Saturday, April 25, 2009
Brain Gain- neuroenhancing drugs
I realize this isn't the type of technology we've been talking about in our class, but I think it brings up an important conversation for people concerned with the future of education to have. This is technology literally becoming part of us and in some ways the demand for neuroenhancing drugs comes out of the 24-hour culture create by some of the technologies we have talked about in class. In any case, I found the article on neuroenhancing drugs by Margaret Talbot extremely interesting. I hope some of you enjoy it as well.
Monday, April 20, 2009
An Online Writing Platform for Language Learners
I was really interested in this article, not only from an English Language Learners perspective, but also as a tool for teaching native English speakers to write. As I understood it, this platform goes beyond track changes and archives teacher and student comments in each draft of an essay progressively moving towards a final essay. The program correlates the number of errors, comments, and reoccurring problems. The program then automatically directs students to help pages on specific problem areas. Having graded multiple revisions of student essays, I see this tool’s ability to focus students on their own reoccurring errors (without having to rely on my memory of student’s individual trouble spots) as extremely valuable. In this way, while class time might focuses on overall class struggles, individual struggles are not left unaddressed. I also really liked the students’ ability within this program to send drafts to each other for peer-review and then archive comments from classmates. I think editing other classmates work is a great way to become a better editor of your own work and like to include as much peer editing as possible in my courses. Finally, I found the way this article broke down the platform based on the needs and uses of teachers, students, and researchers as an effective and persuasive breakdown for receiving funding and support. Wanting to know more, I went to the IWill website (http://iwillnow.org) mentioned in the article and was please to see the site has new posts made in 2009. That said, many links on the website were broken including the sign-up and contact us pages. I will try to get in touch with the web administrator to see if I can sign up and explore more.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The move from page to screen: the multimodal reshaping of school English
Just some quick thoughts on Carey Jewitt’s article:
Communication does indeed take place through the complex interplay of a range of modes. When reading some of these descriptions, I couldn’t help thinking how interesting it was that I was reading text that described the actions in a video that students used to better understand a text. What a unique space for learning! I wish the videos could have been embedded in the text and wonder if there are online journals that do that? I see this as an ultimate example of texts’ place at the top of academic discussions. It also highlights the ability of text to describe visuals as much visuals can be used to interpret text. Text can also create a viewing position for the reader. Text can describe the tone of someone’ voice. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with students being able to “by-pass the novel as a written text (i.e.they do not engage with it) and instead engage with it as a (multimodal) video text.” It's not the same type of learning experience. It’s clearly a new learning experience and it doesn’t engage in the text, although what it does do is very interesting. Given that it’s a new learning experience, I wish there was more on Bindy, the video character guide. I would be interested to know how students understood, related to, and made use of Bindy. What was Bindy’s roles and was the video guide able to achieve these goals?
Communication does indeed take place through the complex interplay of a range of modes. When reading some of these descriptions, I couldn’t help thinking how interesting it was that I was reading text that described the actions in a video that students used to better understand a text. What a unique space for learning! I wish the videos could have been embedded in the text and wonder if there are online journals that do that? I see this as an ultimate example of texts’ place at the top of academic discussions. It also highlights the ability of text to describe visuals as much visuals can be used to interpret text. Text can also create a viewing position for the reader. Text can describe the tone of someone’ voice. I don’t know if I’m comfortable with students being able to “by-pass the novel as a written text (i.e.they do not engage with it) and instead engage with it as a (multimodal) video text.” It's not the same type of learning experience. It’s clearly a new learning experience and it doesn’t engage in the text, although what it does do is very interesting. Given that it’s a new learning experience, I wish there was more on Bindy, the video character guide. I would be interested to know how students understood, related to, and made use of Bindy. What was Bindy’s roles and was the video guide able to achieve these goals?
Monday, April 6, 2009
Digital Literacies of the Cybergirl
On page 6 in the embodiment section, Angela Thomas mentioned two events that deal with violence in cybercommunities. I thought they both sounded interesting and searched for them online.
The first is My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World by Julian Dibbell and is available as a full copy through google books. There is a chapter on the "Rape in Cyberspace” that I am currently in the middle of. Here is the publishers blurb on the book:
“Traveling through the social networks of LambdaMOO--an electronic world where players create their own environments, where gender and identity are infinitely malleable, and where actions seductively appear to have no consequences in "real life" --Julian Dibbell discovers a cybercommunity ripped apart by such real-world issues as crime, punishment, class struggle, and sexual obsession. In "My Tiny Life, " Dibbell ventures deeply into this half-real world --exploring even the MOO's erotic demimonde--and finds that the lines between "real life" and "virtual reality" blur, leaving set notions of community, history, identity, and love transformed and the definition od "real" experience irrevocably altered.”
The second event is Rest In Peace, Bill the Bot: Death and Life in Virtual Worlds, by Mikael Jakobsson. The following links to an html version of a .pdf of the chapter. LINK to Bill the Bot.
Hope you all find these as interesting as I did!
The first is My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World by Julian Dibbell and is available as a full copy through google books. There is a chapter on the "Rape in Cyberspace” that I am currently in the middle of. Here is the publishers blurb on the book:
“Traveling through the social networks of LambdaMOO--an electronic world where players create their own environments, where gender and identity are infinitely malleable, and where actions seductively appear to have no consequences in "real life" --Julian Dibbell discovers a cybercommunity ripped apart by such real-world issues as crime, punishment, class struggle, and sexual obsession. In "My Tiny Life, " Dibbell ventures deeply into this half-real world --exploring even the MOO's erotic demimonde--and finds that the lines between "real life" and "virtual reality" blur, leaving set notions of community, history, identity, and love transformed and the definition od "real" experience irrevocably altered.”
The second event is Rest In Peace, Bill the Bot: Death and Life in Virtual Worlds, by Mikael Jakobsson. The following links to an html version of a .pdf of the chapter. LINK to Bill the Bot.
Hope you all find these as interesting as I did!
Monday, March 30, 2009
3rd point resources
Progress reports for the 3rd point projects were due in this week. I thought I would share the articles from my work cited. This way, anyone who needs to do some similar research will have a head start. All of these articles are available online through the CU library. =)
• Chambers, Bette; Cheung, Alan C. K.; Gilford, Richard; Madden, Nancy A.; Slavin, and Robert E. “Achievement Effects of Embedded Multimedia in a Success for All Reading Program.” Journal of Educational Psychology 98.1 (2006): 232 – 237.
• Cerhallen, Maria J. A. J.; Bus, Adriana G.; de Jong, Maria T. “The Promise of Multimedia Stories for Kindergarten Children At Risk.” Journal of Educational Psychology 98.2 (2006): 410 – 419.
• Huffaker, David. “The educated blogger: Using Weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.” First Monday 9.6 (2004): 25 pars. 21 March 2009.
• Larson, Lotta C. “Electronic Reading Workshop: Beyond Books With New Literacies and Instructional Technologies.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.2 (2008): 121-131.
• MacArthur, Charles A. “The Effects of New Technologies on Writing and Writing Processes.” Handbook of Writing Research. Ed. Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, Jill Fizgerald. Guilford Press, 2008. 248 – 262.
• Macdonald, Janet. “Assessing online collaborative learning: process and product.” Computers & Education 40 (2003): 377–391.
• Ray, Jan. “Blogosphere: The Educational Use of Blogs (aka Edublogs).” Kappa Delta Phi Record (2006): 175 – 177.
• Williams, Jeremy B. “Exploring the use of blogs as learning space in higher education sector.” Australian Journal of Educational Technology 20.2 (2004): 232 – 247.
• Chambers, Bette; Cheung, Alan C. K.; Gilford, Richard; Madden, Nancy A.; Slavin, and Robert E. “Achievement Effects of Embedded Multimedia in a Success for All Reading Program.” Journal of Educational Psychology 98.1 (2006): 232 – 237.
• Cerhallen, Maria J. A. J.; Bus, Adriana G.; de Jong, Maria T. “The Promise of Multimedia Stories for Kindergarten Children At Risk.” Journal of Educational Psychology 98.2 (2006): 410 – 419.
• Huffaker, David. “The educated blogger: Using Weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom.” First Monday 9.6 (2004): 25 pars. 21 March 2009.
• Larson, Lotta C. “Electronic Reading Workshop: Beyond Books With New Literacies and Instructional Technologies.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 52.2 (2008): 121-131.
• MacArthur, Charles A. “The Effects of New Technologies on Writing and Writing Processes.” Handbook of Writing Research. Ed. Charles A. MacArthur, Steve Graham, Jill Fizgerald. Guilford Press, 2008. 248 – 262.
• Macdonald, Janet. “Assessing online collaborative learning: process and product.” Computers & Education 40 (2003): 377–391.
• Ray, Jan. “Blogosphere: The Educational Use of Blogs (aka Edublogs).” Kappa Delta Phi Record (2006): 175 – 177.
• Williams, Jeremy B. “Exploring the use of blogs as learning space in higher education sector.” Australian Journal of Educational Technology 20.2 (2004): 232 – 247.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Chapter 6: Any Eye on the Text and an Eye on the Future: Multimodal Literacy in Three Johannesburg Families
NOTES:
Introduction:
• How a father, a grandmother, and an aunt consciously scaffold for each child what counts as good reading practices.
• Each adult uses the practice of literacy to develop the girl’s ‘navigational capacities,’ their capacities to self-regulate, to map nodes and pathways of access in relation to aspirations and possible futures.
• The different ways the adults shape and reshape the ‘stuff’ of literacy has deep effects on the children’s orientations to the future both as readers and as subjects.
Background to the Study
• Ethnographic-style study of Children’s Early Literacy Learning (CELL) in the Gauteng and Limpopo Province of South Africa in 2000-2001.
New Literacy Studies and Multimodal Semiotics
• Literacy events and literacy practices: each literacy event is a multimodal communicative event in which adults and girl children are co-participants in activities that involve multiple modes of communication including writing, speech, image, and body in performance.
Classification and Framing
• Classification describes the apparent outer limits or boundaries of a practice or context.
• Framing refers to the degree of control that subjects have over the selection and regulation of contents, and over what counts as appropriate interpretations, methods or techniques, and forms and styles of communication.
• When framing is strong, there is a strong, visible pedagogy. When framing is weak, an invisible is pedagogy operative.
• Weak framing may get in the way of a particular discourse or practice, but it may create conditions of possibility for stronger socialization or more creativity.
Case Study 1: Dineo and Her Father
• Dineo is 9 and lives with her mother, father, brother and sister.
• Exposure to both worlds: traditional African religion and Christianity; also in language practices Sesotho, Isizulu, and English. Different status in each. English is seen as ‘grooming for the world beyond.’
• Value in English is shaped by parents’ past experience as learners.
• Event: a multimodal, multi-layer combination of spoken and written language, sound, image, gesture, body, and space. It is a whole family performance: father, mother, and brother are co-participants in the development of Dineo’s literacy. It is a form of ritual. Concerned with how text sounds—inflection and intonation, pitch and volume. This demonstrates the criteria for appropriateness. Dineo asserts her visual literacy skills by pointing to the rock image and inserting the discourse of school in the home to support her parent’s understanding. Father demonstrates that the text consists of units of meaning that are integrated into a textual whole. This activity is strongly framed—there is a right way and the meaning must be received and reproduced, not transformed. Emphasizes the importance of bilingual literacy in grooming her for the future.
• All three children were being sent to a family in the country because there was no food or money. =(
Case Study 2: Puleng and her Grandmother
• Puleng is 8 and lives with her grandparents, her mother is studying at a technical college. Her parents are both employed.
• Puleng’s safety is a constant concern for her grandmother, her primary caregiver. Her grandmother doesn’t trust their neighborhood.
• Puleng takes a taxi to school. At school she learns English as a first language, Afrikaans as a second language, and Sesotho will be taught in 5th grade. Sesotho is her home language. In everyday language, she switches between Sesotho, Setswana, and English.
• Core values are multilingualism and ubuntu
• Event: storytelling and story reading at bedtime, a nightly ritual. Multimodal, encompassing written and spoken language, image, gesture and performance. Grandmother offers language and commentary about images and writing, and she makes clear connections to images by pointing. Grandmother constantly tries to focus attention on text and acts as a literacy mediator. Textual practice models the metacognitive strategies used by experience readers. Similar focus on uncovering the meaning in the text. In the text, she shifts half way through the reading to focus on morals and draws connections between text world and real world. She asks yes/no, teacher questions. In storytelling, the grandmother focuses on the moral lessons of the story. There is a right way, particularly concerning Sesotho. Models family and community values.
Case Study 3: Margot and Her Aunt
• Margot is 6 and lives in with her parents and brother in an English speaking middle class family. She loves listening to stories and is an accomplished conversationalist with peers and adults. She prefers fantasy games with her neighbor Sara over computer games.
• Event: at the kitchen table with Margot, her mother, her brother, her aunt, and Sara (4 years old). Looking at a newspaper classifieds for a house. They use the image to make confident, unshakeable judgments of a stupid or nice or okay house. Parents do not lead this activity; the children lead it. Aunt plays a pedagogical role by pointing out features of a house for sale advertisements and playfully scaffolds the interaction by arousing interest in looking for features, i.e. price. She is a resource for textual knowledge, not an authority with the last word. There is a seamless switch from reading text and image to producing it. Writing is just scribble, but the aunt asks about and discusses it, communicating the message that the girls’ writing is meaningful. The aunt develops ‘navigational capacities’ for future home owning. Another shift when imagination takes over. In this event, classification and framing are weakest; there is an invisible pedagogy operation. Huge element of pleasure and play. “Literacy is as much about playing games and inventing worlds as it is about getting information about how to function in the ‘real’ world” (143).
Concluding Remarks
• The practice of literacy is not neutral but imbued with values, aspirations and attitudes around what textual practices count, for whim, and for what ends.
• Each family member uses the practice of literacy to develop each girl’s navigational capacities in relation to possible futures.
Introduction:
• How a father, a grandmother, and an aunt consciously scaffold for each child what counts as good reading practices.
• Each adult uses the practice of literacy to develop the girl’s ‘navigational capacities,’ their capacities to self-regulate, to map nodes and pathways of access in relation to aspirations and possible futures.
• The different ways the adults shape and reshape the ‘stuff’ of literacy has deep effects on the children’s orientations to the future both as readers and as subjects.
Background to the Study
• Ethnographic-style study of Children’s Early Literacy Learning (CELL) in the Gauteng and Limpopo Province of South Africa in 2000-2001.
New Literacy Studies and Multimodal Semiotics
• Literacy events and literacy practices: each literacy event is a multimodal communicative event in which adults and girl children are co-participants in activities that involve multiple modes of communication including writing, speech, image, and body in performance.
Classification and Framing
• Classification describes the apparent outer limits or boundaries of a practice or context.
• Framing refers to the degree of control that subjects have over the selection and regulation of contents, and over what counts as appropriate interpretations, methods or techniques, and forms and styles of communication.
• When framing is strong, there is a strong, visible pedagogy. When framing is weak, an invisible is pedagogy operative.
• Weak framing may get in the way of a particular discourse or practice, but it may create conditions of possibility for stronger socialization or more creativity.
Case Study 1: Dineo and Her Father
• Dineo is 9 and lives with her mother, father, brother and sister.
• Exposure to both worlds: traditional African religion and Christianity; also in language practices Sesotho, Isizulu, and English. Different status in each. English is seen as ‘grooming for the world beyond.’
• Value in English is shaped by parents’ past experience as learners.
• Event: a multimodal, multi-layer combination of spoken and written language, sound, image, gesture, body, and space. It is a whole family performance: father, mother, and brother are co-participants in the development of Dineo’s literacy. It is a form of ritual. Concerned with how text sounds—inflection and intonation, pitch and volume. This demonstrates the criteria for appropriateness. Dineo asserts her visual literacy skills by pointing to the rock image and inserting the discourse of school in the home to support her parent’s understanding. Father demonstrates that the text consists of units of meaning that are integrated into a textual whole. This activity is strongly framed—there is a right way and the meaning must be received and reproduced, not transformed. Emphasizes the importance of bilingual literacy in grooming her for the future.
• All three children were being sent to a family in the country because there was no food or money. =(
Case Study 2: Puleng and her Grandmother
• Puleng is 8 and lives with her grandparents, her mother is studying at a technical college. Her parents are both employed.
• Puleng’s safety is a constant concern for her grandmother, her primary caregiver. Her grandmother doesn’t trust their neighborhood.
• Puleng takes a taxi to school. At school she learns English as a first language, Afrikaans as a second language, and Sesotho will be taught in 5th grade. Sesotho is her home language. In everyday language, she switches between Sesotho, Setswana, and English.
• Core values are multilingualism and ubuntu
• Event: storytelling and story reading at bedtime, a nightly ritual. Multimodal, encompassing written and spoken language, image, gesture and performance. Grandmother offers language and commentary about images and writing, and she makes clear connections to images by pointing. Grandmother constantly tries to focus attention on text and acts as a literacy mediator. Textual practice models the metacognitive strategies used by experience readers. Similar focus on uncovering the meaning in the text. In the text, she shifts half way through the reading to focus on morals and draws connections between text world and real world. She asks yes/no, teacher questions. In storytelling, the grandmother focuses on the moral lessons of the story. There is a right way, particularly concerning Sesotho. Models family and community values.
Case Study 3: Margot and Her Aunt
• Margot is 6 and lives in with her parents and brother in an English speaking middle class family. She loves listening to stories and is an accomplished conversationalist with peers and adults. She prefers fantasy games with her neighbor Sara over computer games.
• Event: at the kitchen table with Margot, her mother, her brother, her aunt, and Sara (4 years old). Looking at a newspaper classifieds for a house. They use the image to make confident, unshakeable judgments of a stupid or nice or okay house. Parents do not lead this activity; the children lead it. Aunt plays a pedagogical role by pointing out features of a house for sale advertisements and playfully scaffolds the interaction by arousing interest in looking for features, i.e. price. She is a resource for textual knowledge, not an authority with the last word. There is a seamless switch from reading text and image to producing it. Writing is just scribble, but the aunt asks about and discusses it, communicating the message that the girls’ writing is meaningful. The aunt develops ‘navigational capacities’ for future home owning. Another shift when imagination takes over. In this event, classification and framing are weakest; there is an invisible pedagogy operation. Huge element of pleasure and play. “Literacy is as much about playing games and inventing worlds as it is about getting information about how to function in the ‘real’ world” (143).
Concluding Remarks
• The practice of literacy is not neutral but imbued with values, aspirations and attitudes around what textual practices count, for whim, and for what ends.
• Each family member uses the practice of literacy to develop each girl’s navigational capacities in relation to possible futures.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Comic Book Task
I used this book in my ELL class. First I’d give the students a photo copy of the chapter with the words missing and ask them to fill it in. They could either guess the story or make up something completely new. Then they would present their stories to the class (which was a lot of fun). And finally, we’d start reading and working through the real comic. It was great because the students were involved and excited. They were practicing writing and speaking— which usually intimidated some students, but in this situation they were so excited to share they couldn’t wait to present. And we worked on reading and building vocabulary. I wish there were more text presented in this comic book form. If you go to this amazon link and look inside the book, you’ll see the speech bubbles and scene settings that I would white-out in their handouts. http://www.amazon.com/Hercules-Twelve-Labors-Graphic-Universe/dp/0822530848/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product
Also, in college we watched the manga series One Piece and Naruto— both I really enjoyed and recommend. =)
Always On– Chap 7
• “As of early January 2007, there were 2.73 billion mobile phone subscriptions. More than one-third of the earth’s population had mobile access, largely on the GSM system.” (128)
I just read an article about mobile phone use in Africa and India: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7893849.stm. This article talks about the 4 billion mobile phones in the world and using them to get health information out to people in rural areas. ("There's 4 billion mobile phones now in the world, 2.2 billion of those in the developing world," said Ms Thwaites. "Compare that to 305 million PCs and then look at hospital bed numbers: there's 11 million of them in the developing world.") Also, I have a professor here that is trying to connect these mobile phones to international weather reports to help people who can then use that information to keep food dry and avoid flash floods and prepare for other extreme weather situations. When you think of the number of people who have phones and the fact that phones are getting stronger and stronger, it really becomes and interesting area to focus national and international campaigns.
• “Culture-specific mobile phone usage sometimes springs from economic necessity.” (131) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flP-o0ydkvo. I loved this commercial because, in high school we used collect service in the same way to signal for our parents to pick us up after school without having to pay. Obviously this was before cell phones.
What are the consequences of being linguistically always on? (181) Great question!
I just read an article about mobile phone use in Africa and India: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7893849.stm. This article talks about the 4 billion mobile phones in the world and using them to get health information out to people in rural areas. ("There's 4 billion mobile phones now in the world, 2.2 billion of those in the developing world," said Ms Thwaites. "Compare that to 305 million PCs and then look at hospital bed numbers: there's 11 million of them in the developing world.") Also, I have a professor here that is trying to connect these mobile phones to international weather reports to help people who can then use that information to keep food dry and avoid flash floods and prepare for other extreme weather situations. When you think of the number of people who have phones and the fact that phones are getting stronger and stronger, it really becomes and interesting area to focus national and international campaigns.
• “Culture-specific mobile phone usage sometimes springs from economic necessity.” (131) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flP-o0ydkvo. I loved this commercial because, in high school we used collect service in the same way to signal for our parents to pick us up after school without having to pay. Obviously this was before cell phones.
What are the consequences of being linguistically always on? (181) Great question!
Always On- Chap 6:
• “… teenage bloggers have been known to portray themselves as engaging in risqué behavior, even when such is not the case—like the ‘girls who had blogged about weekends of drinking and debauchery, while in reality they were coloring with a their younger siblings or watching old movies with Grandma.’” (113)
Last year, I worked for a company called produced an educational software, one in particular that targets college students. That product had a sexual health module and the company’s researchers found that most college students overestimated the amount of sex and drinking of other students. A big push for this software was to educate students about what was really happening on their campus. I wasn’t surprised to see that this behavior (to exaggerate drinking and debauchery) begins early in the teenage years. It just highlights that while it seems that private lives have been push public, it doesn’t mean that what is portrayed is the truth.
• Brolsma’s Numa Numa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o (115). South Park recreated this video as well!
• Nature article: Britannica vs Wikipedia: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html (this article was updated in 2006, but you need to pay to see the full article. The bbc.co.uk article summarizes the 2005 article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm)(124)
Last year, I worked for a company called produced an educational software, one in particular that targets college students. That product had a sexual health module and the company’s researchers found that most college students overestimated the amount of sex and drinking of other students. A big push for this software was to educate students about what was really happening on their campus. I wasn’t surprised to see that this behavior (to exaggerate drinking and debauchery) begins early in the teenage years. It just highlights that while it seems that private lives have been push public, it doesn’t mean that what is portrayed is the truth.
• Brolsma’s Numa Numa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60og9gwKh1o (115). South Park recreated this video as well!
• Nature article: Britannica vs Wikipedia: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html (this article was updated in 2006, but you need to pay to see the full article. The bbc.co.uk article summarizes the 2005 article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm)(124)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Virtual Theater Link
Snagfilms is a website that lets you search hundreds of documentaries, select the few you think are important, put them in a virtual theater, and export your virtual theater to any blog, social network, or website. This is all a free service because Snagfilms is committed to getting audiences for compelling documentaries that might not be widely viewed otherwise.
In addition to being a great tool for filmmakers/producers, I think the virtual theater is a fantastic tool for a class. As a teacher, you can select documentaries on related course topics and post them for your students to watch and reflect on throughout the term. I also think you can have students select documentaries and create their own virtual theaters. They can do this in groups or individually and then comment on each of the selections. Personally, I am really excited that this website was brought to my attention and plan to include it one way or another in the course I’m teaching this summer (My 3rd point project is to update this summer writing course to include technology). I need to play around more with the site and see how it actually works before I can decide how to fit it into my course.
Check out their 'about page' and little video: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/about
In addition to being a great tool for filmmakers/producers, I think the virtual theater is a fantastic tool for a class. As a teacher, you can select documentaries on related course topics and post them for your students to watch and reflect on throughout the term. I also think you can have students select documentaries and create their own virtual theaters. They can do this in groups or individually and then comment on each of the selections. Personally, I am really excited that this website was brought to my attention and plan to include it one way or another in the course I’m teaching this summer (My 3rd point project is to update this summer writing course to include technology). I need to play around more with the site and see how it actually works before I can decide how to fit it into my course.
Check out their 'about page' and little video: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/about
Monday, February 16, 2009
Barton's Literacy- chap 13 and 14
• I really enjoyed the chapter on adult literacy. Having taught adults English as a Second Language, I can relate to a lot of what was discussed in this chapter. Often there was a struggle to find resources that taught basic skills but weren’t directed for children. As an instructor in my early 20s teaching students more than twice my age, I was very conscious of finding exercises that were focused on the right skill level but wouldn’t be insulting to the adult students. This was a challenge, but led to some great exercises and some really fascinating discussions. “Adult education can be marginalized, or can be a vibrant area of education in its own right” (188).
• Also, having the experience teaching English to individuals who were not literate in their first language presented unique situations. Because of my experience with these students, I was already aware that people with low literacy “hold down jobs, have families, participate in society, pursue hobbies and, crucially, do not see themselves as dependent or needing assistance” (197). I was very happy with the way Baron addressed the issue of low literacy without being demeaning. I think he is completely accurate when he states that in an attempt to raise awareness, literacy campaigns have “creating a public image which stigmatizes people with difficulties” (198).
• “It depends on the social situation, on the value of the language to the speakers, on the motivations for learning to read and write, on the other languages in the area, and on many other things” (201). Motivation is the key to teaching and learning any subject. For me, the discussion of the economic impact of literacy as well as the control of language and power relationships was new and I wish Barton went into more detail. I think these could be hugely motivating factors if these relationships and power factors were more openly discussed and shared with students. Along these lines, it was interesting to know that while many individuals don’t feel “fully literate,” they also “do not see themselves as dependent or needing assistance” (193, 197). Perhaps if discussions of literacy stressed the ties between literacy and economic/power relations, as wells as literacy’s role in enable adults and children “to learn how to learn,” there would be more personal motivation to improve literacy on the students end (212). I always begin a new writing course with a discussion of how the basic skills they learn in the class will impact the students’ future lives, i.e. resume writing, cover letters, business emails, web-copy, etc.
• Finally, the section on moribund languages made me feel so sad. It was like watching a special on endangered and disappearing animals—- you don’t want it to continue, but you feel helpless to stop it. In fact, helping to preserve it may cause more damage. I was sad not only for the lost of language diversity, but also the loss of culture and perspective. “Preserving a language for a museum-like archive is one step, but the language and the culture it embodies may still become extinct” (203). =(
• Also, having the experience teaching English to individuals who were not literate in their first language presented unique situations. Because of my experience with these students, I was already aware that people with low literacy “hold down jobs, have families, participate in society, pursue hobbies and, crucially, do not see themselves as dependent or needing assistance” (197). I was very happy with the way Baron addressed the issue of low literacy without being demeaning. I think he is completely accurate when he states that in an attempt to raise awareness, literacy campaigns have “creating a public image which stigmatizes people with difficulties” (198).
• “It depends on the social situation, on the value of the language to the speakers, on the motivations for learning to read and write, on the other languages in the area, and on many other things” (201). Motivation is the key to teaching and learning any subject. For me, the discussion of the economic impact of literacy as well as the control of language and power relationships was new and I wish Barton went into more detail. I think these could be hugely motivating factors if these relationships and power factors were more openly discussed and shared with students. Along these lines, it was interesting to know that while many individuals don’t feel “fully literate,” they also “do not see themselves as dependent or needing assistance” (193, 197). Perhaps if discussions of literacy stressed the ties between literacy and economic/power relations, as wells as literacy’s role in enable adults and children “to learn how to learn,” there would be more personal motivation to improve literacy on the students end (212). I always begin a new writing course with a discussion of how the basic skills they learn in the class will impact the students’ future lives, i.e. resume writing, cover letters, business emails, web-copy, etc.
• Finally, the section on moribund languages made me feel so sad. It was like watching a special on endangered and disappearing animals—- you don’t want it to continue, but you feel helpless to stop it. In fact, helping to preserve it may cause more damage. I was sad not only for the lost of language diversity, but also the loss of culture and perspective. “Preserving a language for a museum-like archive is one step, but the language and the culture it embodies may still become extinct” (203). =(
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Facebook and Sexual Health
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created a Facebook page to encourage safer sexual practices. I believe the Facebook page was launched just before Valentine's day this year. According to this NY Times article, this is the most ambitious use of social networking technology that city health officials have used to reach the teenage community. (There is also a MySpace environment for teenagers to discuss mental health and substance abuse issues). I haven't been to the Facebook page yet, so I can't say if it's done well or not... but I thought it was an interesting idea to target teens for an educational purpose and wanted to see what other people in class thought....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/nyregion/12econdom.html?_r=1&ref=health
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/nyregion/12econdom.html?_r=1&ref=health
Monday, February 9, 2009
Language and the Internet- chap 1, 2, 3
• “…that a notion of Netspeak has begun to evolve which is rapidly becoming a part of popular linguistic consciousness, and evoking strong language attitudes” (Crystal, 24). I happen to have one of those strong language attitudes regarding the capital “I” in internet. Having worked for two tech companies as a Marketing Writer, I have struggled with arguing for the lower case option. I use Wired Style as my main reference in support of the lower case "i". http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2004/08/64596 (published in 2004!). I thought it was strange that Crystal devotes a large part of chapter 3 to discussing “Wired Style [as] an experiment in nonlinear networked editing” (Crystal, 69) and makes a sweeping statement that “…but we do write ‘Internet’ and ‘Net’ (Crystal, 3). Ugh!
• My response as an educator to these chapters was peeked in the discussion of the seven broad internet using situations. While I think the list is somewhat outdated (2006), I appreciate the attempt to chunk usage into definable and recognizable categories: “E-mail, Chatgroups (2 types), Virtual worlds, WWW [this is a huge one, isn’t it], Instant messaging, and Blogging, (Crytsal 11 – 15). Defining these categories is moving closer to fulfilling “the need for greater predictability, reliability, and familiarity is something which affects all Internet situations, and also the language which is found there” (Crystal, 18). I think students exposure to these different types of writing, reading, and authoring should be structured. In my experience at a public high school in Boston, students were mainly exposed to authoring centered around 5 paragraph essays for standardized tests. As an ESL teacher, I was conflicted when lessons on postcard writing were structured, but email, blogging, and social networking are left to students to negotiate on their own.
• “Will all users of the Internet present themselves, through their messages, contributions, and pages, with the same kind of graphic orthographic, grammatical, lexical, and discourse features?” (Crystal, 10). I think there is a problem in the logic of this question because traditional print writing does not offer identical practice of these features (especially across genre). I think two issues to address the sameness of these features should be awareness of author (Crystal, 20) and formality. I think, emails with typos are absolutely judge in formal settings (at work) but not in informal (to friends). Although in formal settings, I personally forgive the capitalization errors if I know an email is written from a Blackberry (or some other thumb writing device). I think this should be included in Crystal's quote about the ‘save a keystroke’ principle influencing the tendency to use lower case everywhere. (Crystal, 90). Back to the main point of this bullet, the formality of this blog is much lower than what I would write if I was submitting a paper. Students should have practice mastering when to use different levels of formality and when audience concerns impacts what they write.
• “They are realizing that their established knowledge, which has enabled them to survive and succeed in spoken and written linguistic encounters hitherto, is no longer enough to guarantee survival and success on the Internet” (Crystal, 66). This is absolutely a factor in terms of adult education. In my first corporate experience I was asked to go to all the US offices to train executives on how to write effective electronic copy mainly because they realized they had to correspond intelligently via email and there was no time for a secretary to edit. This fact is making professional writers more and more valuable as members of the corporate world.
• On a fun note, emoticons (Crystal, 39) were invented at CMU (haha): http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2007/summer/happy-25th-emoticon.shtml
• I personally enjoyed footnote 23 on page 94. The text was ““Hay! Odz r he went 2 Radio Hack 4 a nu crys 4 hiz rainbow box!” and footnote 23 was “I don’t understand it either (Crystal, 94).
• My response as an educator to these chapters was peeked in the discussion of the seven broad internet using situations. While I think the list is somewhat outdated (2006), I appreciate the attempt to chunk usage into definable and recognizable categories: “E-mail, Chatgroups (2 types), Virtual worlds, WWW [this is a huge one, isn’t it], Instant messaging, and Blogging, (Crytsal 11 – 15). Defining these categories is moving closer to fulfilling “the need for greater predictability, reliability, and familiarity is something which affects all Internet situations, and also the language which is found there” (Crystal, 18). I think students exposure to these different types of writing, reading, and authoring should be structured. In my experience at a public high school in Boston, students were mainly exposed to authoring centered around 5 paragraph essays for standardized tests. As an ESL teacher, I was conflicted when lessons on postcard writing were structured, but email, blogging, and social networking are left to students to negotiate on their own.
• “Will all users of the Internet present themselves, through their messages, contributions, and pages, with the same kind of graphic orthographic, grammatical, lexical, and discourse features?” (Crystal, 10). I think there is a problem in the logic of this question because traditional print writing does not offer identical practice of these features (especially across genre). I think two issues to address the sameness of these features should be awareness of author (Crystal, 20) and formality. I think, emails with typos are absolutely judge in formal settings (at work) but not in informal (to friends). Although in formal settings, I personally forgive the capitalization errors if I know an email is written from a Blackberry (or some other thumb writing device). I think this should be included in Crystal's quote about the ‘save a keystroke’ principle influencing the tendency to use lower case everywhere. (Crystal, 90). Back to the main point of this bullet, the formality of this blog is much lower than what I would write if I was submitting a paper. Students should have practice mastering when to use different levels of formality and when audience concerns impacts what they write.
• “They are realizing that their established knowledge, which has enabled them to survive and succeed in spoken and written linguistic encounters hitherto, is no longer enough to guarantee survival and success on the Internet” (Crystal, 66). This is absolutely a factor in terms of adult education. In my first corporate experience I was asked to go to all the US offices to train executives on how to write effective electronic copy mainly because they realized they had to correspond intelligently via email and there was no time for a secretary to edit. This fact is making professional writers more and more valuable as members of the corporate world.
• On a fun note, emoticons (Crystal, 39) were invented at CMU (haha): http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/beyond/2007/summer/happy-25th-emoticon.shtml
• I personally enjoyed footnote 23 on page 94. The text was ““Hay! Odz r he went 2 Radio Hack 4 a nu crys 4 hiz rainbow box!” and footnote 23 was “I don’t understand it either (Crystal, 94).
Monday, February 2, 2009
Always On: chap 2
• “Is communication intended for a single person (one-to-one) or for a larger audience (one-to-many)" (pg 14). I think more and more communication is, or should be thought of as, created for a larger audience. Even E-mail and txt messages, traditionally one-to-ones, have the potential to be saved, stored, and shared in ways the author possibly did not intend. For adults— especially adults that did not grow up in this age of increasingly public communications —it has become habit to censor and save. Because it is so easy to self-publish and also easy to unknowingly create a digital history of one-to-one communications, I think skills for effective communication have become more and more important earlier.
• AIM and Skype (pg 18 and 21). I really enjoyed how this chapter went through a list of different communication technologies. The two that stand out in my personal experience are AIM and Skype. Using AIM daily in college to keep in touch with high school friends had a huge impact on improving my spelling. I am a horrible speller by nature, and in high school avoided writing on the board because my spelling embarrassed me. While spell check let me write papers, anytime I wrote unedited it was a nightmare. Essentially, using AIM to talk to my friends was writing on the blackboard everyday, but without the stress. My spelling improved. Moving on to Skype… I’ve used Skype to speak with my boyfriend in Scotland for the last two years (he is in the states now). Without the ability to talk, type, and see each other via Skype, I don’t think our relationship would have worked. This raises an interesting question about how communication technologies change the way we relate on personal levels, for example dating.
• I could be wrong, but I think this is an example of a MUD: http://www.homestarrunner.com/disk4of12.html (Peasant Quest). If I am wrong, at least it’s a fun, old-timey game! This one will be bring you back.
• Finally, I can’t think of Second Life without thinking of this scene from The Office: http://www.hulu.com/watch/15619/the-office-dwights-second-life. On a more serious note, I’m interested in what people think about paying real money for virtual land (pg 23) or other game bonuses. I had friends finance trips to Europe by selling items in MMORPG in college.
• AIM and Skype (pg 18 and 21). I really enjoyed how this chapter went through a list of different communication technologies. The two that stand out in my personal experience are AIM and Skype. Using AIM daily in college to keep in touch with high school friends had a huge impact on improving my spelling. I am a horrible speller by nature, and in high school avoided writing on the board because my spelling embarrassed me. While spell check let me write papers, anytime I wrote unedited it was a nightmare. Essentially, using AIM to talk to my friends was writing on the blackboard everyday, but without the stress. My spelling improved. Moving on to Skype… I’ve used Skype to speak with my boyfriend in Scotland for the last two years (he is in the states now). Without the ability to talk, type, and see each other via Skype, I don’t think our relationship would have worked. This raises an interesting question about how communication technologies change the way we relate on personal levels, for example dating.
• I could be wrong, but I think this is an example of a MUD: http://www.homestarrunner.com/disk4of12.html (Peasant Quest). If I am wrong, at least it’s a fun, old-timey game! This one will be bring you back.
• Finally, I can’t think of Second Life without thinking of this scene from The Office: http://www.hulu.com/watch/15619/the-office-dwights-second-life. On a more serious note, I’m interested in what people think about paying real money for virtual land (pg 23) or other game bonuses. I had friends finance trips to Europe by selling items in MMORPG in college.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Flower
I just saw that Linda Flower is in the optional reading for week 2! She was my prof for several classes at CMU. Small world! My CMU/Pittsburgh pride is overflowing at the moment with the Steelers on their way to the Superbowl... so I thought I'd share this interesting link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ&eurl=http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
A CMU student figured out a way to turn the Wii Nintendo remote into a "smart pointer" for any flat screen surface. Basically, this little gadget turns any projection screen into a "smart board" but for only about 40 bucks. Nice one! His website gives the instructions and the software out for free. Good stuff... and Go Steelers!
A CMU student figured out a way to turn the Wii Nintendo remote into a "smart pointer" for any flat screen surface. Basically, this little gadget turns any projection screen into a "smart board" but for only about 40 bucks. Nice one! His website gives the instructions and the software out for free. Good stuff... and Go Steelers!
Week 1
I saw a woman using the new Sony Digital Book Reader on the train the other night. I have to admit, I was that creepy person leaning to read over her shoulder. It can hold between 80 and 160 full e-books (including graphic novels). Sony claims the new E-ink screen mimics real pages and is easier to read. As I understand it, you can search your collection by author, title, and date. You can save multiple bookmarks in different texts, take notes, copy and highlight, and combine notes from different texts. What does this mean for literacy? I can't imagine that the comfort of waking up and reading a good book in bed will be replaced with this digital format... but it could easily change the notion of what it means to have, or own, a library. I can imagine having all the texts I need for all my class in this one, little, light-weight device. (If all the textbooks and printed articles I've collected over the years were stored this way, it would certainly make moving apartments a lot easier). What will this mean for students? For learning? For authoring? The list goes on. I DO know that once I'm not on a student budget, I certainly want one!
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