H809: Activities 3.1, 3.2, 3.3: Academic Search Engines
ISI Web of Knowledge
Search for Hiltz AND Meinke AND 1989
1. Ridener, L. R. (1999) 'The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Cyberspace: Ups and Downs of the Dead Sociologists' Society' Social Science Computer Review 17: 445
'Sociologists have used technological innovations in the teaching of a variety of courses' general reference to Hiltz & Meinke paper
2. Jaffee, D. (1997) 'Asynchronous learning: Technology and pedagogical strategy in a distance learning course', Teaching Sociology, vol. 25, Iss. 4, pp. 262-277
One general reference at start of paper
3. Marttunen, M. (1997) 'Teaching argumentation skills in an electronic mail environment', Innovations in Education and Training International, vol. 34, iss. 3, pp 208-218
No full text available
4. Persell, C. H. (1992) 'Bringing PCs Into Introductory Sociology Courses - 1st Steps, Missteps, And Future-Prospects', Teaching Sociology, vol. 20, iss. 2, pp. 91-103
In references but could not find in text!!
Search for Wegerif AND Mercer AND 1997
Search found no records
Google Scholar
Search for Hiltz AND Meinke AND 1989
17 results, one of which was the paper itself; some were unobtainable; and two were irrelevant. Really like the function to set it to find at unis where I have a subscription
1. Hacker, K. L. & Wignall, D. L. (1997) 'Issues in Predicting User Acceptance of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) in Inter-University Classroom Discussion as an Alternative to Face-to-Face Interaction', Communication Reports, Vol. 10, No. 1.
'As Hiltz and Meinke (1989) point out, educational networks need to be studied extensively in terms of student and faculty needs, uses, and satisfaction.'
2. Hiltz, S.R. & Turoff, M. (1990) 'Teaching computers and society in a virtual classroom', CQL'90 Proceedings of the conference on Computers and the quality of life, New York, Association for Computing Machinery.
General reference
3. Marttunen, M. (1997) 'Argumentation Course by Electronic Mail', Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, vol. 41, iss. 1, pp.15-32
'promotes independent thinking and offers a motivating and democratic forum for interaction in which even shy and timid people can express their thoughts (Hiltz & Meinke, 1989..)' p. 28
'comments and critiques are more likely to be directed toward the ideas presented than their presenters (Hiltz & Meinke, 1989)' p.28
'face to face meetings could be introduces occasionally.... (cf. Hiltz & Meinke, 1989) p.29
4. Barreau, D., Eslinger, C., McGoff, K. & Tonnesen, C. () 'Group Collaboration In The Virtual Classroom: an Evaluation of Collaborative Learning in the Virtual Classroom of CMSC 828S and the Technology that Supports It' Available from: http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/virtual-worlds/JOVE/Articles/ClassEvaluation/Evaluation.main.txt [Accessed: 19th February 2007]
'Studies have shown that successful distance learning occurs when the tasks and activities are appropriate to the technology; are consistent with the instructor's philosophy and style of teaching; are convenient, accessible and relevant to the students; provide maximum interaction; and are well-organized and well-presented' [list of authors inc. Hiltz & Meinke, 1989]
'Student level of participation has proved to be a consistent predictor of reported satisfaction in many studies (Hiltz, 1986; Hiltz, 1993; Hiltz & Meinke, 1989)'
5. Book: Romiszowski, A. & Mason, R. (1992) Computer mediated communication: a selected bibliography. Available from: http://www.aect.org/edtech/15.pdf [Accessed:19th February 2011]
No refs found
Wegerif AND Mercer AND 1997
938 references found! No time to investigate them now but I intend to look at them later as the first three pages threw up some very relevant papers.
Activity 3.2 and 3: Examining, Sharing and Discussing Findings
I found that Google scholar had a much greater range of publications and, once I had set it to indicate the ones where I can access the full text, it was very easy to use. I found books and conference proceedings as well as journal articles and all the journal articles that I found using ISI Web of Knowledge were also included in these results. Google searches across many disciplines and, although they are all reported to come from academic sources, I do not think that it is as reliable as peer reviewed journals and I prefer to check the source. For example, it is wise to be aware of the prejudices of professional societies.
I have put full results in my blog and it was intriguing to find that I did not recognise some of the findings that were reported to come from the Hiltz & Meinke 1989 paper. Further reasons to go back to the original research wherever possible!
I also found that, in some cases, the reference was in the reference list but not in the text!
Once I had set Google Scholar up to indicate availability for my libraries, I found it much easier to use than ISI Web of Knowledge and appreciated the wide range of material available. I do think it is very important to be aware of the source of the material when using Google Scholar and weight it accordingly.