what are students thinking.......

I found this on a blogsite (thethinkingstick.com). It was a quote that was taken from David Warlick). It helped me in relation to my developing ideas on the way students interact with technology, and my arguments for why technology needs to be de-demonised.



"If you have children, who spend a good deal of their time IMing, playing video games, blogging, googling, or other negotiations with technology, put yourselves in their shoes and ask yourself this question. Is it the computer, the game controller, the mobile phone, or PDA that I'm thinking about? or is it the information, the conversation, the negotiation that I'm thinking about. I say it's the conversations, the information. Information is what its all about."


I think that if we approach interactions with technology from this angle, with a focus on the processes that students go though, then not only will it let us see the usage of these technologies in new and more positive ways, but it will also assist us as teachers in our understandings of the skills and scaffolds that we need to be providing our students when we use these technologies in the classroom.

"Connective Writing" - A New Writing Genre

I have decided to try a new form of blogging this week.

One of the books I have been reading, 'Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms' (Richardson, 2006) (see ref list on blog page), has outlined a new writing genre called "connective writing" which blogsites facilitate.

According to the Richardson (2006), this new genre "forces those who do it to read carefully and critically, demands clarity and cogency in its constructions, that is done for a wide audience, and that links to the sources of the ideas expressed." (p. 29)

Connective writing is for the most part, expository writing, but the process starts with reading. Afterall, weblogs originated as sites where people shared links to sites they had viewed and read. In undertaking this form of writing, bloggers read critically because they look for important ideas to write about. As Samuel Johnson famously said, "I hate to read a writer who has written more than he had read."

Some elements of this will be difficult, by virtue of the fact that this blog site is also functioning as my reflective journal for this course, and therefore there are some requirements that need to be fulfilled that may not be connective writing, but whereever possible I will attempt to write in this genre, and provide reflections during the week on how I am finding the process and a learning tool. I am excited about the ways in which it allows to me make and share connections I am making in my research, and provides ways of linking my 'deviations' back to my journey.

What will collaborative technologies mean when our students enter the world of tertiary education?

Although my project is looking at the use of blogs in primary classrooms I keep coming back to the question of what this means for students when they enter tertiary education with its strong reliance on transmission style learning (a constant source of debate between me and my profs).....and then I came across this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-tapscott/the-impending-demise-of-t_b_213702.html

The full article can be found on The Edge site (scroll down a bit on the homepage and you will find it)
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/tapscott09/tapscott09_index.html

In the Classroom, Web Logs Are the New Bulletin Boards

Another article in the New York Times got me thinking about the various ways in which blogs can and are being used in the classrooom:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/technology/circuits/19blog.html?scp=6&sq=blogs%20and%20classrooms&st=cse&pagewanted=all

I found this article especially relevant given that it was about a 2nd grade class.

I have drawn out a few of the most interesting ideas expressed in this article....

"School Web sites are labor-intensive and are left up to administrators and teachers," said Mr. Grunwald, whose consulting firm in Washington focuses on the technology link between home and school. "With blogging intended to be a vehicle for students, the labor is built in. The work that is required to refresh and maintain an interesting blog is being provided by students."

Mr Gunwald predicts that blogs will eventually become a more successful teaching tool than Web sites.

One way teachers say they use blogs is to continue spirited discussions that were cut short or to prolong question-and-answer periods with guest speakers.

"With blogs, class doesn't have to end when the bell rings," said Will Richardson, supervisor of instructional technology and communications at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, N.J., who maintained blogs for two journalism classes he taught last year.

It is exciting to think that blogs allow for the expansion of the learning space beyond the classroom door.

Blogs, Podcasts and Virtual Classrooms

I found this an interesting article in terms of the kinds of things that classroom teachers are doing in the US in terms of using blogs. It was interesting to see the arising conflict between collaborative learning and testing......

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/technology/techspecial3/03ethan.html?scp=1&sq=blogs%20and%20classrooms&st=cse

"If interactivity becomes the fundamental basis of the educational process, how do we judge merit?" asked Robbie McClintock, a learning technologies expert at Teachers College of Columbia University.

The push by some teachers for greater interactivity in the classroom also goes against the current emphasis on testing. Testing requires a known body of material, but interactive learning often involves students' seeking out topics on their own.


Fortunately we don't have the same pressure in NZ primary schools in terms of testing and therefore have greater freedom to use these kinds of collaborative technologies. However, I think it is important to think through the possible concerns you may get from parents about the use of these technologies. It is important to involve parents in the process, and to have a strong set of beliefs and justifications for why you are using these technologies and new forms of literacy in your classroom.

Monday Morning - Week 3

It's scary to think that I have already had 2 weeks on this project. In many ways I feel like I haven't got that far with things. I seem to keep hitting road blocks, or deviations which take up valuable time needed to get me to my final outcome. I took a break over the weekend which I think was helpful for giving me perspective on this project and what is achievable in the time I have.
So.....I am approaching this week with a new attitude. I have learned a few things on reflection so far:
a) it's very easy to take the project vision beyond what it achievable in 5 weeks
b) it is harder to re-focus and make decisions about what 'can' be achieved, especially when you feel like you are having to let go of some of the research 'excitements' in the process
c) roadblocks are all part of inquiry - and some of the best reflecting takes place at these moments when you have to make decisions about 'where to from here?'
d) Inquiry is definitely not a linear process and this can be both frustrating and liberating in terms of the research process
e) Making a list of things to do each day helps me stay focussed and feel like I am getting somewhere (reflecting at the end of the day can help with this too)
f) Some days are frustrating, some days you feel like you have got nowhere, or gone backwards. This is all part of the journey, and tomorrow is always a new day. Learn from it, but don't dwell on it too much.

So this week.....what are my plans?

I would like to continue with my literature reviews/research of blog use in classrooms to gather information to use in my website which I will be building next week. I am unsure at this stage what the different sections will be - but I am trying to keep it open at the moment and just see how much is possible.

I am spending Thursday afternoon at Fendalton school speaking with the Principal and spending time in a classroom talking with students about their class blog site. This is the highlight of this week as it will allow me to see in practice the things I have been reading and thinking about.

I am hoping by the end of the week that I will have had a meeting with one of the profs at tcol about setting up a website. I have spoken with a few different people about different servers that I could use, and just need to see which will best suit my minimal skills and time constraints.

If you were this teacher, how would you respond?