepared for the post secondary world.   Well, the suggestion was not well received by the rest of the group because they felt it was TOO specific.   So, what was your original intent in including the "curriculum connection" domain?  was it to help teachers make a decision about what educational benefit would be derived from the adoption of that app?

Thanks for any insight you can provide. Kind Regards,

Laurie

Hi Laurie from Australia why did you ever leave and move to Virginia,

      I think you make a great point.  The rubric was originally designed with the general education environment in mind.  As I have collaborated and corresponded with folks around the world, my thinking has certainly been expanded.  I have come to the realization the rubric should be revised/adapted depending on the field or the population.  In your case, depending on the severity of the child’s condition, the IEP may in fact be the “curriculum.”  A number of folks have used my rubric as a skeleton and made revisions based on the clients or students who are sitting in front of them.  That makes a lot of sense to me.  The big idea that spurred my thinking to develop the rubric was the realization that we(within a given field) needed to be using a consistent language and structure to evaluate apps for any given purpose.  There wasn’t a system for doing this prior to 2010 when I first conceived of the rubric.  While it would be nice to have top rated apps for every purpose, that just isn’t going to happen until app developers better understand what we are trying to do.  I believe the most effective use of the rubric is in the comparison of apps for the same purpose with the goal of finding the best within that group.  Thanks so much for your question and for continuing to push for the use of mobile technologies to meet the needs of all kids.

Best,

Harry

Mission Control: We Have Lift Off!

After months (that seemed like years) in the planning, today I launched my dissertation research project.  I am using a Delphi Process to empirically establish content and construct validity for the Evaluation Rubric for iPod Apps I developed in 2010.  As of today, I have received over 350 requests to use the rubric from practitioners all over the world.  If you are one of those folks, you should have received an email from me this morning inviting you to participate in this study.  After the study is completed, I will provide access to an evaluation tool that has been evaluated by hundreds of experts working in a wide variety of educational settings across the globe.  I will share data from the study as well as the finalized rubric as the research progresses.  Thanks in advance for all of the experts who are providing feedback on this important project.  The new and improved rubric being investigated can be accessed using the link provided below.  Apparently folks were having trouble accessing the Box link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KKm3Ls_jIg8s0_rXcFmVqbXiZtvFb0nr54BzFSOl_SY/edit

300 Rubric Requests and Going Strong

I received an email from a research assistant working at the, are you ready for this, University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.  Now as a student, who wouldn't want to go there? It marks the 300th formal request to use the Evaluation Rubric for iPod Apps from folks all over the world.    It is being used in school systems, agencies, universities, and by individuals from all over the planet.  And that's just the formal requests.  How cool is that?

With such a large and diverse group of folks using the rubric, I am getting ready to launch a formal research project as part of my dissertation research at Johns Hopkins to empirically establish content validity for the rubric.  If have requested permission to use the rubric and happen to be reading my blog too, look for a formal invitation in the coming month.  I have also had requests to publish a list of top apps using the rubric.  Look for that list to be in an upcoming blog (once school gets out and I have a little more time on my hands).  Thanks again for your interest in my blog, in the rubric, and most importantly in your work to get mobile devices into the hands of students.

Read All About It - It's In A Book!

The Evaluation Rubric for iPod/iPad Apps was just published in a book entitled, "A Complete Guide to Rubrics" by Dr. Audrey M. Quinlan, Chair of the Division of Education at Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania.  Pretty cool.  The book is a great guide for anyone designing or using rubrics from elementary through high school.  The ISBN number is 978-1-60709-674-0.  Happy Reading.