What? The fun is over already?
I, like many of us, started this class with some trepidation. I initially could not adapt to a world where reasonable articulate adults are expected to banter using terms like "blog" "widget""gadget" "Wiki" and not expect others to believe we are listing characters from Star Wars. As we waded more deeply into this territory, I know many of us became less vaguely amused and hit a low as the entirety of the digital universe crashed over us. With Keri's life-saving skills, however, most of us have escaped the riptide and can now swim (or at least dog-paddle) in these high-tech waters.
I now have to admit, that although I do NOT completely buy Richardson's entire sales job that technology is always the BEST vehicle for every aspect of education, I do see many practical and doable uses for technology.
Final Cranky Digs at Richardson
I still resent Richardson's myopic statements that imply that it took blogs or WIKIs to discover things like "Big Shift 4: Teaching is Conversation Not Lecture". Socrates played around a little with the concept a year or two before Mr. Richardson's Read/Write web came along. Even post-Read/Write web -- it is still possible to engage students and have a conversation in which participants actually HEAR and SEE each other to converse--without the wall of a screen and keyboard intervening. There is still plenty of room in education for actual, not virtual, conversation. Students still need to learn to interact in an environment where folks have to navigate the rules of civil discourse--listening and speaking in REAL time.
Or "Shift 6: Readers are No Longer Just Readers"---This is NOT a shift--I can't imagine a single teacher who EVER thought that reading to the end of the page was ever the point of our teaching. Technology did not invent reading for many purposes.
As for "Shift 10: Contribution, not completion, as the Ultimate Goal"--let's just hope Richardson's disciples aren't the ones merely contributing to that incomplete MCAS or college essay or future novel--or that incomplete calculation that causes the next generation car or space shuttle to crash--or that incomplete scientific study that MIGHT result in an ALMOST cure, or ALMOST death...
Proficiency in collaboration can NOT be the endpoint of education.
But a Change is Gonna Come
With that last cranky dig, I will end by saying I have found myself changed by some of the content in the book, and by the ideas we have collaboratively learned and explored. I, like a reformed smoker, now find myself preaching to others to accept that the teaching landscape has changed because of the web. Much of the change offers creative, compelling, teaching vehicles to engage kids who were born into this landscape.
Who Was that Masked Man at Comic-Con?
I actually heard myself telling a college roommate about RSS feeds this past weekend, and I am excited about screencasting, photopeach, WIKI's, and yes, even the freedom of blogging. During a review of basic genres in ELA today, I, the naysayer and skeptic, suggested that in addition to Fiction, Non-fiction, drama, poetry, and folktale--a future class might be learning that BLOGS are a singular division of literature--a genre all their own.
This all makes me feel a little like I have gone over to the AV club side of the world-but heck, I never was one of the cool kids anyway. (And I actually was the only middle school girl in AV club.) I am not going to take up Dungeons and Dragons (honestly--I NEVER did the Dungeons And Dragons thing--as uncool as I was) or attend the next Comic Con, but the "fast and easy"web Richardson describes is a little faster and easier to navigate and comprehend than it was in September.
I hope NEVER to get so sucked in that I actually know about and use the more than 200 different addresses that devotees of all things techie have posted as sharing options on the Comic Con site. OK--so now that you are techie too, I dare you NOT to click on the link that follows and TRY NOT to count the addresses and see how many you actually recognize the way I did a few minutes ago...There's Twitter and Delicious and Digo and Thinkfinity and Tumblr and Yuuby and Zingme.....
check out the more than 200 options for sharing to link to the Comic Con site://www.comic-con.org/cci/
What, you didn't get sucked in and look? Now I'm embarrassed for myself. I'm turning Richardsonian....
I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Chapter 9: Social Networks Facebook, Ning, Connectins, and Communities
As many of my colleagues have noted, Facebook in school is a minefield I do not think we are ready for. I think our role in the near future will be more to teach students a little about how to be safe on Facebook and be aware of "digital citizenship" risks.
It would be helpful for us to explain things like "tagging" and the fact that others can post a picture of you doing something inappropriate tagging you (not that a hypothetical college age offspring has ever had this issue --just thinking hypothetically here.)
Or maybe you post and your cool aunt who you DID friend on Facebook sees the picture of the party the police "visited" that the entire campus seemed to attend (even though you are clever enough to set privacy screens for Mom's access.) This is certainly not anything that anyone related to me who will be looking for employment in the spring would do.
Or maybe we can warn students not to post photos of the pet kept in the no pet apartment---as Richardson might say, the possibilities are endless. If you do not have your own example of poor choices in the social network, feel free to use my hypothetical kid. Academic prowess does not necessarily signify digital common sense. We may not use Facebook and other social networks for class collaboration, but we can teach a few common sense lessons.
It would be helpful for us to explain things like "tagging" and the fact that others can post a picture of you doing something inappropriate tagging you (not that a hypothetical college age offspring has ever had this issue --just thinking hypothetically here.)
Or maybe you post and your cool aunt who you DID friend on Facebook sees the picture of the party the police "visited" that the entire campus seemed to attend (even though you are clever enough to set privacy screens for Mom's access.) This is certainly not anything that anyone related to me who will be looking for employment in the spring would do.
Or maybe we can warn students not to post photos of the pet kept in the no pet apartment---as Richardson might say, the possibilities are endless. If you do not have your own example of poor choices in the social network, feel free to use my hypothetical kid. Academic prowess does not necessarily signify digital common sense. We may not use Facebook and other social networks for class collaboration, but we can teach a few common sense lessons.
Chapter 7: Fun with Flickr
Yeah--I did these out of order so Chapter 8 came before Chapter 7. Sue me--I teach ELA not math.
There are lots of possibilities for using visuals in ELA. I have already posted some student drawings using photopeach as a mini-writing prompt. The kids enjoyed the "celebrating" of student work, as Richardson puts it. We stress the need for good writers to create pictures with words, so pictoral writing prompts give students the chance to zoom in and out and take time to really examine a prompt and find interesting details before writing.
Kids have already also used photo sites to find connections to help illustrate vocabulary words. A caution I would issue kids, however, is that just because Flickr is free, kids may still post photos that have inappropriate content. I also fear kids spending an inappropriate amount of time wading through photos and missing the point of the assignment. Again, the time-sucking addictive factor could work against education and not for it. The idea of Flickr having more than one million photos of clouds alone, which Richardson sees as a positive, I find a little too much like the Imelda Marcos Shoe closet-
(younger readers may not get the allusion--think about a rapper adding to his collection of bling just because he can.)
Find out about Imelda Marcos's shoes!
It was enough for Joni Mitchel to "look at clouds from BOTH sides" now. Sometimes it is easier to focus and more instructive to limit the options.
The issues concerning rights to photos had frustrated me. I will check into Flickr. I found another site, http://www.morguefile.com which also has free photos and you don't need to belong to anything just to grab photos. Prezi took me hours to get right. Photopeach was much simpler to use.
There are lots of possibilities for using visuals in ELA. I have already posted some student drawings using photopeach as a mini-writing prompt. The kids enjoyed the "celebrating" of student work, as Richardson puts it. We stress the need for good writers to create pictures with words, so pictoral writing prompts give students the chance to zoom in and out and take time to really examine a prompt and find interesting details before writing.
Kids have already also used photo sites to find connections to help illustrate vocabulary words. A caution I would issue kids, however, is that just because Flickr is free, kids may still post photos that have inappropriate content. I also fear kids spending an inappropriate amount of time wading through photos and missing the point of the assignment. Again, the time-sucking addictive factor could work against education and not for it. The idea of Flickr having more than one million photos of clouds alone, which Richardson sees as a positive, I find a little too much like the Imelda Marcos Shoe closet-
(younger readers may not get the allusion--think about a rapper adding to his collection of bling just because he can.)
Find out about Imelda Marcos's shoes!
It was enough for Joni Mitchel to "look at clouds from BOTH sides" now. Sometimes it is easier to focus and more instructive to limit the options.
The issues concerning rights to photos had frustrated me. I will check into Flickr. I found another site, http://www.morguefile.com which also has free photos and you don't need to belong to anything just to grab photos. Prezi took me hours to get right. Photopeach was much simpler to use.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Chapter 8: Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming, and Trout Fishing and Roller Derby....
Have you noticed that Richardson has trouble differentiating between chapter titles and indexes? But I digress...
I actually look forward to trying to use some of these tools. Thanks to Keri, I have done a screencast on how to develop sensory language in writing that got the wheels turning about the many mini-lessons I have given 5 times a day and repeated several times each year. I now imagine my library of screen casts using kids' sample text to show
(OK-I know I need to keep these instructional but its 11 p.m. and hallucinations are setting in.) I see myself sitting back, hitting "press-to- play," and blissfully grading essays while my cherubs sit riveted to a virtual me!
Screencasting was much less complex than I had imagined. I see it as an amazing tool for classes, for cross-house anchor lessons, and for kids who are out. I do some read alouds, and this might help--so long as I could do 5 minute segments.
As a former college radio enthusiast, I nostalgically read about the idea of DIY podcast radio--kids LOVE the radio station at Exchange City so there might be some way to tap into that--but it will take some work to figure it out. Richardson does not directly address the issue of how music can be broadcast without violating copyright laws or paying the BMI fees or other licensing fees that I remember having to pay to run the college station. But that is for another year.
I actually look forward to trying to use some of these tools. Thanks to Keri, I have done a screencast on how to develop sensory language in writing that got the wheels turning about the many mini-lessons I have given 5 times a day and repeated several times each year. I now imagine my library of screen casts using kids' sample text to show
- "Revising to Strengthen Verbs"
- "Figuring In Some Figurative Language"
- "Setting the Mood--Pictures and Music in Words"
- "Liking Linking Verbs"
- "Abstract Nouns for Concrete Kids"
- "Editing for Dummies"
- "Quotation Marks for Clods"
- "Do-you-Wanna-Dialogue?"
- "Time-out for Teachers" ---
(OK-I know I need to keep these instructional but its 11 p.m. and hallucinations are setting in.) I see myself sitting back, hitting "press-to- play," and blissfully grading essays while my cherubs sit riveted to a virtual me!
Screencasting was much less complex than I had imagined. I see it as an amazing tool for classes, for cross-house anchor lessons, and for kids who are out. I do some read alouds, and this might help--so long as I could do 5 minute segments.
As a former college radio enthusiast, I nostalgically read about the idea of DIY podcast radio--kids LOVE the radio station at Exchange City so there might be some way to tap into that--but it will take some work to figure it out. Richardson does not directly address the issue of how music can be broadcast without violating copyright laws or paying the BMI fees or other licensing fees that I remember having to pay to run the college station. But that is for another year.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Chapter 6: The Social Web-Learning Together
I have long wondered what on earth Twitter IS. (It has confounded me a little like the mystifying "Head-On" ad campaign of a few years ago. ) I signed up for a Twitter account and decided to follow sites as varied as 60 Minutes, Scott Brown, Barack Obama, ...OK, not very varied. This is far short of the 150 people that Richardson seems to have no trouble following--combining "professional and personal" links into "such a cool tool." (86) REALLY--150 collaborators is a PERSONAL network? I can hear Amy Poehler's incredulous tone repeating this at the newsdesk of SNL.
Once again--this must be a generational definition of personal. I kind of doubt the extent of the true "professionalism" of all members as well.
Crankiness aside, I was surprised to learn that Twitter can be more than quick and dirty "Haiku conversation." Anyway, I was surprised to learn that the 140 characters --(not even letters?) is really often just the first line of a longer-actually informative resource. The Twitter feed for many of the organizations I signed up to follow led to more traditional press releases--in blog form of course. The Obama twitter feeds were not, as I had expected, updates on whether Bo poohed, or whether Malia has a new-- BFF. Twitter me to longer policy statements on the economy, environment, energy, foreign policy etc. --All of which I had no time to read and just bookmarked for later.
Unfortunately, just as with RSS feeds, since opening the Twitter account a week ago, I had not "followed" my 5 new "friends" much--OK--not at all. Heck, I don't even pick up when my brother calls sometimes and I actually find him amusing and informative. So I went in and checked to see if maybe I could be a matacognitive collaborator with Chad Ochocinco. I read in the artifact of an earlier age, The Boston Globe, that Ochocinco's jillianth Twitter follower and will win around a million dollars for becoming that PARTICULAR close friend. When I checked to see if it was time to retire in comfort, I did find some very useful stories had run on 60 Minutes and these could be sent to students with Diigo accounts if I had kids doing that. Maybe in a few years.
I also checked on my Top Tweets feed and found that Justin Bieber is hogs an obscene amount of space at the Twitter summit. If our students wrote this much some would surpass the number of characters they currently use in the MCAS long comp.
Once again--this must be a generational definition of personal. I kind of doubt the extent of the true "professionalism" of all members as well.
Crankiness aside, I was surprised to learn that Twitter can be more than quick and dirty "Haiku conversation." Anyway, I was surprised to learn that the 140 characters --(not even letters?) is really often just the first line of a longer-actually informative resource. The Twitter feed for many of the organizations I signed up to follow led to more traditional press releases--in blog form of course. The Obama twitter feeds were not, as I had expected, updates on whether Bo poohed, or whether Malia has a new-- BFF. Twitter me to longer policy statements on the economy, environment, energy, foreign policy etc. --All of which I had no time to read and just bookmarked for later.
Unfortunately, just as with RSS feeds, since opening the Twitter account a week ago, I had not "followed" my 5 new "friends" much--OK--not at all. Heck, I don't even pick up when my brother calls sometimes and I actually find him amusing and informative. So I went in and checked to see if maybe I could be a matacognitive collaborator with Chad Ochocinco. I read in the artifact of an earlier age, The Boston Globe, that Ochocinco's jillianth Twitter follower and will win around a million dollars for becoming that PARTICULAR close friend. When I checked to see if it was time to retire in comfort, I did find some very useful stories had run on 60 Minutes and these could be sent to students with Diigo accounts if I had kids doing that. Maybe in a few years.
I also checked on my Top Tweets feed and found that Justin Bieber is hogs an obscene amount of space at the Twitter summit. If our students wrote this much some would surpass the number of characters they currently use in the MCAS long comp.
Chapter 5: RSS -the New Killer App for Educators
Again a title with the Billy Mayes style hype!!! In theory, the idea of RSS feeds to somehow narrow the universe sites to review is welcome. It has not exactly been a "killer" advantage for me as an educator, yet, however. In class, when we set up a few RSS subscriptions, I added some of the news sources I trust and review in hard copy form. I have NOT looked at a single RSS file, however. It is currently MORE time-consuming for me to log in and wade through the inbox--not to mention then deleting items--than to do my more conventional flipping through morning papers, and spending a little recreational reading time on the weekends. I recognize that younger folks may not consume print material as recreation. If I add to my current ration of screen time, I will resemble a modern version of a victim of Pompeii--frozen for eternity in carpel tunnel hell.
Where the RSS feed might help, is in narrowing the BING or GOOGLE-wide search I often struggle with when I seek the digital copy of the great piece I stumbled serendipitously across in my newspaper or magazine. It may also be a generational thing, but I swear A LOT when I have an article in hard copy right in front of me and then insert source, date, and author into the search engine and NOTHING remotely like the article I seek pops up.
A case in point--I found a clever quote from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on Internet commentary in the most recent issue of Time. When I went into the Time website to search Oct, 24, Verbatim column, Jeff Tweedy and other combinations, the quote did NOT come up! Ok --I only searched for about 3 minutes, --but it was still quicker to just retype it. The quote may be safely warehoused with what Richardson tells us is the "sum of all human knowledge" but that tidbit is buried at the bottom of some very small box.
Where the RSS feed might help, is in narrowing the BING or GOOGLE-wide search I often struggle with when I seek the digital copy of the great piece I stumbled serendipitously across in my newspaper or magazine. It may also be a generational thing, but I swear A LOT when I have an article in hard copy right in front of me and then insert source, date, and author into the search engine and NOTHING remotely like the article I seek pops up.
A case in point--I found a clever quote from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on Internet commentary in the most recent issue of Time. When I went into the Time website to search Oct, 24, Verbatim column, Jeff Tweedy and other combinations, the quote did NOT come up! Ok --I only searched for about 3 minutes, --but it was still quicker to just retype it. The quote may be safely warehoused with what Richardson tells us is the "sum of all human knowledge" but that tidbit is buried at the bottom of some very small box.
Chapter 4: WIKIs-Easy collaboration for all
Once again I am gobsmacked by Richardson's hyperbole. The word "easy" in the title must refer to the difference between setting up a WIKI and getting a book contract with a major publisher--or professionally writing, editing, graphic designing, and publishing, or maybe building a Tsunami blocking machine--or a fix for the economy.... I have written newsletters, company magazines, brochures etc. and worked with a large staff of people with different areas of expertise and it took us weeks to put out a quality product. A WIKI is quicker and easier to produce than that, but is a whole different level of communication.
With that said, I am a big fan of WIKIs as a quickER way to disseminate organized and searchable resources for students. Wikipedia is a great example of a warehouse of information--but it is still daunting to plow through to get to the right box of content. I am often criticized for putting TOO MUCH info on line on teacherweb. A major challenge is finding an organizational structure that is user friendly to present volumes of resources that can help a motivated kid. The WIKI spaces tool we are using in this course is light years ahead of WIKIs I tried a few years ago. The WIKI now allows better graphics, and separate pages that hold formats that chunk material into usable pieces. The WIKI we create in this course makes the sort of info we posted on teacherweb much more user friendly.
The 20 hours of work I spent designing and converting info to a WIKI-friendy format were NOT spent in EASE. I would not likely have dug in and done it, at the expense of grading, (or maybe getting my nails done!) were it not for the push from this course. It will also NOT update itself. EASY is not really the word I would have chosen to describe this effort, but I do think the result will be welcomed and USED more by my students than the Teacherweb version.
With that said, I am a big fan of WIKIs as a quickER way to disseminate organized and searchable resources for students. Wikipedia is a great example of a warehouse of information--but it is still daunting to plow through to get to the right box of content. I am often criticized for putting TOO MUCH info on line on teacherweb. A major challenge is finding an organizational structure that is user friendly to present volumes of resources that can help a motivated kid. The WIKI spaces tool we are using in this course is light years ahead of WIKIs I tried a few years ago. The WIKI now allows better graphics, and separate pages that hold formats that chunk material into usable pieces. The WIKI we create in this course makes the sort of info we posted on teacherweb much more user friendly.
The 20 hours of work I spent designing and converting info to a WIKI-friendy format were NOT spent in EASE. I would not likely have dug in and done it, at the expense of grading, (or maybe getting my nails done!) were it not for the push from this course. It will also NOT update itself. EASY is not really the word I would have chosen to describe this effort, but I do think the result will be welcomed and USED more by my students than the Teacherweb version.
Chapter 3: Weblogs Get Started
Short, sweet and collaborative:
This chapter is interesting in that Richardson gives a narrow definition of blogging as ALWAYS collaborative. I would assume the world of WIKI style free-blogging is continually self-defining--a little like the Occupy Wall Street voices. Under his definition, however, blogging is to be interactive and entries must be short. This is a plus for the classroom, where short, clear summations could help students help each other focus more sharply on items of significance--a difficult and developing skill for middle-schoolers.
Finding middle-school blogs with content that is well phrased, non-repetitive, and insightful, is difficult.
I expect it may be difficult to get kids to subscribe to Richardson's definition of a REAL blog as a metacognitive, interactive exploration of ideas. I assume that kids are more familiar with blogging and tweeting celebrities. Recent publicity about Scott Brown's site employing an intern who carelessly plagiarized an Elizabeth Dole site shows one of negatives of a writing form that is left to young people, basically self-published with little supervision, and spewed out rapidly. Many legitimate writers post interesting and well written content, followed by something less than sharp "metacognition."
In Time this week, Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy is quoted making the following comment on web discourse in an interview with Magnet magazine: '"Look at this beautiful kitten." "F*** you, that kitten's a socialist." "You're a f**." Basically that's the crux of all Internet discussion."
I look forward to trying to elevate the level of kids comments by requiring kids to respond to each other and build on each other's ideas. The problems I assume they will have are similar to the challenges we in this course face. It is hard to find time to READ comments, write comments, and do all the OTHER work required for school. I will not blame my students for taking the blog assignment as a quick thing to check-off, rather than as a Socratic dialogue.
I intend to post questions that THEY develop, in the hope of them buying into this a little more. I have a suggestion box for quotations that kids would explore and respond to and about 3 kids have submitted ideas to post to spark discussion. I did this a couple of years ago and it inspired a handful of kids to respond, occasionally to each other.
I will run 5 separate blogs--rather than one question posted and commented on by all sections at once as I did the last time I tried this. Perhaps limiting the comments to a group of 25 will produce less repetition than what I got with the question open to all 120 kids at once. I did not grade to encourage participation--but making it extra credit only resulted in my hearing from the same subgroup of mostly overachievers. I am anxious to see if this the couple of years of increasing Internet savvy among kids changes the complexion of the discussions.
This chapter is interesting in that Richardson gives a narrow definition of blogging as ALWAYS collaborative. I would assume the world of WIKI style free-blogging is continually self-defining--a little like the Occupy Wall Street voices. Under his definition, however, blogging is to be interactive and entries must be short. This is a plus for the classroom, where short, clear summations could help students help each other focus more sharply on items of significance--a difficult and developing skill for middle-schoolers.
Finding middle-school blogs with content that is well phrased, non-repetitive, and insightful, is difficult.
I expect it may be difficult to get kids to subscribe to Richardson's definition of a REAL blog as a metacognitive, interactive exploration of ideas. I assume that kids are more familiar with blogging and tweeting celebrities. Recent publicity about Scott Brown's site employing an intern who carelessly plagiarized an Elizabeth Dole site shows one of negatives of a writing form that is left to young people, basically self-published with little supervision, and spewed out rapidly. Many legitimate writers post interesting and well written content, followed by something less than sharp "metacognition."
In Time this week, Wilco singer Jeff Tweedy is quoted making the following comment on web discourse in an interview with Magnet magazine: '"Look at this beautiful kitten." "F*** you, that kitten's a socialist." "You're a f**." Basically that's the crux of all Internet discussion."
I look forward to trying to elevate the level of kids comments by requiring kids to respond to each other and build on each other's ideas. The problems I assume they will have are similar to the challenges we in this course face. It is hard to find time to READ comments, write comments, and do all the OTHER work required for school. I will not blame my students for taking the blog assignment as a quick thing to check-off, rather than as a Socratic dialogue.
I intend to post questions that THEY develop, in the hope of them buying into this a little more. I have a suggestion box for quotations that kids would explore and respond to and about 3 kids have submitted ideas to post to spark discussion. I did this a couple of years ago and it inspired a handful of kids to respond, occasionally to each other.
I will run 5 separate blogs--rather than one question posted and commented on by all sections at once as I did the last time I tried this. Perhaps limiting the comments to a group of 25 will produce less repetition than what I got with the question open to all 120 kids at once. I did not grade to encourage participation--but making it extra credit only resulted in my hearing from the same subgroup of mostly overachievers. I am anxious to see if this the couple of years of increasing Internet savvy among kids changes the complexion of the discussions.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Chapter 2: Weblogs
In the spirit of weblogging, can some collaborator please tell me how to italicize just the title of the text in the blog title description box?
I have more experience with WIKIs than blogs, and was a little confused to see the blog described by Richardson as the place to post assignments. I had always thought of it primarily as a tool for dialogue. I like the idea, stated on p. 22, that posting everything allows "transparency" --so that not only students, but administrators, parents, and colleagues alike can see how instruction is scaffolded. When I first started using a WIKI to post class notes and handouts I designed, I feared parents or maybe an administrator or two, clicking on and then commenting about my pedagogy. Instead, (except for a few parents who say I give too MUCH information and they don't like to read it all) I have actually found the transparency helpful in defending my compliance with IEPs that ask for copies of teacher notes or extra copies of work. It has also helped when a parent or student has suggested that I did not model or give clear directions--the administration has been able to click on the documents and sample work posted to see that kids DID have ample documentation. There is almost no he said/she said.
I was confused about the quote from the University of Connecticut Professor on page 29 which states that because of new technology "we read online as authors and we write online as readers". For one thing, there is nothing new about the idea that we read to write and write to read--the internet did not CREATE that symbiosis.
Richardson also contends that blogging will somehow improve upon the accuracy of information because "even the N.Y. Times can get it horribly wrong." This statement, with no reference to what, speifically the Times purportedly messed up on, is what annoys me as I read. The writing is often rambling and incoherent--a little like a screen shot of a bunch of blogs bound and printed. He throws out statements such as "writing is thesis, blogging is synthesis". Blogging can be even more monologue than previous vehicles for writing. ANYONE can get into print and run off about anything for pages and pages. Kind of like I am doing. No pubisher in his right mind would pay me to write this drivel. The synthesis assumes SOMEONE will read--not skim-- but actually read and consider the ideas in a blog. Maybe someone will respond, but it is not a dialogue unless someone is following. And it is more often "juxtoposition" --a postioning of a bunch of monologues near each other--than synthesis, which implies making meaning out of melding ideas.
Blogs that exist beyond what Richarson derisively dismisses as the "contirved purposes of the classroom"(31) tend to attract readers with similiar interests and viewpoints. Not unlike talk radio, bloggers tend to applaud and augment each other's existing world view. The NPR audience is unlikely to call in to Sean Hannity, and the Limbaugh fan is not frequenting POTUS. Blogging is as likely as any past vehicle of communication to be a gathering place for validating an already predetermined view.
Most Blogging is more like the meeting of the minds at separate lunch room tables, than a classroom discussion where even kids who don't like each other or who don't like to talk to each other have to hear each other out. There is no physcial button to cut off the human conversation as quickly as closing a screen or just scrolling by ends a virtual conversation.
I DO agree that the Internet DOES allow fast fact checking to potentially control dissemination of poor information. When the Birthers spread their FACTS about the President's citizenship, there may, I assume, have been comment to the contrary posted by the legion of everyday "editors." This did not, however, STOP the dissemination of nonsense--or ever reach Donald Trump.
I used the power of the internet search to look up the date of the Samuel Johnson quote Richardson juxtoposes with a bunch of other points that have no clear connection. Richardson suggests that Johnson once wrote or said, "I hate to read a writer who has written more than he has read" (30). After checking the first page and a half of google responses to my query about the origin of this quotation, the only place I could find this quote was in blogs referencing Richardson quoting Johnson.
Blogs--with their work in progress nature--invite quick posts without footnotes and careful editing. Indeed, in an article in the NY TIMES magazine Barbara Horowiz notes that digital publishing is leaving out the footnotes she painstaking adds to her writing.
NY TIMES article on digital death of fact-checkable citations
I DID, however, find a pithy Johnson quote that seemed even more appropriate to the subject of blogging. Johnson wrote, "What is written without effort is, in general, read without pleasure."
I found this quote in a number of sources, so I am assuming it is correct. BUT the internet is utimately no more reliable than a bunch of bad print sources. Bloggers can gleefully quote the same faulty source, the way writers once spread the gospel of phrenology. It is a giant 21st century game of telephone--with the power to exponentially spread viruses of half truths.
A GOOD blog, like a good book, requires a thesis--a point. Just because something is digital, high-tech, and collaborative, does not mean our students will somehow magically begin listening to each other or critically thinking. Anyone who has ever worked on a committee knows that collaboration is no guarantee of quality or clarity. Note the cacaphony of collaborative voices rising from the "Occupy Wall St. movement. We can throw our students into more souped-up vehicles, but the kids' brains and motivation are still required for the thought to get out of the parking lot. Fallible humans, not machines, are the drivers. We can use the power of the pen (mouse?) to change the world for the better or crash and burn at warp speed.
Technology is a tool, not the end point. I like lots of the new tools--and think some are soon to be obsolete toys. Heck, I even got a grant for extra bells and whistles to make my ELMO document camera more interactive. While I have used and will probably continue to use innovations--(my work day now extends hours into a rational person's dinnertime because I do find value in time spent getting lessons and resources out through web channels) --I am insulted at the tone of books like Richardson's. I read his text and hear echoes of Billy Mayes hawking Oxylean.
I have more experience with WIKIs than blogs, and was a little confused to see the blog described by Richardson as the place to post assignments. I had always thought of it primarily as a tool for dialogue. I like the idea, stated on p. 22, that posting everything allows "transparency" --so that not only students, but administrators, parents, and colleagues alike can see how instruction is scaffolded. When I first started using a WIKI to post class notes and handouts I designed, I feared parents or maybe an administrator or two, clicking on and then commenting about my pedagogy. Instead, (except for a few parents who say I give too MUCH information and they don't like to read it all) I have actually found the transparency helpful in defending my compliance with IEPs that ask for copies of teacher notes or extra copies of work. It has also helped when a parent or student has suggested that I did not model or give clear directions--the administration has been able to click on the documents and sample work posted to see that kids DID have ample documentation. There is almost no he said/she said.
I was confused about the quote from the University of Connecticut Professor on page 29 which states that because of new technology "we read online as authors and we write online as readers". For one thing, there is nothing new about the idea that we read to write and write to read--the internet did not CREATE that symbiosis.
Richardson also contends that blogging will somehow improve upon the accuracy of information because "even the N.Y. Times can get it horribly wrong." This statement, with no reference to what, speifically the Times purportedly messed up on, is what annoys me as I read. The writing is often rambling and incoherent--a little like a screen shot of a bunch of blogs bound and printed. He throws out statements such as "writing is thesis, blogging is synthesis". Blogging can be even more monologue than previous vehicles for writing. ANYONE can get into print and run off about anything for pages and pages. Kind of like I am doing. No pubisher in his right mind would pay me to write this drivel. The synthesis assumes SOMEONE will read--not skim-- but actually read and consider the ideas in a blog. Maybe someone will respond, but it is not a dialogue unless someone is following. And it is more often "juxtoposition" --a postioning of a bunch of monologues near each other--than synthesis, which implies making meaning out of melding ideas.
Blogs that exist beyond what Richarson derisively dismisses as the "contirved purposes of the classroom"(31) tend to attract readers with similiar interests and viewpoints. Not unlike talk radio, bloggers tend to applaud and augment each other's existing world view. The NPR audience is unlikely to call in to Sean Hannity, and the Limbaugh fan is not frequenting POTUS. Blogging is as likely as any past vehicle of communication to be a gathering place for validating an already predetermined view.
Most Blogging is more like the meeting of the minds at separate lunch room tables, than a classroom discussion where even kids who don't like each other or who don't like to talk to each other have to hear each other out. There is no physcial button to cut off the human conversation as quickly as closing a screen or just scrolling by ends a virtual conversation.
I DO agree that the Internet DOES allow fast fact checking to potentially control dissemination of poor information. When the Birthers spread their FACTS about the President's citizenship, there may, I assume, have been comment to the contrary posted by the legion of everyday "editors." This did not, however, STOP the dissemination of nonsense--or ever reach Donald Trump.
I used the power of the internet search to look up the date of the Samuel Johnson quote Richardson juxtoposes with a bunch of other points that have no clear connection. Richardson suggests that Johnson once wrote or said, "I hate to read a writer who has written more than he has read" (30). After checking the first page and a half of google responses to my query about the origin of this quotation, the only place I could find this quote was in blogs referencing Richardson quoting Johnson.
Blogs--with their work in progress nature--invite quick posts without footnotes and careful editing. Indeed, in an article in the NY TIMES magazine Barbara Horowiz notes that digital publishing is leaving out the footnotes she painstaking adds to her writing.
NY TIMES article on digital death of fact-checkable citations
I DID, however, find a pithy Johnson quote that seemed even more appropriate to the subject of blogging. Johnson wrote, "What is written without effort is, in general, read without pleasure."
I found this quote in a number of sources, so I am assuming it is correct. BUT the internet is utimately no more reliable than a bunch of bad print sources. Bloggers can gleefully quote the same faulty source, the way writers once spread the gospel of phrenology. It is a giant 21st century game of telephone--with the power to exponentially spread viruses of half truths.
A GOOD blog, like a good book, requires a thesis--a point. Just because something is digital, high-tech, and collaborative, does not mean our students will somehow magically begin listening to each other or critically thinking. Anyone who has ever worked on a committee knows that collaboration is no guarantee of quality or clarity. Note the cacaphony of collaborative voices rising from the "Occupy Wall St. movement. We can throw our students into more souped-up vehicles, but the kids' brains and motivation are still required for the thought to get out of the parking lot. Fallible humans, not machines, are the drivers. We can use the power of the pen (mouse?) to change the world for the better or crash and burn at warp speed.
Technology is a tool, not the end point. I like lots of the new tools--and think some are soon to be obsolete toys. Heck, I even got a grant for extra bells and whistles to make my ELMO document camera more interactive. While I have used and will probably continue to use innovations--(my work day now extends hours into a rational person's dinnertime because I do find value in time spent getting lessons and resources out through web channels) --I am insulted at the tone of books like Richardson's. I read his text and hear echoes of Billy Mayes hawking Oxylean.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Chapter one notes
You can lead a horse to water….
The READ/WRITE web offers plenty of exciting educational options and enrichment, but as I read Richardson’s opening chapter, I kept thinking that it all seems a little like communism—a Utopian theory that doesn’t mesh with current realities and human nature. There is plenty of great enriching content, but getting kids to find and choose that content, and actually engage it thoughtfully is no different on the web than in a library or the classroom.
My greatest fear is that the amount of time we put into creating that content, or even links to that content, sucks too much from the extremely limited time we have to do our jobs. I spend anywhere from one to three hours almost daily on my teacherweb site—so I see utility in the web. Some students use it well, but I question myself almost daily about whether I am getting the most bang for the buck. Would the motivated students who seek out and use the web content do equally well without it because they are motivated? What about the kids who never access the content –no matter how many bells and whistles are attached to it—precisely because it is school related and therefore not worth an extra click even when they are already logged on.?
Web value—quantity over quality?
While Richardson does attempt to balance his praise for the possibilities of the web with mention of some of the downsides, I have an Orwellian queasy stomach about quality vs quantity issues he does not directly address. He notes, for example that the Read/Write web has created millions of amateur editors, researchers, and reporters and is a “clearinghouse” of “published facts and photos.” I agree that it is a clearinghouse, but it is also a giant store house with a lot of refuse to wade through to get to the treasure. Just because there is a picture doesn’t create “FACT”. The “amateur fact-checkers” he promotes all have biases. The corrections can come from giant corporations, politicians, drunk college students and “crazy Aunt Martha’s”. Students are particularly susceptible to thinking that the first “fact” they find is the best one and that anything printed or in picture form, must be true. As someone who took a sharp left out of a potential journalism career, I am acutely aware of the talents required to produce the highest quality of tightly edited, professionally fact-checked news and commentary. Even with all the vetting options Richardson suggests, it is asking a lot of undeveloped middle school minds to sort through the trash for the treasure.
The Social Learning – more social than learning?
The social learning opportunities Richardson notes are many. I agree that some kids who don’t participate in class discussion might comment on a blog somewhat anonymously. The one year I did blogging, however, I found the majority of participants were kids who spoke up in class anyway. I also found that the one or two lines students entered tended to just parrot each other. The very ease of comment and the short format encourages participation more than focused thinking or digging deeper into a topic. Where there was deep thought, the entries prompted almost jeering from other students. The need not to appear to be an “egghead” outweighs most other considerations for my age students, whether it is on-line in out loud in class. It may actually have been a little more pronounced on-line—since being “smart” is more accepted as the role some students are expected to play comfortably in class. Kids seem to be fine letting “Sarah Smarty-Pants” carry the load in class discussion, but not in the more proletariat web world. The blogging encouraged participation and typing, but not necessarily focused, precise thinking and writing.
Being Published Can Create Delusions of Competency
I believe that posting and sharing work makes the creative experience more authentic, but I also see a downside. Kids (and many parents) often come to see the fact that something is self-published or has “followers” means that it is good. When I gave a student a low grade on a poetry project that required applying specific kinds of figurative language, a parent countered that the student was “published on the web" so I clearly do not know good poetry when I see it.
The delusion that self-publishing equates with quality is pervasive and scary. Students who publish their “novels” are certainly getting practice with words and ideas, but because there is no editing or vetting before publishing, many consider themselves accomplished writers with nothing left to learn Kids do not need to prewrite or revise or be original or insightful, or remotely interesting to self-publish. I have had a few of these kids and their parents suggest my teaching the trivial niceties of the craft of effective writing is superfluous for their prodigies. After all, if I knew anything about writing, maybe I’d have published too!
But is the real value of the READ/Write Web more about the writer than the reader?
As I finish, I realize I have spent almost two hours on this single post---chopping out random musings, editing to focus more on the chapter, correcting word choice and syntax, and I STILL would never hand this rambling,-thinking- out- loud in as a formal paper. Yet I am about to press publish. Perhaps my issues with the web are the same reasons I do not try to write a novel—I know enough to know that very little of what is written is truly worth reading and sharing.
The process of writing this has served ME, however. It has helped me understand and explore some of the concepts and realities we will embrace in this course. Maybe that is the value in WEB writing. I fear and suspect that I have likely just repeated similar observations and insights of others. I purposely did not read other postings on the chapter first so I could develop my own conclusions about the material first. Perhaps I will find some validation in the SHARED nature of similar conclusions. Perhaps I will be disappointed that I really have nothing new to say that was worth anyone else’s precious time!
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