Journal Entry 5: ISTE Article 4

Storytelling in the Web 2.0 Era

By: Glen Bull

This article begins with some general information about Web 2.0 and how technology is changing everything in our society. From work, to study, to play, all of our lives are effected by technology in big and small ways. The web is so pervasive that most applications and software can now be run via the web for little to no cost which in turn has given access to anyone who can access a computer that has internet capabilities. Cities like San Francisco have even installed free WiFi in some areas and nearly all cities provide free WiFi in designated public spaces like libraries or college campuses.

The article continues on to discuss how web technologies can be used free and easily to assign students storytelling projects for a number of different purposes. The sites are all free and provide a number of different formats for storytelling:mapping, time-lining, comic stripping, and presenting with audio/video.

How could this be used in a high school English class?

I immediately thought of William Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury or J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring trilogy for the mapping or the time-lining exercises. These books, as are a myriad of other fiction works, are strongly tied to where and when the events take place and the success of understanding the texts depends on the readers understanding of those circumstances in time and space. I think it would be great to have students complete assignments that increase their understanding of the subject matter.

Do you think it is appropriate to use site's like Myspace or Flickr in class assignments?

I think that it is important that educators carefully consider the material they present to their students. I think that sites like Myspace should only be used in courses that are post high school. I don't think that the students are too immature or that it is inappropriate; I just think that when working with adolescents we need to maintain an appropriate amount of control and that would not be possible when using such public and unpredictable sites.

Journal Entry 4: ISTE Article 3

Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging

by Julie Sturgeon

This article dealt with the issues of classroom blogging. I found it to be very informative and helpful. Most of the concerns the article discussed I believe I would have known to lookout for, but through reading the articles discussion of possible hang ups I think I have a better idea of how to look for them. I really like the recommendation of spending some serious time with one's class to make sure that the students know their ethical accountability. I think that student misbehavior and inappropriateness is probably one of the biggest potential problems in granting the students access to the internet, and the article really addressed this issue. I think I also would have been likely to use the Google blogger, but, because of the article, I now have a good online blog resource that I can use with my students.

How could a blog be implemented in a high school English class?

I plan to have my students use a blog to submit almost all of their final drafts of writing assignments. I also plan to have students be required to use features of the blog to post their assignments. I want them to have pictures, links, music, video, and anything else they can put in that relates to their topics. I think that this will be a good way for students to begin a writing portfolio that can be accessed and analyzed as the students develop in their writing.

How will you use this information to make sure your students blog in a safe environment?

I plan to teach netiquette and spend time talking to students about their ethical responsibility to act in a polite and responsible manner when posting or chatting online. I think it’s a good idea to make students and parents accountable by having the students sign contracts and the parents sign permission slips. This way everyone knows right from the start who will be accountable for misbehavior.

Journal Entry 3: iste article 2

Speaking Math: Using Chat
By: Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson

This article details a test study of how using a chat room would work as a tool to teach mathematics. The study is very interesting, and I believe it shows some very compelling evidence that using this kind of technology could be very useful to students. The study showed the chats to be particularly effective with ELL students and students with learning disabilities. By taking their time with assignments and working to become more familiar with the terminologies through group discussions on-line, all of the students showed a marked improvement in their comfort with the material. I think that this type of learning is great because it takes the individual learning needs of students into account instead of presupposing that all of the students will learn concepts in the same time frame.

How can we be sure to make this technology available to students who don’t have on-line access at home?

I think that it is really important to make sure that this type of teaching doesn’t create more of a division between students from different socioeconomic groups. There is the potential to get caught up in the creating of such a teaching tool that some students may be left out of the loop. Teachers using this type of thing should be careful how they implement it and what their expectations are of the students. There needs to be a fair amount of access to the technology for all of the students in the class.

How could this be used in a high school English course?

I think I would use a tool like this as a discussion board. I have been in numerous classes that have required the students to post commentary on the class materials, and it always seems to me as a student that the class is much more engaged with the material. It is a great device for teachers to monitor their students and provide adequate support when necessary. Even as a student I can see which other students are more or less invested in the material and which ones probably need some assistance or encouragement.