Ced0540: Week Five

This week had us looking at various data resources as well as Google Trends. What I have discovered, more than anything, is that I need A LOT more time to explore these sites. Whereas some websites pull me in and have me playing immediately, data websites take an enormous amount of time to figure them out. I think it would have helped greatly to actually have a purpose in exploring these sites. For example, the National Archives site might have been more of an attraction to me if I was actually searching for data on my relatives. As it is, I know very little about my ancestors so didn't even know where to begin. The CDC websites, on the other hand, were more interesting in that I was able to find some topics that caught my attention. I've also come to the conclusion that many of these data sites don't do enough in designing a website that is visually appealing and more user friendly. Perhaps these institutions assume that those looking for data are all number geeks who don't need pretty visuals. Clearly, I'm not one of those. This is one reason I did actually like the DPI's website which used large pencils to link to the reports.

The next assignment had us looking at Google Trends. The more we play with Google and its apps, the more I fall in love with this amazing application. Google Trends is an interesting app, but I'm not sure how best to use it with my students. I think taking a look at what people are Googling is interesting, but how does this help me in education? While researching Google Trends I did discover some interesting blogs that talked about Google Trend's usage. A couple struck me. For those who are interested in getting their blogs read, Google Trends gives bloggers the topics to incorporate into their postings to raise the liklihood of their blogs being searched. Another blog described how the hot topics in Google Trends could be used to raise interesting questions about any culture around the world. I'd like to find out more practicle ways like these to make use of this application.

Ced0540: Week Four Reflection

This week's tasks had us researching Bill Tancer and his Hitwise company of collecting and analyzing data from Internet users. I am always amazed at the inventors of the world, and I would easily put Tancer in that category. I wish I had that thing in my brain that enabled me to think creatively and use my talents to create a niche for others. I have always considered myself more mechanical and so generating new ideas is difficult for me. I'm great at "borrowing" the ideas of others and then tweaking them to my needs. Perhaps that's one reason of many why I'll never make my millions in the world.

Bill Tancer's company provides an excellent service for those industries who rely heavily on the Internet to generate revenue. What a great population to monitor, and as I've mentioned in our Week Four assignments, the data is already there. It just needs to be organized. I never before thought about how the search habits of consumers tell so much about them and how predictable they are based on their search habits. It's also a bit scary that our search habits are being that closely followed and monitored. Perhaps we all have to just get used to this notion. For example, whenever I run to Pick n Save and purchase something, I'm automatically given coupons based upon my purchases. On the one hand it's convenient, but on the other, it makes me wonder what kind of data is being collected on my Pick n Save card. I have those same feelings when it comes to my Internet usage. If enough data on me is collected, how will that effect me down the road? It sounds rather paranoid, but if the government someday started watching as well, what decisions might it make based upon this data? I hate to even think about that without drawing obvious comparisons to Huxley's 1932 novel, Brave New World .

Ced0540: Week 3 - Creating the Survey

Although I had heard of Survey Monkey before, it was very interesting actually getting into it and creating a survey. I have really never thought about the thought process that goes into creating a good survey. Doing so reminds me of other tasks that from the outside look like no-brainers but when actually done prove to be enexpectedly laborious. Even when Ann and I started thinking about our "problem" for the group project, creating questions that accurately reflected the problem was difficult. I found I had to ask myself "Why are we asking this question? What do we want to know as a result of this question?" The questions themselves might be really good, but often times I thought they didn't really reflect what we were searching for. In addition, once people took our survey, I found that the things we discovered revealed more than what our objective was. I am interested in conducting more surveys at school, but I wonder what kind of training "professionals" go through to qualify. Seems to me you can't just slap down a bunch of stuff, and as I have stated in previous blogs, it's easy to tell when a group is trying to get you to answer a certain way. As with countless other softwares we have learned in this program, I took Survey Monkey back to my 5th graders, and they are completely loving it as well. I created a school account, and I like the fact that Survey Monkey allows for unlimited surveys. Now I'm trying to talk to them about creating surveys so that we can collect info and analyze the data. Again, I'm always so amazed at how their enthusiasm soars whenever something technical is introduced. They can't wait to start creating questions, not only because doing so is fun, but they really love the idea of creating something "real" and having real people respond to them. So suddenly an activity that started as just a little classroom experiment is blossoming into a much larger project. I hope to have them get their surveys out to the St. Ann public, students and parents. This means they'll have to think more carefully about their questions.