Showing posts with label EDTECH 541. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EDTECH 541. Show all posts
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Technology Engagement, Authenticity, and Relevance Blog Post - EDTECH 541
Ask any writer, and they will tell you that the one thing all writers need are readers. This concept - providing writers with an audience - is crucial for writers' development as they look to refine their work. Borrowing on this concept, teachers of writing know that students demonstrate significant gains when they understand their audience and are writing for an authentic purpose. The employment of technology and the use of social media allows teachers to provide students with real audiences and authentic purposes like never before.
It is this exposure, this presentation of writing to outsiders that leads to a writer's growth, argues Grant Wiggins in an article for English Journal. "The best writing, like all learning, only happens through a constant and disciplined escape of self to explore the consequences. This draft horror story was meant to be scary; is it? This description was meant to be vivid enough for you to picture the person; can you? (Wiggins, 2009).
Through the use of Twitter, blogs, magazines like Teen Ink, and self-publishing sites like Issuu, students have a bevy of venues where they can publish their writing for free. This act of publication pairs students with a receptive, responsive audience, which can truly let them know how well their intentions and purposes for writing succeeded.
Given that publication venues are now electronic, and that writing and literacy comes in disparate forms, perhaps we should rethink our definition of writing. The editors of Teaching the new writing:
Technology, change, and assessment, argue for replacing the word writing with “composing.” They also advocate for an expanded definition of composition that includes the creation of “texts that might
include words, images, sounds, and hyperlinks that connect any and all of the
above to other words, images, sounds, and hyperlinks” (Herrington, Hodgson, & Moran, 2009).
With an expanded palate of possibilities, educators and administrators need to account for this "new" writing, which is becoming more and more commonplace in the workplace. But this conceptual shift need not be done simply because it will help students in the future; it can also help them in the present as they work to demonstrate their proficiency with various local, state, and federal learning standards. "The Web-based electronic portfolio can be a valuable alternative assessment tool for teachers and students in the 21st century" (Jacobs, 2010).
By using social media to provide students with opportunities to publish and get feedback on their writing, English language arts teachers can successfully utilize the latest technologies to create more engaging, relevant, and authentic lessons and activities.
References:
Herrington, A., Hodgson, K., & Moran, C
(Eds.). (2009). Teaching the new writing:
Technology, change, and assessment.
Berkeley, CA: Teachers College Press.
Jacobs, H. (2010). Curriculum 21: Essential
education for a changing world. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development.
Wiggins, G. (2009). Real-world writing: Making purpose and audience matter. English Journal, 98(5), 29-37
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Tips for Blogging Safely on the Internet
With more and more students taking part in school and class blogging initiatives across the country, it is important to keep in mind for following four Internet safety tips:
I. Students who use blogs for
class projects should keep personal information out of their posts for their
own safety. They should not post or give out their family's name, password,
user name, email address, home address, school name, city, county or any other
information that could help someone locate or contact them.
II. Students using blogs should agree never to share their
username or password with anyone besides their teachers and parents. They
should agree to never log in as another student.
III. Students using blogs are
expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate
for class is not appropriate for a blog. While students are encouraged to
engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, they should conduct
themselves in a manner reflective of a representative of their high school and
community. 
IV. Student blogs are to be a
vehicle for sharing writing with real audiences. Most visitors to class or
student blogs will leave comments that are respectful and helpful. Teachers are
encouraged to provide students with appropriate comment criteria which they should
post on your blog, so those who visit it know how to appropriately respond to
their writing.
If students receive a comment that makes them feel uncomfortable
or is not respectful, they should tell their teacher right away. Students
should not respond to the comment.
Resource:
Hunt, B. (2011, May 20). Bud the teacher's wiki.
Retrieved from
http://www.budtheteacher.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Mitchell, K. J., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2007). Are blogs putting youth at risk for online sexual solicitation or harassment?. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(2008), 277-294. Retrieved from http://unhinfo.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV149.pdf
Image credits:
Flickr Creative Commons Images from rcolonna (no name),
Bruno Santos (password), New Media MK (speech), and pixel fantasy (comment).
Additional Blogging Safety Tips:
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