Are we educators getting carried away with all the latest trends in IT--like blogging? Is it becoming more important than English and the skills of reading and writing that we are trying to teach? Do you think it's still possible to teach "low tech" or "no tech" style?
Thank you, Phillip and Chris for the workshop, it definitely inspired me to use blogs for some upcoming material.
ReplyDeleteI think technology and asking kids to think about the reading on their own at home (and prove they've done at least some of the reading by posting a comment) is really helpful here, especially with some classes who meet only 3 hours or so a week. I am going to try this and I hope it helps me to get them thinking about the book and focus class more quickly.
Technology could certainly be a hindrance, especially if I ended up using too much of the valuable and scarce class time showing students how to use certain features of the blog, rather than focusing on the English material itself. I may not be too ambitious with using a blog in new ways for this reason, and will probably stick to the simple format of having all of my students comment on a prompt on the same blog.
From my own experience in school, I remember having to post responses to readings before class, and I found it very helpful. First of all, it's easy to post online since I'm on my computer all the time. Secondly, for me (though perhaps not for everyone) writing in a blog or email format is somewhat more informal than writing an essay to print and hand in. Using this medium, and reading other people's quick posts, encourages somewhat more openness and creativity than a formal essay. I am used to using the internet for conversations with friends (emails, instant messenger) and tend to take this tone when blogging about academic material. This is just me, however, and I'm not sure if other people feel the same way about online writing. Hopefully my students view see this as a chance for creative discussion the way that I do. We'll see how they deal with it.
Thank you again!
Phoebe Sloane
First of all, thank you Phillip and Chris for a great workshop! In an effort not to repeat what we discussed in this morning's session in regard to this prompt, I'll keep it brief. I definitely think blogging is useful in the context English classrooms; however, it is better used as part of a literary unit or poetry rather than an on-going activity. I also think we should integrate Wikispaces (say for a research project/presentation and for editing skills) to teach students how to use the internet interactive manner that is different from blogging. This keeps the technology novel and relevant and makes our lessons, hopefully, a bit more interesting.
ReplyDelete-- Audrey
I am a big fan of technology and would love to use it as much as I can in the classroom. However, this option simply is not always effective when trying to use technology is more effort than it is worth. This is disappointing to me as it is such a great way to engage students with an avenue in which they are already familiar.
ReplyDeleteThis is Brook actually, not Chris.
ReplyDeleteThe 2006 Time Magazine "Person of the Year" was...You. The user-generated content has given millions of otherwise anonymous people a place under the sun, has made them published writers. This is all fine, and if students feel more at ease by posting thoughts in a familiar medium, so much the better. But their development and exposure to technology comes and will come without any push from us. As teachers, we can either use the latest IT trend or not, but maintaining a separation between the informal, no punctuation/grammar internet world and formal English is increasingly important. There seems to be a blurring of the worlds--I'm seeing a high frequency of capable writers using 'i' instead of 'I', 'u' instead of "you", etc. in both hand written and typed assignments. This is what concerns me--that their frequent exposure to text on any number of screens isn't translating into a higher Quality of writing.
ReplyDeleteI tried getting my students to write their inclass essays in the computer lab, and I cannot tell you what a disastrous experience that was... one that I will never try to repeat! I find that blogs are a great venue for communicating with students altough I would not want to use them for formal assessment in any way. I think blogs are best used for posting outside reading with a question or two for them to respond to and as an announcement board (esp. for students who tend to lose their handouts or forget to write in their agendas).
ReplyDelete