July 20, 2009 - Is it "more the merrier" or "misery loves company"?

I'm taking my second-last course for my Masters of Education degree through the Teacher-Librarianship via Distance Learning program with the University of Alberta this summer. It's on Educational Research. I'll admit - I was dreading this course. Relaxing on a beach with some children's literature, I could see, but getting comfy with a textbook explaining the differences between quantitative and qualitative research didn't sound like a leisurely summer pursuit. The collaborative nature of the course has helped me to understand the material (the professor is wonderful and hands-on; my discussion group members are active and never condescending)and I realized that this is a useful course for me to take, even though wading through all those statistical terms taxed my feeble brain. It would have improved the quality of the academic papers I've written in the past! In addition to the text readings and module notes, I've been reading research papers on what I suspect will be the topic for my capping paper: on exemplary school library and technology teaching practices (and their links to student success). One study talked about how professional learning communities help extend exemplary practice - and it made me thankful for my online classmates as we struggle or gleefully leap (depending on the day) through the course content - together.