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​ Rationale for Research Project __
 * __[[image:http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/gallery/peace/art/10.jpg width="220" height="176"]] []

I have chosen MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) as the web based tool that I will research for my project. MERLOT is a free on-line community of resources and is designed for faculty, staff and students of higher education. As the home page states it is "a program of California State University in partnership with higher education institutions, professional societies and industry". The website is global in its outreach and has the strategic goal of improving the effectiveness of teaching peer reviewed on-line materials. Additionally, MERLOT's goal is to build and sustain academic communities in the US and around the world and to explore and promote on-line teaching initatives. MERLOT relates to my profession as an instructor of Sociology at Chesapeake College in that it is an interactive tool that allows me to search subcategories of Sociology such as deviance, race relations, gender issues and research methods. The video presentations are engaging and illuminating for students and the material is rated and peer reviewed. MERLOT will function as an interactive tool both in my lectures and in my class assignments. I plan to have lessons where students search MERLOT as part of their research assignments. After doing so, I hope they will learn that Sociology is a dynamic discipline that has extreme relevance to their everyday lives. **

WEB 2.0 TOOL: MERLOT

References

Bennett, R.E. (2002). Inexorable and inevitable. The continuing story of technology and assessment. //Journal of Technology, Learning and Assessment//, 1 //(1).// Available from  []

McCall, Stacey, Ozdogru, Asil, Shea, Peter (2007). Adoption of Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) Among Higher Education Faculty: Evidence from the State University of New York Learning Network, //Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)// 2 //(3)//, 136 – 156. Available from  []

Pence, Dan (2009). “I’ll Take Ideology for $200, Alex” Using the Game Jeopardy To Facilitate Sociology and Critical Thinking. //Teaching Sociology// 37 //(2),// 171 – 176. Available from  []

Ritz, John (2009). A New Generation of Goals for Technology Education. //Journal of Technology Education,// 20 //(2),// 50 – 64. Available from  []