Thursday, January 24, 2013

Research Process

I had two weeks to research about cyberbullying. I chose the topic because of a news story I heard on NPR called “Online ‘Shaming’ A New Level of Cyberbullying for Girls.” It was the story that piqued my interest into this problem, so I began by doing a simple Google search of cyberbullying. I found many websites, but was intrigued by the ones that explained what to do when you are cyberbullied because I think that is something I should know and tell my students so that they can protect themselves.  
I also used EBSCO, the school’s library subscription service, and I found two very different articles--one was about a boy who was using Twitter to praise people instead of put them down and the other was about Amanda Todd, a Canadian girl who was cyberbullied so badly that she took her own life. I think the Amanda Todd story is important because it’s a sort of cautionary tale for people. Likewise, the Twitter story is equally important because it shows another way to combat cyberbullying. 
Throughout my research my focus remained the same; however, I began to focus more on what people can do about cyberbullying because I began to realize that that information is more important, especially after reading about Amanda Todd. She didn’t know what to do or where to go, so I knew I needed to research about that and share my findings.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

I-Search Sources (Cyberbullying)

Here are two sources from EBSCO that I think will be very useful for my I-Search paper:
  1. Modigliani, Laura. "Tweeting Nice #Truestory." Scholastic Choices 28.3 (2012): 24. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 17 Jan. 2013.
  2. Teitel, Emma. "Bullied To Death." Maclean's 125.42 (2012): 68. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 17 Jan. 2013

 Here are three internet resources that I think fit within the CARS source evaluation requirement and will be very useful as I continue with my I-Search paper:
  1. "Report Cyberbullying." Report Cyberbullying | StopBullying.gov. Stopbullying.gov, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2013. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/how-to-report/index.html>.
  2. Hinduja, Sameer, Ph.D., and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. "Preventing Cyberbullying: Top Ten Tips for Parents." Cyberbullying Research Center, 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2013. <http://www.cyberbullying.us/Top_Ten_Tips_Parents_Cyberbullying_Prevention.pdf>.
  3.  Hinduja, Sameer, Ph.D., and Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D. "Preventing Cyberbullying: Top Ten Tips for Teens." Cyberbullying Research Center, 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2013. <http://www.cyberbullying.us/Top_Ten_Tips_Teens_Prevention.pdf>.
For now, those are five of my sources. I hope to find more, but I think this is a good start. Now to read them all and take good notes...

Thursday, January 10, 2013

I-Search Paper

I'm going to attempt to do the same assignment that I've given my students; therefore, here is my first blog post about my I-Search paper. At this moment, I plan to focus on cyberbullying. It's a timely topic that affects (could affect) my students and future students. The internet is a place where anyone can post anything and I'd like to learn a) how to spot cyberbullying; b) how to increase awareness of cyberbullying and c) how to discourage/prevent cyberbullying. Currently, I haven't done much research. My interest was piqued by a story I had heard on NPR (National Public Radio), though, so I have at least one possible resource. Nevertheless, if this topic doesn't work out, maybe I'll continue my investigation of connectivism (a learning theory that promotes the kind of learning we're currently doing with our I-Search papers). We'll just have to see what happens during the research process.