Week 6 - Podcasts & Learning Communities

This week we explored tools for creating podcasts and discussed ways to build learning communites to facilitate interaction and critical thinking. With all these tools available, what are the implications for changing the way we work, teach and learn? What is preventing us from such changes? If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change and why?


I can't deny that the advances in technology have had an incredible impact on education (and just about every other aspect of our lives too). Technology in the classroom can be wonderful or terrible, depending on how it's used. In the hands of a skilled user, it can add so much more to a lesson and engage students in ways that were not possible even just a few years ago. But in the hands of someone who is unskilled, technology can distract the students and can sometimes even completely disrupt the lesson. In the past, I've compared technology to a sword. If you use it well, you can vanquish your enemies and accomplish your goals. But if you don't know how to use it and don't know when it's appropriate to use it, you're liable to cut off your own foot or foil your own efforts to get things done.

I guess the biggest beef I have with using technology in the classroom is that I think we sometimes get too caught up in trying to do everything the newest way. We don't always stop to think whether the technology will make the lesson better, or if we're just using it for the sake of using it. We get so caught up in adding the (virtual) lipstick that we forget that it's still a pig we're adding the lipstick to. All the technology in the world won't save a badly planned and executed lesson (or help a bad teacher either). And despite what some may say, I can't imagine that technology will ever fully replace a human teacher. At least, I sure hope it won't!!

That said, we have to learn to master the technology before the technology becomes our master. We should never get to the point where we rely on technology to do our jobs for us. This goes back to what I said about great technology can't save a bad lesson. Technology is not going away; it's too much a part of the fabric of our lives. Our students are tech experts almost from the time they learn to walk and talk. Teachers have to be able to not just co-exist with technology. They have to be able to use it (and use it well) if they hope to have any common ground with their students.

I will definitely be using Web 2.0 technologies like blogs, discussion boards, and possibly podcasts in my English classes. I can see a day when students won't be issued textbooks; instead they'll get a Kindle (or something like it) with all their textbooks loaded onto it.

I think the one thing I would change if I had a magic wand would be to take away the fear of technology some people have. I think that's one of the biggest things holding us back from embracing technology more fully. It's a tool--a powerful one, but still just a tool. Nothing more, nothing less.

Week 5 - Wikis

I haven't started to implement my ideas for my own wiki yet. I'm finding myself a bit overwhelmed with all the choices. It reminds me of back when I was in high school trying to figure out what topic I was going to choose for my annual research paper. I always thought that the selection process was more difficult than the writing and research process.

I think the biggest advantage I see for using wikis is the collaboration aspect. I think a wiki would be ideal for a group project. Members could edit the written text/report, design a visual aid, and post sources. I think the biggest disadvantage is that the information students find on wikis may not be completely accurate, and students don't always realize that. This is an issue that can be dealt with pretty easily, simply by taking a class period to teach students how to critically evaluate a website. I definitely think wikis have potential to engage students. They're not as intimidating as other websites are; the information is presented in small, "bite-sized" bits and layman's terms that are easily understood.

I think the Web 2.0 technologies I'm most interested in exploring are mashups and tagging. Next year, I also plan to use blogging as a tool to help my students practice writing skills as well as interacting with the literary works we'll be reading. (I'm sure I'm much more interested in that than they are!)

Week 4 - e-Portfolios & Assessment

The AFL tenet I focused on was "AFL should recognize the full range of achievements of all learners." I chose that one because TAKS testing is at the forefront of my thoughts these days. My students will be taking the ELA/Reading TAKS test on March 3rd, and I am trying to help them get prepared for it. I have thought for many years that high stakes testing like TAKS is a poor measure of student learning. Two current trends in education today are differentiated instruction and cooperative learning. The TAKS test does not address either of those methods. It does not allow for the fact that some students are not good test takers, or they may be having a bad day the day of the test. I hate the thought of teaching to the test, but how can I not, knowing that my continued employment is partially based on the scores my students get?

As educators, we're constantly told to get our students to use higher order thinking skills--evaluting, creating, and analyzing. But the TAKS test seems to be aimed more at the lower level skills of knowledge and comprehension. It doesn't interest the students, because all they have to do is spit back facts.

I think that formative assessments are a much better way to assess student learning. My students absolutely HATE the TAKS test (and I can't argue with them). Creating a portfolio or some other long term project will engage them in ways that a standardized test never will. When I think back to when I was in high school, I don't remember the tests I took. I remember the projects I worked on, the things I created.

My portfolio will be a showcase for the skills I have learned in class. It will be a tangible representation of the work I put in to the class.

Week 3 - Critical Analysis

I thought the MAPping activity was really enlightening. I did something similar in ETEC 557 over the summer. I think that learning how to evaluate the validity of a website is incredibly important. I’ve been using the Internet for over 10 years, and this past summer was the first time I ever had someone teach me techniques to evaluate the sites I was using.

I did pretty well on the Information Literacy Quiz, but there is still some room to improve. Guess you never know it all, huh? Only one of my educator prep classes was devoted to technology; my other courses barely even mentioned using technology in the classroom. I was very surprised at that, because technology has become such an integral part of our lives. It truly is everywhere you look these days.

I think that it’s extremely important to teach students how to evaluate the websites they are using for research. I’ve watched my students doing online research during class. Often they go for the first link they come across and accept the information they find as verbatim. I remember one student visited a site that was sponsored by a lobbying group. He was completely confused when I asked him if he thought the information was biased. “Why would it be biased?” he asked me. When I explained that the site he was on belonged to a lobbying group that only presented information that supported their position, he was shocked. He truly had no idea how to determine whether or not the sites he was using as sources were credible or not.

I already had an account on Delicious, which I set up after taking ETEC 557. So far, I have only used it to save and retrieve bookmarks. I really like the networking feature. I think it will be a great way to find other sites that have basically been recommended by the folks in my network. I definitely need to spend some time getting my bookmarks organized and categorized. Right now there’s no rhyme or reason to them.