thesis development

last week we met with md to present our thesis "lists" that we have been developing over the summer. along with the lists, we were to attempt to write 7 – 8 potential thesis questions(this is hard!). the lists are content interests, ways of working and future goals.

content interests:
• educational collectives
• collaborative interactive educational tools
• culturally diverse groups needing to learn same information
• multiple perspectives building educational collectives
• student to student learning
• learning complex histories or information
• teaching beyond dominant subject matter: how to include it all
• incorporating other (alternative)sources
• collections and dissemination of current world issues to students in next 20 yrs
• online tools as effective and valued as a text book
• achieving greater understanding,not just memorizing,providing context and situating subject
• interactive tools that allow students to become teachers
• individualized education
• co-creation web 2.0 informing how data is collected in research in schools
• learning from remote tools: integrating non-school life with school
• creating collective research beyond blogs, delicious, etc (still viewed as non-academic)
• interactive systems that combines book resources and online resources
• student-centered learning: allowing students to adapt lesson for themselves
• time based learning
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i'll keep my ways of working and future goals to myself, but here are the rough ROUGH questions...

1. In what ways could an interactive system allow for diverse users to learn same information through empathy?

2. How can collaborative interactive “mapping” allow for alternative sources to be included in upper k12 cultural studies classes?

3. How will design affect the way in which current history is recorded and disseminated for future generations?

4. How can an interactive system that allows students to explore multiple connections help students achieve a greater understanding of complex material and move beyond memorization?

5. Could students become teachers by utilizing online tools that allow them to research and present approved research to class?

6. How can design bridge the gap between formal and non-formal learning techniques?

7. How could design assist in the development of collective research and expose unexpected relationships to users?

8. How can an interactive system allow students to modify their assignments to meet their learning styles, cultural settings, etc?

9. In what ways can time based tools assist in the learning of information by revealing information and relationships over time?

i am far too general and need to get specific. tomorrow we present 3 questions with 3 – 5 sub questions for each. i go back and forth from being super excited to terrified and back again...