Web 2.0 Project Planning and Evaluation

TECH2002 Studies in Digital TechnologyTutorial Week 6

Andrew Clay

Reflection and evaluation• During the project space should be given to reflect upon the participation

as part of reflective practice using social media communication

• At the end of the project there should be a final evaluation of the participation project outcomes and the social media tools that were used to communicate the learning

Do

Record

Reflect

Plan

ParticipateExperienceObserve selfand others

Document experienceand observation

Review the recording –make sense of, investigate ortheorize what has happened

Make adjustments,modifications in response to reflection

Evaluation

• As part of the assessment of the project, there will be a number of opportunities to evaluate the project:

• Verbal presentation• Self-evaluation form• During the use of the social media tools of

your Web 2.0 communication portfolio

Critical evaluation• At the end of the project you should review the

project to evaluate what the project has achieved

• The outcome of critical thinking and evaluation is to reach a conclusion. The conclusion should follow on logically from the argument and evidence given beforehand. Be clear and reasonable – ‘I think I/we did a good project’ is a weak conclusion. A more effective conclusion might stress that ‘The project was effective because of the following reasons’

Evaluating Technology for the Project

• Make a judgement about the uses and experiences of digital media technologies for the participation culture of Web 2.0 and social media and for the communication of your learning to others

Project Definition, Planning and Management

• Defining your desired outcomes is part of good project planning. Outcomes are linked to aims, so defining clear aims will help you identify the outcomes of any project.

• Specific aims lead to identifying your outcomes (the changes you want to bring about)

• Objectives (or activities) lead to identifying outputs -detailed activities, knowledge, ideas or products

• Outcomes• Outcomes are end results, the consequences of doing

something

• Example:• TECH2002 Module Learning Outcome• ‘On completion of this module students should be able

to apply critical concepts to the study of digital media texts, services and products and to use academic conventions in the research, production and presentation of analytic material’ (TECH2002 Module Handbook, 2007, p.1)

• The consequence of studying the module is a change in

the state of the student’s ability to think critically about digital media in an academic context.

Aims and Outcomes• Aims are the purpose or intentions toward which one's

efforts are directed, striving for a goal or target. Aims are also changes and therefore very much linked to outcomes

Source: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/aims/outcomes/

Source: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/_files/F25F66D29D852A2D443C22771084BDE4.pdf

Objectives

• Objectives are the activities undertaken to bring about the changes identified in the aims/outcomes

• These are usually specific things that need to be done to bring about change, to meet the intentions, goals or targets that were identified in the aims and outcomes

Source: http://www.zigzageducation.co.uk/synopses/1539-s.pdf

The aims and objectives in this table have been mixed up – can you rectify the mistake?

Outputs

• Outputs are the things that are produced to achieve the aims, outcomes and objectives, of the project

Example of project outcomes, aims, objectives, outputs and evaluation

McKeon and Wyche (2005)• ‘Life Across Boundaries: Design, Identity, and

Gender in SL’• Graduate students at Georgia Institute of Technology, College

of Computing, in a class studying Online Communities• January 2005• 23,000 members of SL• 16 hours per week average spent in SL• Active users – 25-40 hours per week

• Outcome• To study Second Life in the context of online communities • Aims• To understand how Second Life residents think about gender• To understand how Second Life residents build an identity in

Second Life • Objectives• Conduct research by logging into Second Life (30-40 hours per

month)• Observe and understand the virtual world and develop questions• Conduct interviews with Second Life residents by telephone• Read appropriate theoretical books on gender, identity and online

identity

• Outputs• Research gain in detailed knowledge about the

way that Second Life works (time spent online, self-expression, attitudes to ‘gender-bending’)

• Publication of research paper as a PDF document available online

• Evaluation• The research did not reveal anything new about

gender and online community – what they found out just reflected ample previous research

• Idea for future research – look at how Second Life residents use the real economy within the virtual world