Using a word cloud for my research results

The first phase of my research involved invesitgating perceptions about mentoring from the perspective of pre-service teachers.  I surveyed first year and final year pre-service teachers so that I could compare differences between the two groups of students. 

The first question asked 'What does mentoring mean to you?'  The following presents the perceptions of first year pre-service teachers.


This word cloud presents the final year pre-service teacher responses to the same question.


What do you notice about the two sets of responses?
There are many similarities! Both groups of pre-service teachers place an emphasis on 'someone'. This can be interpreted that mentoring is viewed as a personal event or that the focus is on individuals. Final year pre-service teachers placed emphasis on expressions such as 'guiding' and 'supporting', indicating that these roles are important to their level of progress. First years placed emphasis on 'experience', 'advice' and 'guidance', therefore indicating different needs which may be parallel to their level of progress.

An interesting tool

I really like the 'Wordle' tool, I think I am drawn to the visual aspect of it. I am thinking that I will use it in my survey results chapter for my dissertation.  It would be a very interesting way to present the results of the open ended questions that I asked the participants....however it just depends on what my supervisor thinks......

Have a look at this link - it compares the inaugural speeches of American presidents - the 'wordle' emphasises what each envisoned for the country. 
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tag_clouds_of_obamas_inaugural_speech_compared_to_bushs.php

Digital Immigrant?

According to Prensky (2004), I am a digital immigrant.  This simply means that I did not grow up immersed in ICTs...however this doesn't mean that I can't learn to use ICTs like the digital natives!  I have found that the more I immerse myself in the latest technology and experiment with what it can do, the less confronting I find it all.  I know that I cannot blow anything up - however it is easy to drop and break things...like my laptop, iphone, ipod...

The first step of my steep E learning journey is about changing my mindset from 'I am not sure that I can do this' to 'I can do anything'.