Okay, I really hate to admit this...but my ole buddy Keen helped me this last week. Actually, he helped me to look at some things differently, maybe. Well, I guess the whole point of us looking at Shirky and Keen was to consider different perspectives. Like Jay...er Dr. Pfaffman said, sometimes it is good to read perspectives like this so that you know how other people may view certain topics. This helps one to be better equipped to work with people with various views...or least help them to see both sides of the debate if you will.
To give you some background for those that do not know. I am currently instructing a section of IT486, which is an introduction to using technology in the K-12 classroom. It is a lot of fun for me helping these future teachers learn about various ways to incorporate technology tools into the classroom. I see myself as someone who is there to help enable them to use the technology...to know what it is and how to use it. It is not for me to convince them to use it, but rather how to use it and how current teachers use it. Then it is up for them to determine which tools work for their subject and grade, etc.
What has surprised me at times is that these teacher education students (mainly under 30 years old) are sometimes skeptics when it comes to using things like blogs and wikis in the classroom. I was thinking that these are digital immigrants that are used to using things like MySpace and Facebook, or at lease using blogs and discussion boards, and they will be open to using modern technology approaches to education. Not so fast! Many are very open and like the thought of using things like blogs and wikis. However, there are some that aren't so sure it is a good idea. Interestingly, it is the English teachers that are the most skeptical and they are the ones that I would have thought would have been the most fired up about using tools that might encourage more writing participation from students.
It seems that some fit the mold of those that entered teaching because they liked things the way it is/was (we have discussed this many times in grad courses) and some have had it "drilled into them" by professors with similar views of Mr. Keen. As I have read their comments and reflections about using blogs in the classroom, I am seeing this Keen view more and more. So after, reflecting on Keen and Dr. Pfaffman's comments about reading such books I began to look at things differently. Not that I was swayed to that perspective, but maybe better equipped to respond to it.
Therefore, this week as I responded to posts where the students (my English ones again) were venting about how they would not use blogs in their classroom and that maybe blogs even should not ever be used in a classroom, I tried to respond more openly. Rather than debate their point or give a "tit for tat" reply, I simply thanked them for their candid and honest expression and told them I was not going to try to convince them that it was a good idea. I told them I only wanted them to know how to set up a blog and how to use it. That my goal with all of the technology tools that we learned about in the course would be that they know what it is and how to use it. I then explained that after being exposed to all of the tools available, it would be their decision as to which tools they used and how they used them in their classroom.
However, I did encourage them to investigate how current teachers were using them and the effects that were being observed. I then exposed them to one such teacher that had recently emailed me about using blogs and wikis in her classroom. Mrs. Trefz, a 5th grade teacher, sent me this comment in an email,
"I must say that I have seen a huge difference in my students' motivation to learn since we have begun posting on the blog and wiki. It gives writing a real purpose and I am seeing them revise and edit without the reminders. They know that the world is watching and they want to make a great impression. Great grammar and writing habits are being created and reinforced without the extra push that I once had to give."
To see Mrs. Trefz's 5th grade blog go to http://trefz.blogspot.com/ and to see the class wiki go to http://pdsenglish5.pbwiki.com/
I will keep you posted on how things work on out...
I once tried to get English teachers, who had already lost their students for 5 days of the year to go to the computer lab, to send some in-class writing assignment for the kids to do while they were there.
ReplyDeleteThey explained that writing on a computer was not in-class writing. And, if the test is how well they can write with a pencil, I suppose they were right.
2 sides of the coin:
ReplyDeleteSide 1: This technology is great. It gives the students a world stage and the students begin to care because someone other than the teacher is going to look at their work. "Who cares what the stinking English teacher thinks about how I write. I'm a great writer in my own mind" doesn't work when you have to blog.
Side 2: What about penmanship? There are more skills than just grammer at stake when you have to write with pencil on paper. Paper doesn't have spell checker. It doesn't make your letters nice and neat. At this time, not every form you fill out is on a computer and you need to be able to write legiably to fill out job applications and forms at the Drs. Office. Blogging takes away from traditional writing which helps build and re-enforce skills such as spelling, formatting, and penmenship.