Final+Examination

Mindy Clawson W. Merrill EDU 653 2 March 2011 It’s No Longer a Spider’s Web

“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown” (Shinn).

We live in a world that is swirling with technology. Most of us can still remember a time when technology did not have such a demanding presence in our everyday lives. We can recall when individual technologies were developed and introduced over time. Our current students, however, were born into the digital age. They do not know a world where instant messaging, texting, and social networking did not exist. Our students live in a world where smiley faces have been turned sideways :-) and where “LOL” does not mean “lots of love”. They can spend hours at home chatting with their friends, even though they never see each others’ faces or hear each others’ voices. When a teacher says, “Take out a calculator,” many students will grab for their cell phones. We have students that have never used a card catalogue at the library. Our students do not think of a book when they hear the word “text”, nor do they think of spiders when they hear the word “web”.

There used to be a world where people would write personalized letters to their friends, but now they merely update their status. That world, however, is long gone! Though integrating technology into your classroom can involve both pros and cons, it’s usually best to be a bit of a risk-taker and dare to take a different approach. Here are some ideas for integrating technology into English and history classrooms for high school (alternative education), along with the pros and cons of each.

**__Blogs__:** There are many pros to using blogs in the classroom. My students often do warm-up activities where they are asked to respond to a prompt, question, or quote. Typically, the prompt is related to what students are currently reading (the plot or themes) or the prompts are to get students thinking about the big ideas of something that they are about to read. Blogs are a great way to get students writing about what they are writing and students love to type whenever they can get the chance. My students, for example, finished a Life Skills unit last semester. They had to create resumes and practice answering interview questions. I also had them blogging on Weebly about related topics. One topic was, “If a friend of yours had an important job interview next week, what three pieces of advice would you give them and why?” Blogs also make it so that students can read the ideas and opinions of their classmates and respond to each other. By “using only first names of students, or even pseudonyms” (Richardson 46), the identity of students is protected and it can even boost self-confidence for them to share their true opinions.

Blogs can also be tricky. Depending on your classroom setting, teacher management can get to be a bit much. My current alternative education high school students had a difficult time being mature when we first started blogging. I had the blog set up so that they could post their response and it would immediately pop up on the page. That way, students were able to write their initial posting and then read other responses as they popped up. They were asked to respond to at least two other postings. The conversation and ideas that were going back and forth was great because it was fresh on their minds. A few students could not handle it, unfortunately, and posted inappropriate things. A couple of kids made up fake names and posted some content that had bad language and involved name-calling to another classmate. The expectations about respect and appropriateness were clear because we had gone over all of that ahead of time. The problem continued and so unfortunately, I had to change the settings so that all posts had to be reviewed and “okayed” by me first. I found that it took a lot of time and then students were not able to respond to others right away and their thoughts were not as fresh when we went back to it on a later day.

**__Wikis, Google Docs, & Collaborative Editing:__** Wikis are great for planning a project. Students can create a wiki and sign in to add ideas and edit lists of information, even from home. It would teach students to work together and stay organized. If students were put in groups, they can make the expectations clear as far as what student is in charge of what part of the project. They can divvy up tasks and what materials need to be gathered. Wikis can also be used for collaborative editing (peer editing and proofreading). Students could be put into small groups, each having their own wiki. If the class was writing an essay, the teacher could have students post their introduction first. Each group could go through and make changes and post suggestions in a different color. Each of the group members could put their edits in a different color so that the author of the piece would know which classmate made what suggestion. A great tool for teachers is that Wikispaces “also has a ‘History’ tab where you can view all of the changes to any page and who made them” (Richardson 67). This way a teacher could access each student and the effort that they put in. Wikis can be created through Wikispaces or through Google Docs. The great thing about using Google Docs in school is that with the many blocked websites on school servers, Google is one that our district is able to access!

In my current setting, using wikis from home for planning projects or for doing peer editing would be difficult to achieve. Many of our students do not have computers or internet at home and many of them do not even live at home. We have a large number of students that float around from living with different relatives and friends. They might stay in three different places in one week, including staying in their car overnight at times. Any project planning or editing (in fact, any homework at all) is usually done at school with our population.

**__Wikipedia:__** Wikipedia definitely has its uses in a classroom, though the uses should be limited. I allow my students to use Wikipedia as a stepping-stone to other (and more reliable) sources. For example, when my students were doing some research on Lois Lowry, the author of the current novel we’re reading, I allow students to write down names of people and places that are associated with her and then they can further research those items. They basically go there to get ideas if they choose, but they cannot take information directly from there or cite it as a source. It gives teachers a good opportunity to teach a lesson about finding reliable sources.

With most teachers, Wikipedia is something that also sets off red flags. You never really know if the information is accurate, so it’s best to not use is as a primary source. It is suggested that “teachers should spend some time checking Wikipedia’s accuracy on their own” (Richardson 59), which could be very time consuming. Time is a precious thing that most teachers do not have much to spare, so I find it best to not take the chance.

**__RSS & Social Bookmarking:__** The great thing about RSS feeds and social bookmarking, is that teachers and students can subscribe (or tag) to the topics that they love to read about and find it all in one place. At my school, I could have my students subscribe to websites that would give them a daily quote or daily poem. Those could be used as inspiration for writing prompts. Students could also subscribe to the individuals for our classroom blog. They could also get RSS feeds to a “This Day In History” website that would give them a significant fact or event in history for each day of the week. RSS feeds are also great for doing research, as it would be “kind of like doing research 24/7, only the RSS feed does all the work” (Richardson 79). As a teacher, I have RSS feeds for helpful teaching websites, such as quotes, writing prompts, and grammar tips. With social bookmarking, students can tag the sites that they frequently visit and can easily access those sites at any computer. This way, students do not have to remember the URL for each site, as they’d all be in once place. Any organizational tool that our students can get their hands on, the better.

Again, my group of students would be at a disadvantage for using computers outside of school. As it is, our program has only 10 computers that students can use. There are about 20 students per class, so they would have to pair up and take turns checking their live feeds on their reader. I suppose I could split each class into two sessions: with half of the students doing an activity on one side of the classroom and the other half reading their RSS feeds (and writing a response/reflection to what they read). The students could switch sides half way through class.

**__Twitter:__** Twitter is something that I have not yet used in the classroom. It seems as though it would make you “feel more a part of the larger conversation, more part of the community” (Richardson 87). I can see how it would be great to tweet daily grammar tips, quotes, or “this day in history” facts. They could be more personal too, such as comments that would inspire students to read. I could see myself tweeting something like, “Just picked up //Gathering Blue// and //Messenger//. Can’t wait to read them and see if they tie in to //The Giver// !” Tweeting could also be good reminders for important events in the classroom, such as “Don’t forget your history test on Wednesday! Study up!” As a teacher, I could also follow other English teachers and get tips about good books and resources.

I do not see many negative aspects for working with Twitter in the classroom. There could be some students that would feel left out, as not all of my students have cell phones. Of course they could check their tweets online, but again, computer access is an issue for all of them outside of school. If they can afford cell phones, I could see many of my current group of students not wanting educational tweets from me – especially on their dime.

**__Flickr & Digital Storytelling:__** Flickr is a great website to use to teach students about Creative Commons licensing. Students could search for images to use as creative writing prompts. For example, I have used different photographs and had students write a creative story or poem, inspired by the image. Once I used a photograph of a park bench with two people sitting on opposite ends. One student wrote about how it was a couple that had just gotten in an argument and so the woman moved down to the opposite end. Another student wrote about how they were strangers, but were about to meet. One student wrote that one was a person and the other was a guardian angel and was invisible to the human eye. Flickr can also be used for digital storytelling. When students can tell their own story with images, it opens many creative doors for learning. I am thinking of having my students summarize the events from //The Giver// in a digital story or have them express the importance of some of the themes. From a teaching aspect, I have created two digital stories about Greek gods and “The Odyssey”. I have shared these with students and have gotten good feedback from them. They said that images, along with the story, help them to remember the events in the story. A good safety option that Flickr offers is that it “does allow for the creation of private groups where you and your students…can work in your own space” (Richardson 103).

The bad thing about Flickr is that it is blocked from our server. I would love our students to be able to search for images and choose Creative Commons ones to use, but we do not have the capabilities to do so.

**__Screencasts, Podcasts & Video Blogs (Vlogs):__** Any time a teacher can record something that is directly related to his/her class content, the better. It’s not always easy to find a video that someone else created that works exactly how you’d like it to. Over the summer, I created a screencast about Lulu that I plan to show to students in the future (whenever I teach Creative Writing again). Sometimes when teaching, I’ll find a website that students find a bit confusing. It’s nice to walk them through the steps as to what they are supposed to do when they get to the site. This way, students can listen and watch close up as you walk them through these steps. The text for this course suggests that “With your students, you could ask them to annotate their work in voice as they show it on screen” (Richardson 123). Podcasts are great for listening to instructions by the teacher about a project or important assignment. Some students do better with hearing instructions, rather than just reading them off of a page. Also, if students lose the instructions, they could go to the website and hear them. Vlogs are similar to podcasts, though it has a video element attached. Merely listening to the teacher explain a project, a video with a teacher’s gestures might help some of them in understanding the expectations.

Screencasts, Podcasts, and Vlogs take some time for the teacher to create. Many teachers are pressed for time and may feel that they don’t have what it takes to create these resources for their students to use. Teachers have to remember, however, that once they are created, you can use them over and over in upcoming years.

**__Facebook & Instant Messaging:__** A classroom Facebook page, along with the instant messaging option, could be a great way for students, parents, and teachers to be in the loop on classroom assignments and upcoming events. If I had a classroom Facebook page, I would encourage all of my students and parents to join. I could post important tips, reminders, and links that are related to the class, such as: “Don’t forget, presentations begin on Monday!” or “Check out this website for a refresher on MLA formatting”. I could also post questions about the reading as well, such as “For Jonas, what is the Capacity to See Beyond?” Some posts can be directed at parents: “Parent-Teacher Conferences are November 17-19 from 3-7pm. Hope to see you there!” Students could IM each other about questions that they have about the reading or for organizing group projects.

Facebook is something that many people frown upon, especially if it involves students and teachers. A friend of mine had a classroom Facebook page for her Biology class and ended up having to take it down because an inappropriate virtual argument broke out on the page. A group of students ganged up on one student in class and did some name calling. Unfortunately, a parent saw it before the teacher did, so it was hours before it could be taken down. Facebook is blocked from our school’s server, so the teacher was not able to access it to make the proper adjustments until she got home from work that evening (and the online incident had happened the night before). If having a classroom Facebook page, it makes the teacher responsible for the content and activities that take place on the page. My friend had a difficult time keeping the focus on school and their class. Students continued posting things that were totally unrelated to her Biology class, such as “Go Huskies! Beat the Panthers! This Friday, 7pm, be there everybody!” As far as instant messaging goes, it is highly unlikely that most students would use it for educational purposes. They would probably just chat away about the latest school gossip, but those elements are out of our control. Despite the apparent challenges of Facebook and instant messaging, “no teacher should be denied exploration of a technology that with good pedagogy could be a valuable learning tool” (Richardson 134).

**__Skype:__** Skype is a great way to connect our classrooms with other learning environments around the world. Using Skype could help students learn about culture from other teachers and other students. Teachers could also hold parent-teacher conferences face-to-face with parents that were unable to attend the regular conference hours. As mentioned earlier, I recently had my students doing a Life Skills project where they created a resume and studied interview questions. Skype can be used “whether you have students conducting interviews or your class is interviewed, [as] Skype facilitates the interview process. Individual students can interview other teachers or school staff, sending the Skype feed to the classroom for all to watch” (TeachingDegree 1).

Having the proper equipment, such as computers, software, internet, cameras, and microphones might not be easy for all students and parents to access. In fact, it is not easy for all teachers to access these resources for their school.

**__Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality:__** Augmented Reality and Virutal reality are way up there in the technology field. Students can be placed in environments or have environments put in the palm of their hand for learning, rather than reading about them out of a textbook. How great would it be as a teacher to be able to place your students on the stage of the Globe Theater in a virtual environment, rather than just looking at pictures from their anthology as we read about Shakespeare’s plays? How awesome would it be for a medical student to be able to hold a virtual human heart in their hands? As far as statistics go, “A report titled //Harnessing the Power of Videogames for Learning// from the 2006 Summit on Educational Games by the Federation of American Scientists found that: ‘Students remember only 10 percent of what they read; 20 percent of what they hear; 30 percent if they see visuals related to what they hear; 50 percent if they watch someone do something while explaining it; but almost 90 percent if they do the job themselves, even if only as a simulation’” (IBM 1).

The only con to this kinds of hands-on learning is that the cost, equipment, and teacher training is so far from what most school’s are capable of handling right now, especially in this economy. I’m excited to see advances in these areas and how they will be integrated into every day classrooms as time progresses.

**__Lulu:__** Lulu is a self-publishing website that can work great for creative writing and art classes (or both). I’ve had my students work with Lulu in the past. Students in my Creative Writing class were writing poems and passing them on to art students in the building. The art students were reading the poems and drawing pieces that were inspired by the poems. It can work the other way around too. Students can write poems, which are inspired by pieces of art. All of those can then be published in a book. Students can put together a design team to come up with the overall look and design of the book, including making a title. This would be a great way for students to practice their editing and proofreading skills as well. Knowing that their work will be published can also amp up the effort that is put forth by students. You can, “ask the kids to do their very best because their writing was headed for publication. We all know that real audiences make a difference” (Moulton 1).

Cost would definitely be a contributing factor that would work against using Lulu in the classroom. Though you can create digital books, having a printed copy in your hand is something to be proud of. It would not be fair if some families can afford to buy the finished product, but others would not be able to. My current classroom setting has students that live on their own and pay their own bills. They bounce from place to place and extra money is not available. Perhaps some kind of a fund-raiser could be done or the project could get a local company sponsor to help cover the costs.

**__YouTube:__** YouTube is a wonderful tool to be used in the classroom. There are videos for all sorts of educational purposes. I had a Mac computer that I used at our high school last year. Because it was a Mac, it was not able to be hooked up to our network. I was able to access YouTube and show my students short videos on the Great Depression when we were reading Of Mice and Men. I would love to be able to show my students snippets of videos. I could show them haiku poems for English class and History Channel videos. YouTube, for example, “lists an ever-growing collection of excellent educational content, everything from President Obama's weekly addresses to algebraic demonstrations” (Hillner 1).

Unfortunately, YouTube is blocked from our school’s server, like many other websites. The district blocks many sites that they see as having potential inappropriate material or things that might distract students from their studies. It is very frustrating to have a tool in your hand and not be able to use it in the classroom! Many of our teachers are starting buzz about having our district allow access to YouTube. Hopefully, it’ll go through!

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In the end, our students are looking for the fastest, easiest, and most efficient way of finding information and communicating with others. Let’s not forget the importance of convenience either. By the time we see students in the classroom, their brains are already wired to learn, experience, and process information – digitally. It is the world that they were born into and it is the world that they live in outside of school. It seems as though getting our hands on resources will be our greatest challenge as teachers, but it’s a challenge that we must embrace. If the setup is available, the “web” is one of the greatest tools we can use to open up the world to our students. In the end, if a teacher’s lessons, activities, and overall approach to teaching are not designed with elements of technology, it would be like to trying to open a locked door without a key.

**Works Cited**

Boinodiris, Phaedra. “Serious Games for Smarter Skills: The Future of Learning”. IBM. 2011.  http://www-01.ibm.com/software/solutions/soa/newsletter/oct09/article_seriousgames.html

Hillner, Jennifer. “Use Online Video in Your Classroom”. Edutopia. August 2009. http://www.edutopia.org/youtube-educational-videos-classroom

Moulton, Jim. “Publishing Student Writing – And Your Own”. Edutopia. March 2009. http://www.edutopia.org/self-publishing-student-writing

Richardson, Will. __Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms__. Ed. 3. Corwin, 2010.

Shinn, George. QuoteLady. “Risk-Taking”. December 2011. @http://www.quotelady.com/subjects/risk.html

TeachingDegree. “50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom”. 2011. @http://www.teachingdegree.org/2009/06/30/50-awesome-ways-to-use-skype-in-the-classroom/