Slide 1- (TEXT) Thank you for taking the time out to view my short film that

covers my research journey for MEDT 8461, under the guidance of Dr.Braylen at
the University of West Georgia

Shanika Freeman
Spring 2015

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Slide 2- (TEXT) This has been a tough journey. Through conducting several
projects, I have learned what it truly takes to conduct thorough research and
produce a quality product with my findings.

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Project 1 focused on me collecting data about the social media usage among a
variety of age ranges such as young adults, teens, and senior citizens. I had to
conduct interviews asking participants about their use of social media, to help aid
my research later.

Project 2 focused on me finding 12 peer-reviewed articles that would help

support the data collected from my interviews, while only focusing on two groups.
I used Galileo and Google Scholar to find credible research articles that would
aid my research.
Project 3 focused on me further analyzing my data from two subgroups from
project 1. This project also showed me the importance of formulating solid
research questions that did not solely answer yes or no. Upon formulating my
research questions, I had to use Galileo and Google Scholar to gather more peer
reviewed articles to support my research.

Project 4 allowed me to sort through all my data collected about demographics

and social media use. I had the opportunity to compare and contrast three data
sets to further aid my research. From this point, all information collected was then
focused on from the point of view of Gladwell and Rogers. It was at this point
where I started to see the connection and understand why Professor Braylen
chose the two books that he did for this course.

Project 5 finally allowed me to create a research plan that I would follow to

conduct my research. I was able to choose a specific location and focus solely on
that location. I decided to focus on Pointe South Elementary School in Riverdale,
GA. I identified two research questions that focused on the use of technology in
low-income schools and homes. Once again I utilized Google Scholar and
Galileo to aid in my research efforts. I also learned the differences between
quantitative and qualitative data.

Project 6 is allowing me to showcase my journey within this course. It has been a

tough journey, but I now truly understand the meaning of research and how to do
it properly.

Slide 3- (TEXT) Literature Review

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The many literature reviews that we conducted throughout this course allowed
me to thoroughly examine all literature and decipher between what was useful
and not useful in my research project. This course has taught me to evaluate my
resources with a fine toothcomb, for all articles and literature may not be
beneficial to your research. It also allowed me to share my findings and thoughts
with my peers.
Slide 4- (TEXT) Research Questions and Population

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In project five I decided to focus my attention to a low-income area within Clayton

County, GA. I decided to focus on my school and the neighboring middle school.
The schools names are Pointe South Elementary and Pointe South Middle
School. Both schools are title 1 schools, and most students are from low-income
homes. I wanted to know how technology usage was affected in low-income
homes and schools. This is what I focused my research around in project 5.

Slide 5- (TEXT) Lens

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Project 5 truly brought the works of Gladwell and Rogers to life. I was able to
connect the dots and truly see how the process of diffusion worked, specifically
with technology within low-income schools and homes. The main thing that stood
out to me was the lack of communication and those in low-income families not
having access to some of the same resources as others, thus leading to the gap
with the usage of technology within these low income areas.

Slide 6- (TEXT) Data Collection and Analysis

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For project 5 data was collected using both quantitative and qualitative research
methods. A survey was issued to parents at both schools, plus data from peer
reviewed articles. All information was put together, sorted through. In the end, it
was found that many of these families just did not have access to the current
technologies due to lack of income. All data collected went hand in hand with all
information and data collected through my research articles.

Slide 7- (TEXT) Challenges

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The most challenging portion of this course is the amount of work that goes into
research. One has to be very methodical at how they go about conducting
research. It is not an easy process. You must have patience and take your time.
You also go over everything multiple times to make sure you are not missing
anything.

Slide 8- (TEXT) Lessons

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Through this project, the one lesson I was taught is that great research takes
time and patience. You have to put in a ton of time and effort. Furthermore the
amount of effort you put in, is essentially what you get out of the research you
conduct.

Slide 9- (TEXT) Advice

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For future students completing this project, I suggest you do not procrastinate. I
suggest that you take your time and start early on all projects. I also strongly
suggest re-visiting your data periodically and try not to collect any data that is
older than 5 years. I also suggest not to be discouraged when you receive a
grade that you are not satisfied with, it just means you need to put in more effort.
Professor Braylen is more than willing to help, you just have to ask for the help.

Slide 10- (TEXT) Conclusion

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The journey has finally come to an end. It is amazing how much one can
accomplish over a short 16 week time period. This has definitely been a great
learning experience and has made me value the research process as a whole. I
have truly enjoyed this course and learned so much!

Slide 11- (TEXT) Credits

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