W510 Notes

Document Test

2009-04-17T07:54:00.001-06:00

This is a document test.

2009-2010 Roncalli Student Council Constitution - Get more Business Documents

Mallory's Guide to Spoon (the band, not the utensil)

2008-04-14T20:14:00.004-06:00

Well, Mallory, this blog entry is the result of my continued writer's block ( I keep trying to find ways to incorporate a fear of heights/flying) as well as my excitement for Saturday night (pay no attention to the other blog entries, which range from notes for my honors sophomore students to notes I took for class a year and a half ago...this it my utility blog).

Anyway, I couldn't help but put together a quick tutorial on the band we shall grace with our presence with . Here we go:

Ok. They've got a rather user-friendly website. In terms of videos, I recommend:

Sister Jack - rooftop performance, a dude dressed as a nun carrying a boombox, and a healthy dose of tambournine. It's a toe tapper, for sure.

Everything Hits at Once - one of those creepy animated videos...sort of like those commercials for insurance companies

The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine - you'll never look at mattress salesmen the same way.

Jonathan Fisk- rumor has it the song is about a grade school bully...you know what...i just watched this video again...it might cause seizures...stay away from this one.

The Underdog - This was my favorite song of 2007. I became slightly obsessed, not helped by this sweet, one-continuous-shot video (and the mariachi horn section). Here's their performance on Letterman (we can only hope they'll have a horn section on Saturday):

As far as music sans video goes, these tracks'll give you the gist (all accessible from the website):

You Got Yr Cherry Bomb - maybe my 2nd favorite Spoon song
Black Like Me - is this a ballad? it might be a ballad. at least, their version of one.
I Turn (My Camera On) - for some reason, this song just makes me want to walk down a street, looking all cool
The Way We Get By - I'm a sucker for any rock song that uses piano as the primary instrument
Back To The Life - once you get past the psychotic laughing, it's not so bad
Chicago at Night - this one is just plain hip
Lines in the Suit - this song plays in my head every time I put on a sport coat
Plastic Mylar - an oldie but a goodie...I sometimes think it sounds like it could have been the theme song to Friends. Can't you just picture them running around the fountain with those umbrellas?!

And if none of that is appealing, we'll just track down the Scotty Brothers and see them instead:

The Shield of Achilleus

2008-01-15T20:30:00.000-06:00

In Book XVIII of The Iliad, the focus is primarily on a shield that is made specifically for Achilleus' return to battle. The narrator walks the reader through the scenes portrayed on the metal, as shown in the pictures below:

and here's a simplified version:

The narrative method is similar to what occurs in the Disney class is Mary Poppins. Remember when Mary, Bert, Jane, and Michael jump into the sidewalk drawings?

And, there is a British artist, Julian Beever, that is an actual sidewalk artist, and his works really illustrate what you should imagine as you read:

Laptop

Crayon Box

Frog

Butterfly

Dungeon

Batman

Gold Dig

Rapids

Pool

Pool Angle 2 (these works of art only functions when viewed from a specific angle)

Grotto Pictures

2008-01-13T21:22:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of the grotto Brett Terhune built for St. Roch:

This is St. Roch's larger grotto:

Here are a few pictures of famous grottos:

#1: Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes - France

#2: Grotto at the University of Notre Dame (modeled after French grotto)

#3: Grotto at St. Francis Seminary- Wisconsin

#4: Grotto in Culman, Alabama

Here are some possible locations on Roncalli's campus that might work:

#1: Next to the current Prayer Walk Sign (just east of the football field)

#2: Along the road that leads to the baseball field (on east side of shrubbery)

#3: Outside of the band room/auditorium

#4: West corner of the front entrance

#5: North West corner of campus (is that even our land?!)

What other possible locations can you think of?

Notes for 4/11 Class

2007-04-10T08:01:00.000-06:00

To say I am lost in this week's reading is an understatement. The websites are difficult for me to navigate, the Hocks article has me scratching my head, and Writing New Media is giving me sympathy for my students who are starting Shakespeare's The Tempest this week.

I think one of the problems is that, while I think looking at how text is arranged visually is interesting, I'm not sure what it has to do with someone teaching composition. Sure, if there's time to go through some magazine ads or websites, it might peak some students' interest and give them ideas on an upcoming assignment's look, but to be honest, most of what they write needs to have solid content, right?

I'm going to set it all down and try again tonight. Hopefully an epiphany will come!

Group A

2007-04-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

This blog entry has nothing to do with W510, and everything to do with GROUP A!!!

Here is what happens when I get bored and search for video clips that remind me of all of you:

- What I found for Carrie when searching youtube for “At Last,” one of the songs she sang for us!

- What I found for Kyle, when searching youtube for “Hugs,” in honor of his hallway social life! It’s quite possibly the sweetest video EVER! And I'm not being sarcastic. It's great!

- What I found for Nate, when searching youtube for “Mohawk.” This clip is also appropriate, considering Nate obvious future career of a pop star!

- What I found for David, when searching youtube for “Nametag.” Maybe David can take some advice from this guy!

- What I found for Monica, when searching youtube for “Candle,” in tribute to Monica’s obsession with the candle on group A’s table.

- What I found for Eathin, when searching youtube for “Brotherly Love,” because he cries when he talks about his brothers. What a wuss!

- What I found for Kevin when searching youtube for “Bad Times to Fart.” I think the connection to Kevin is obvious.

I hope you all realize the love and care that went into all of this!

--Costello

(Quotes and) Notes on Brooks, Nichols, Priebe

2007-04-03T17:06:00.000-06:00

Their goal: "bring some greater specificity to, and advance the understanding of, weblogs as educational tools..."

I like it when they make the purpose of an article crystal clear (that's not sarcastic. i reread it, and it sounded sarcastic).

"It is relatively low-tech"

I never thought of that, but it's true! Blogging is so easy that it makes people feel like they're hot stuff!

Their research question: "which weblog genre(s) engage or motivate students to make significant contributions to their personal or class weblog?"

Again, this lays it all out for me. I'm not a math person, so this question gives me a clear idea of what these stats should show.

3 types: Blogs/journals, notebooks, filters

"If weblogging is going to motivate and support writing, it needs to be student-driven."

I agree. Anytime blogging has been part of a class, it's been difficult for both the students and the teachers to determine what HAS to be done, if anything.

The most encouraging/interesting stat: "only 12% said they would rather not weblog."

Even though some students didn't think it was motivating, they didn't hate it. In my book, that's quite an accomplishment!

The most encouraging/interesting conclusion: "notebook weblogging is more likely to succeed as a genre within a collaborative weblog"

Once again, it all comes back to community!

Notes on 3/28 Stuff (I Think)

2007-03-27T18:39:00.000-06:00

Bergstein:

- What kills me about this article is when Jordan puts the responsibility/accountability on anyone who chooses to use what he writes in a "respectable publication." To me, it seems like this is another example of putting the burden of proof on the reader, not the writer. This seems backwards to me.

- On the other hand, I understand what Jordan is saying. Those who know how wikipedia works should never assume the information is 100% factual. However, the vast majority of wikipedia's users, I would say, see fast information at their fingertips, and gladly trade quality for speed.

- In the end, I think it's fine for wikipedia to have both anonymous writers and writers with PROVEN credentials. BUT, shouldn't THEY make sure the readers understand the difference?

Giles:

- Definitely put me in the boat of people surprised by the mistakes of Brittannica. I'm still unclear if they were using online articles that could be edited by many people? Does Britannica have that? Were the errors based on articles being out of date?

- I could identify a bit more with this article, because it focuses a bit more on the educational value of online encyclopedias (coming from a science journal). However, it didn't teach me anything new about the shakiness of wikipedia. Instead, it made me wonder if steering my students to other online encyclopedias is any better!

- Actually, I don't let my students use encyclopedias as sources. They've got to go deeper into their field of study, and find sources that are more specific. I consider encyclopedias "common knowledge" whether it's wikipedia or something else.

- I wasn't shocked by the lack of qualified editors on wikipedia. If I was a scientist, I don't think I'd spend my time editing a site that ANYONE can change.

Clancy:

- Now THIS article hits home for me. I'm just going to go through the anti-PDS alternatives, as I see them:

- googling passages- I use this frequently, when the writing just doesn't "sound" like the student's voice. And it usually confirms the plagiarism or confirms the validity, without having to falsely accuse.

- calling a student into the office (w/o attempting to get proof)- I would never do this. I feel that I have to have solid proof.

- requiring a paper trail - i typically require students to turn in highlighted print-outs and xerox copies of their sources. and i'm honest with them about it -- i need to quickly track how they credit their sources. but i try to approach it in that way. i'm not trying to catch them cheating. i'm trying to teach them how to write responsibly.

- having students interview each other - i have no clue what this would accomplish!

- having students submit multiple drafts- yep. i do that.

Again, as a teacher, it all comes down to teaching them how to write responsibly. I use turnitin.com, but we never approach it as a way to catch people. we use it as another tool, like their writer's inc. book. and honestly, my students have gotten used to it, and i don't think they feel that their guilty until proven innocent. they anticipate seeing their percentage, and seeing how to lower it. so there.

*****BONUS*****

Here's a link to a great online quiz about plagiarism. It really helps my students understand how to give proper credit:

What is plagiarism?

Notes on 3/7 Stuff! Here Here! Har Har!

2007-03-06T17:05:00.000-06:00

Hourihan

- it seems that her point is that blogging is about discussion, not lecture.
- frequent updates
- reverse-chronological order
- links
- timestamps
- all of these features encourage immediate and collaborative communication, no matter what the topic may be

-i definitely see blogs as more immediate communication. some i check once a week (based on the afrementioned timestamps). others i check multiple times a day. and if i'm responding to someone else's blog, i'll probably check for comments minutes later!

Noguchi

- i love this article. "i thought it was kind of pointless." - from a girl who had spent hours working on her myspace page a few months beforehand.

- it's also fun to picture the corporations who think they're on the cutting edge of what young people love, only to see it change by the time they drive home and see their own kids using facebook instead.

- schools monitoring myspace - ha! - my school announced at the beginning of the year that anything students admitted to in a public place could be grounds for school discipline. it took a while to explain to the students that the internet was public space.

- that Evan Hansen kid knows what he's doing.

Mangan

- this is similiar to me asking my students to create email addresses that are more professional

- consideration of audience has definitely influenced student behavior (noted by my lack of capitalization in this blog!).

- this goes back to my example from Noguchi- the students didn't understand that the dean hearing about a party through word-of-mouth (which they accept as part of his job, and not an invasion of privacy) was the same as the dean hearing about a party through someone stumbling upon a myspace blog or facebook photo album. they truly don't understand.

Lenhart/Fox

-coming soon (i left that one on my desk at school. arg.)
- OK. I'm back!

Lenhart/Fox

- Can information be surprising and expected at the same time? this study offers concrete evidence of things that i would assume were true, but have never really thought about with much effort

- 54% of bloggers have never published their writing anywhere else (i'm in that boat)
- 60% of bloggers are white, while 74% of internet users are white (this one was more surprise...a pleasant suprise for sure. i hope that means that those without internet access at home are still able to blog).
- I wonder how many bloggers have NO internet access at home, and have to go to a library or other public space. hmm....
- 56% spend extra time fact-checking! i definitely do that (along with providing links, etc.), but i though it was because i was an english teacher. apparently even if it's not for a grade, people want to PROVE their point.
- 45% of bloggers say they prefer getting news from sources that don't have a particular political point of view (i was surprised by that. much of the blog world is about expressing YOUR viewpoint, no matter what THEY think. so wouldn't those people cater to other blogs and info that would help PROVE their point.....apparently not)

Notes (where are they?)

2007-02-27T15:40:00.001-06:00

Sorry fellow bloggers. I may not get my blog up for this week's reading until tomorrow afternoon (during my free period!)

Notes on Selber

2007-02-13T16:39:00.000-06:00

Selber first establishes that the definition ot initial thoughts when someone hears "functional literacy" have been, as he says, "reduced toa simple nuts and bolts matter." Most people think that functional literacy means that students are able to do a certain preset collection of tasks. He goes through a quick history or how it didn't start out that way (but i'm not a big history person, so i'm skipping ahead).

Selber argument is to think about 5 different qualitites that should be considered when determining whether or not a student is functionally literate.

#1: Educational Goals - A student is fuctionally literate if they can use computers to reach their educational goals (I particularly enjoyed the grammar check example, which shows not only what computers can do, but what they CAN'T). There's also a strong encouragement to show students how to customize computers for their specific needs/interests, which is a way to answer the question most students always have: What's in it for me?

#2: Social Conventions - A student is functionally literate if they understand the social conventions that determine computer use. Do students understand that certain technologies can alter the way they write and communicate? Speaking to someone through email is different from IM or phone or blogs or chatrooms or.....you get the idea.

#3: Specialized Discourses - A student is functionally literate if they can use specialized discourses with computers. If students understand some of the discourses used in, for example, search engines, they will be able to better find information they are seeking (one thing I note when teaching research to high school students is the difference between a keyword search and a subject search).

#4: Management Activities - A student is functionally literate if they can manage their online world. Do they understand when using google is an effective use of time, and when it's a waste (i already know the answer to that one)?

#5: Technological Impasses - A student is functionally literate if they can solve technological problems confidently and strategically. Students are in good shape if they can solve problems without overreaction.

Notes on Hocks

2007-02-11T09:08:00.000-06:00

- getting a digital camera (and its ability to endlessly change and manipulate the picture) changed Mary Hocks view of visual literacy

- her essay encourages teachers to teach and learn visual meanings with their students

VISUAL LITERACY AND RHETORIC (p. 203-205)

- There are two schools of thought about visual literacy
#1: images function in a manner similar to words
#2: images work far differently than words - and that they are abstract and imprecise
- teachers should stress the connection between visual and verbal expression in order tohelp students explore the nature of electronic writing and design

- visual rhetoric - a system of ongoing dialogue among rhetors, audiences, and dynamic contexts, but focuses on the multiple modalities and contexts available in the world.

- most students produce a lot of writing for class, but have little control over what it looks like
- when they do think about it, they use different fonts, colors, graphics, music/video, etc.
- teacher should draw on the vast knowledge/familiarity students have with looking at computers

-- teaching the process of design will help students think outside the box, as well as think about the box

ASSIGNMENTS

#1: students analyze and critique a professionally produced digital interactive media (CD-ROM, DVD, website). Then they develop a design for a project aimed at a particular audience
- start by having them analze ads on a favorite website
- if possible, showing students the process of designing a CD-ROM or website allows them to see design as a type of composition
- then have students storyboard their project

#2: have students read fiction and poetry, view and analyze film adaptations of novels, and develop a multimedia presentation based on their studies (sort of like a multimedia research essay)
-encouraged to question preset templates in programs

CONCLUSION

- teaching visual rhetoric is tied to ways in which literacy education is defined
- writers have to consider not just verbal practices, but visual, spatial, audial, and gentural

Notes on Yancey (Q1 & 2)

2007-02-06T21:29:00.000-06:00

- the creation of a writing public today mirrors the development of a reading public in the 19th century

- if only the energy students bring to technology could be brought to the classroom!

Quartet One

- 19th century reading
- Dickens' novels published in monthly parts
- reading circles formed
- serials, newspapers, etc. created
- ALL OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

- today's writing community
- created OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM
- without instruction from teachers
- without assessment from teachers

- faculty use email for academic/personal life
- student IM, but ENJOY it!
- faculty see blogs as educational tool
- students see blogs as social organizing/planning

- if we don't include "the screen" in the school curriculum, teachers will become as irrelevant as faculty professing in Latin

Quartet Two

- Today, 89% of students graduate high school
- 65% begin college
- 28% complete 4 years of college
- should we design first-year composition courses less for the 1st of 4 years (only 28% will get to complete year 4) or prepare students to become members of the writing public (the other 72%)?

Notes on Yancey (from Takayoshi)

2007-02-06T15:14:00.000-06:00

“The Pleasures of Digital Discussions: Lessons, Challenges, Recommendations, and Reflections” p. 105-117
KATHLEEN BLAKE YANCEY
Clemson University

3 college campus scenes:
• Students email their drafts to each other for peer review
• First-year composition class is ehosting a guest expert on a closed listserv
• Writers in a computer lab log onto a national listserv to share concerns with teachers challenged with using 9/11 issues in the writing classroom
o They all deal with electronic discussion
 But “choosing which of these to use for which purpose poses a myriad of challenges,” (105).
 Email and listserv systems should “offer teachers new ways to connect students, new ways for students to communicate with each other and the world at large, and, not least, new genres in which to learn,” (106).

Email
• “It’s often easier to begin trying out the new…by using it to extend what we already do…” (106).
o E-office hour
 Providing more flexible access for students
 Built-in expectation of response
 Advantages to conducting draft reviews
• More comfortable receiving criticism in a more anonymous (in that it’s not a physical) meeting
• Email can be accessed at both parties’ convenience
• They can have a written record of the teacher’s comments

Listservers
• Can overcome logistical problems when trying to expose students to “current practices from someone in the field,” (108).
o Using Listserv as source of enrichment
 Inviting a guest from the field to log on to a listserv may provide more time for meaningful discussion
• Requires much preplanning
o How long?
o What students?
o What subject?
o What kids of questions?
o What kind of credit (for students)?

o Using Listserv as an integral class activity
 Student Ediscussions (closed listserver for discussion outside class)
• Teacher has record of their discussion
• Asks students to think on screen
• Email is normal for students
• Students create collective/accessible knowledge
 Professional Listserves (students sign on to listserv featuring member of professional community)
• Student see members of community they hope to join communicating about issues they find important
• Window to acceptable demeanor and current issues within the field
o Using Listserv as a new forum
 Students discuss works they’ve studied with the authors who wrote them
• Offers students more contexts for interpretation
• Gives author a chance to revisit work
• Offers teachers a chance to see how students learn

Planning Ediscourse?

• What’s the exigence?
• How will you manage what could be a large volume of email?
• What are your expectations for this exercise?
• How will you convey those expectations?
• How will you connect the e-activity to the RL class?
• How will you reward student activity?
• How will you know if it “works”?

 More info on these questions – p. 112-116

Notes on Baron

2007-01-30T15:20:00.000-06:00

Did I read this while taking W509? That must be it. There's no way I already know this much about Henry David Thoreau's hypocritical opinion of pencils!

This article does keep me interested (even the 2nd time around) because it's not often that someone argues that the pencil (perceived as a simple tool of communication) is quite similar to the computer (perceived as a complicated tool of communication). For me, it seems that many of the articles we're reading have two common themes:

1) Any new advance or change, whether it's a chalkboard, pencil, or computer, is met with resistance, largely due to fear. I thought it interesting that teachers didn't want students using pencils with erasers (and i feel like "no cross-outs" is a phrase I heard in early grade school...I might be making up memories here).

2) These articles seem to end by saying that to predict or analyze the use of technology in education is premature, which is a bit frustrating. I know that many of these articles are bits and pieces of larger works, or that their purpose is not to answer questions, but to ask them. Still, I'm waiting for the article that declares...something!

Notes on Clanchy

2007-01-30T11:44:00.000-06:00

Whew. This one was tough to get through. I'm not much of a history person, but here's what I gathered.

I had never thought about people distrusting the written word. At least I thought I'd never thought it. Then I thought about Turn It In, a program I require my students to use....to verify that they authored their papers. Still, many of Clanchy's points of people thinking written word could not be trusted was enlightening.

In a way, I understand why people took more stock in someone's word (their oral word or oath) than something that was written. If you think about it, anyone can write something down. But typically, you get a much clearer sense of someone's true feelings/intentions by what/how/when/ they verbally say something. Compare reading "I Love You" in an email from your partner to hearing them say it to you personally.

It's also understandable that the difficulty in dating a document would make people less likely to bother with it. I've never thought about the implication that by saying today is Tuesday, January 30th, 2007, is in a way acknowledging Jesus Christ. Crazy.

I got pretty lost during the seals and crosses section of the article. But as it came back around to the difficulty in proving authorship, I got back on board! Just today, I had a student paper that I doubt was written by the student. But after nearly an hour of scowering the internet, searching turnitin.com, and going through databases, I came up empty. I still don't think the student wrote the essay, but even today, it's tough to prove without a doubt that someone is truly the author. And with nearly everything students turn in being typed, the old handwriting comparison can't be done!

Notes on Ferris

2007-01-30T11:22:00.000-06:00

As I read this article, I envisioned a sort of pendulum of human communication, swinging from one extreme (writing) to the other (speaking). I'm not even sure if those qualify as opposites, but I'm just going to go with what came to my mind!

I felt like Ferris was saying that initially, humans focused on oral communication. but because it had flaws (it was based on memory and was unable to be recorded) human communication was not all that it could be.

Then, once we found a way to record the oral language (by writing it down), we could overcome foggy memories and could "communicate across the boundaries of space and time." We could learn from the past, from history, from writers! But written language isn't perfect either. The permanence of writing can scare people off. And the printing press only made that permanence worse (I believe Ferris says it's 'concretized'). And so, humans came up with another form that seems to put the pendulum somewhere in the middle.

Writing in the World Wide Web has the flexibility of oral language and the wide-reaching capabilities of the written language. You can reach more people than you could reciting a speech, but you can also go back and change/tweak/edit/improve your message. I also understand the point that it blurs the role of the writer and reader. Navigating through webpages is an individual task (some might even say skill).Web text has the flexibility of oral language (though I’m not a fan of that), but it maintains the established structures of writing….sort of.

Notes on Scribner

2007-01-24T11:17:00.000-06:00

Literacy As Adaptation

people learn it to survive (in their culture/community)
in the US, literary programs have practical aims, and are considered human resources material, vocational skills, etc.
but how can there be one set of practical skills for ALL adults?!
"Which literacy skills are 'necessary' and which are 'optional'?"
Different communities and cultures require different pragmatic skills
Approaching with function in mind hopefully focuses on individual goals, settings, activities, etc.

Literacy as Power

people empower/advance their group through literacy
no literacy is typically associated with the poor/downtrodden/powerless
"Not to be literate is a state of victimization."
is it possible to take examples from other cultures/historical periods and apply them to 2007 America?

Literacy as a State of Grace

people use it to gain virtue
Memorizing the Qur'an equates literacy plus spirituality
"An individual who is illiterate...is bound to concrete thinking and cannot learn new material."
how many people/communities admire really admire book knowledge?

Case Study

The Vai, though it seemed a perfect example of a non literate society, incorporated numerous types of literacy.
3 written languages
non literacy did not seem to have a powerless stigma
literacy was simply admired
they write letters, keep records, and write creatively in their homes

So which metaphor is best?

None of them!
Stop trying to define the term literacy, and start working on the "matters of value and policy" for the specific people you're dealing with.

Notes on Brandt

2007-01-24T11:02:00.000-06:00

Brandt:

"For members of the community in which Mrs. May grew up, the ability to write the words of everyday life often marked the end of formal schooling, while for Michael May these same experiences served as a preparation for kindergarten." ~~ This point definitely illustrates not only the rapid pace that technology changes, but the rapid pace at which people are supposed to learn and adapt to technology.
"Piling Up" ~~ Many different materials/practices stick around, so someone living now must learn more types of literacy than their grandparents. Also, as you progress through further levels of school, you learn more types of literacy.
"Spreading Out" ~~ the purpose of literacy changes and diversifies, based on the culture, such as America going from creating and managing products to managing information, therefore creating new genres of literary.
"Literacy learning was part of acquiring manners."
"Collaborative writing developed as a necessity."
"Radio shows...encouraged Sam May and his siblings to write letters to distant radio stations to acquire decoder rings."
"We can gauge this change most interestingly in the two episodes in which Sam May recalls emulating the language of the elite..." ~~What follows are two great examples of how both as a child and as an adult, Sam became literate to become "better" in some way.
"Charles Rudolph's earliest literary memories exhibit residual influences of the educational experiences of previous generations, including his parents and other adult teachers."

Notes on TIME 1982, 2006 POY

2007-01-19T09:49:00.000-06:00

For these articles, I’m going to take the approach of quoting some of my favorite passages, followed by my commentary. Ready. Set. Go.

from TIME 2006:

“It’s about the many wrestling power from the few, and helping one another for nothing…”

- Amen! It seems that MySpace, YouTube, file-sharing programs like LimeWire, and even Wikipedia (though as a teacher i HATE that one) are not looking to make a buck (though, since Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace, that has changed a bit). It seems that perhaps the powerful few, who have always been concerned with staying powerful by making money, have started to slip, because most people on the internet are more than willing to share their thoughts, videos, pictures, writing, etc. When you put it that way, it seems like a happy-go-lucky free-for-all!

“And we didn’t just watch, we also worked!”

- I completely agree with this, as someone who routinely keeps up and maintains a MySpace account, Facebook account, a website for my students to refer to, and a band website. I also spend a least an hour or two once i’m home from work surfing the internet for news, sports, entertainment, random videos, music, etc. It is definitely work, and it is definitely more than idle behavior like watching television.

“Web 2.0 harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone…”

- AMEN (again)!! The fact that most websites or web programs omit the space between words bothers me. Can we make it illegal to misspell online?

***Anyone else surprised by the brevity of the 2006 article? I suppose its simply a sign of the impatient times.

from TIME 1982:

“Some experts argue that computers will, if anything, widen the gap between haves and have-nots.”

- Though I’m not in possession of any concrete info, I suspect that this may be true. I’m sure that schools with more money have more technology, giving their students a higher level of access to higher education (as many colleges take applications online).

“Estimates for the number of personal computers in use by the end of the century run as high as 80 million.”

- According to Computer Industry Almanac, in 2001, there were 600 millions PCs in use.

“Some 73% of respondents believed that the computer revolution would enable more people to work at home. But only 31% said they would prefer to do so themselves.”

- Even in 1982, they knew that staring at a computer all day would drive people crazy!

“But if a dictionary stored in a computer’s memory can easily correct any spelling mistakes, what is the point of learning how to spell?”

- A complaint I’ve heard nearly verbatim in my classroom many a time!

That’s all from me for now. See everyone in class.

Notes on Krause, Selfe

2007-01-19T09:47:00.000-06:00

As I read through Cynthia Selfe’s article “Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention,” I had significant trouble finding any definitive point she was trying to make. My first struggle was determining who Selfe’s audience was. As a high school teacher, I was reading from my perspective, and whenever she used the word “we,” I pictured teachers. However, by the end of the article, when Selfe lists what action everyone should take (curriculum committees, researchers, classroom teachers, etc.) I had trouble finding what I was supposed to take away from this essay.

It seems that Selfe is making the argument that everytime computers in the classroom is discussed, it is brought up with incorrect preconceptions. She writes that everyone is so focused on teaching with technology (computers) that they don’t realize the importance of teaching students why the technology is used. While i agree that simply teaching students how to use computers, without giving them some sort of real world application falls short, I also could say the same about having students read a Shakespearean play. If we study and test over that text, but I introduce no application to their lives past high school and college English classes, am I falling short?

This article was incredibly dense, and I have the feeling that class discussion this week should help me make a bit more sense of it!

Steven Krause’s “Among the Greatest Benefactors of Mankind” was a bit more clear. I enjoyed the approach of studying the chalkboard as technology. It reminded me of an article I read in a previous class about the wonders of the pencil! It’s just a unique approach to question computers by looking at something that, 200 years ago, was the computer equivalent in terms of advancing education through the latest equipment.

What I found to be Krause’s strongest point was the idea that computers should just instantly become the norm in a classroom. It reminded me of a comment made in class last week, when someone mentioned that when they got a job teaching, they’d probably use their own personal computer as opposed the computer in class. And I remember thinking to myself, “I’m not sure you can assume you’ll have a computer in the classroom.” I am fortunate to be in a school that does supply one computer in each classroom, as well as a computer lab, giving each student a computer to work on, but I’m not sure the country is at the point where a teacher can assume they’ll have the technology at their fingertips. However, Krause seems to argue that throwing computers in a classroom won’t do the job. Pedagogy has to pave the way. If pedagogy requires computers in order to achieve the highest level of education, then teachers will use it. Starting with computers and hoping they’ll change the pedagogy won’t work, because there won’t be a way to justify the cost.

Tomorrow, I’ll give you my two cents about the TIME articles.