Decoder Ring: a framework for collaborative language research

This spring, I wrapped up my masters degree in Educational Technology at Arizona State University. In my studies, I had the great pleasure of working with some of the trailblazing academics in the field of educational language, literacy, and gaming studies. Among the folks I've interacted with over the last several years, James Paul Gee and Elisabeth Hayes have overwhelmingly influenced my interests in academic research in the field. Guided by their seminars and publications, along with many others, including Sean Duncan and Constance Steinkuehler, I developed a strong interest in utilizing my web application development skills to create tools that further the field of academic research in language and literacy.

Last fall, I started in earnest on a project to do just that and, to make a long story very short, the ultimate result is Decoder Ring, which I've just presented at the 2010 Games, Learning & Society Conference. Decoder Ring is a web-based, collaborative language analysis tool designed for academic research of textual content. It features:

• Abstracted, flexible, powerful data model
• Sustainable, low cost, open source framework
• Project- and group-based to facilitate collaboration
• Tools for gathering (scraping), importing, browsing, and exporting large data sets
• Automated and extensible reporting tools

Jeff Beeman
Wed, 06/09/2010 - 13:58