Reply to José Hernández

Reply to Considering Pedablogy 3.0 at cac.ophony.org

Reply to WAC-E Thoughts » Blog Archive » This Week in WAC, January 9th

Kudos also to Kate for her insight.

We’re struggling at my institution with these issues. It’s not always clear how to proceed, but then that lack of clarity is part of the joy (can I call it that?) of taking on the tough problems of teaching and learning. Whick reminds me of John Herschel (1830): “Who the deuce ever did anything worth naming without sacrifice?”

Anyway, I found the the comments of the both of you from an alert by Bloglines. So perhaps it picks up comment changes as well.

The question that keeps running in the back of my mind is whether these technological tools create a richer learning space (which I think they do) that results in the emergence of students better prepared to thrive and make a positive difference in the world (which I think does happen). Although I wrote a paper on the subject — Connect, Communicate, Learn (http://jmsdrgn.squarespace.com/storage/Connect Communicate Learn.pdf) — I continue to think that most evidence in support of these technological tools is anecdotal.

We lack, at my instituion, the resources to conduct institutional research and the sorts of pre- and post-diagnostic studies I observed at, for example, Baruch. Perhaps you know of studies that address the hypotheses mentioned above.

You may also find How to Use Computers and the Internet in Daily Transactions (http://jmsdrgn.squarespace.com/storage/How to Use Computers and the Internet in Daily Transactions.pdf) of interest in the context of this discussion.

Ray Kurzweil also makes for a good read on this subject.

I’m happy we live in interessting times.

Jim

Reply to James Drogan

Oh and, by the way, you can be alerted of new comments to any post using RSS. There’s a link to an RSS feed for comments in the footer — just scroll down all the way.

Reply to Mikhail

One idea is to use the blog as a space where students can respond to the reading they’re doing in class, and interact (to some degree) with one another about that reading. Another idea is to have students “bring” reading from news articles online, other blogs, etc. to your class blog. Blogging, after all, is all about linking out and having a wider conversation. Either/both of these approaches could suit your four goals listed above.

Of course, as Jim notes, the blog entry itself can be one-sided. Commenters like Jim may never read this posting again. (I would argue that students in a class could reasonably be expected to subscribe to and read all the course’s blog entries and all the resulting comments. Or not. But the point is that students in a class can, if there’s a good reason for it, be asked to do things the general public won’t!)

On the other hand, that one-sidedness comes from the fact that the blog writer has primacy over the commenters (in a way a writer in a threaded discussion board doesn’t.) And I think that that can be good for students, if they have something to write about. It can give them confidence. It can–but does not need to–also lead to more polished writing than some forms of online communication (IMs and discussion boards come to mind). I am not saying that blog writing should be high-stakes writing, but it can go some way towards providing a space for students to write (semi-)publicly, and that can be a good practice.

I am not trying to sell blogging. It is a highly versatile medium, and can be used in horrible ways as well as mundane ones, and wonderful ones. (And of course, whatever we plan to do with students may end up having quite different effects due to class chemistry, individual student goals and needs, etc.) I would suggest looking at as many course blogs as possible. I did this about a year ago while preparing for a seminar teaching teachers to blog. (I did it just by googling relevant search terms, “course blog,” college, and terms representing individual subjects.) The range of ways blogs were used was very wide. Some seemed to be vehicles for professorial lectures and announcements (with students asking brief questions in the comments), and others were communities where students wrote to each other about what they were reading (this is the model I am personally drawn to). Other courses had a blog for each student, and they linked to one another and commented on one another. Looking at blogs also gives you some ideas about how professors are intending the blog to fit into the course, their goals and requiements, etc.

Reply to Kate

As an aside, a few years ago, I filled out a faculty survey of suggested readings for a new edition of W of R. One of them was the first chapter of Deleuze and Guattari’s Anti-Oedipus, a notoriously difficult and, I’d say obscurantist, theoretical work. I’m glad theyt didn’t include it as I think it would be a nightmare to teach but the point, I think, is that the selection of readings is in W of R is underwritten by the idea that students will be able to meet any expectation and challenge if provided the right tools.

Reply to Mikhail

Prof. Karl Lang at Baruch uses blogs extensively in his MIS Honors Courses and they seem to work well. Perhaps it worth a visit with him to get his views on the matter.

I’ve been using some sort of course management system in all my college courses since the spring term of 2002. This experience has led me to look at the student more so than the tool. Teachnology toolsare useful to students who 1.) have the desire to learn, and 2.) have the self-disicipline to manage their resources effectively, and 3.) have a comfort for technology.

One dimension of the learning experience is the student-tool couplet. Perhaps, in this case, we sometimes focus too much on the tool.

Blogs, and I may be showing some naivety here, seem to me to be somewhat one-sided when it comes to conversation. Take the present case.

I’m reading your post not because I went to cac.ophony.org to see what was new, but because bloglines alerted mt there was a new post. No doubt you will be alerted by cac.ophony.org that I have posted a comment. I’m not sure I will be alerted if you comment on my comment. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be coming back to this spot on a daily basis to check whether you have. Hence, my concern about the one-sidedness.

Which leads me to wikis as possible teaching tool.

Which leads me to the line from a Grateful Dead song; “Where did the time go.”

Regards,

Jim

Reply to James Drogan