One laptop per child

August 3, 2006 By Leave a Comment

one laptop per child laptop prototype

This may not seem immediately relevant to us, as college educators, but with any luck it will be. And sooner than you think.

Many of you have heard about Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child idea.

This is their Wiki.

This is the FAQ. This is a link to recent press stories (via the Wiki).

The non-profit group is trying to get 100 million brand-new $100 laptops in the hands of the world’s children soon. Very soon–with shipping to begin as early as the end of this year. The crank-powered computers will be networked together, so they will be able to communicate even in areas where there’s no good internet access. (Thank goodness they run on cranks and not our dwindling power supplies, eh?)

Why is this so revolutionary? Well, think of the world in 5-10 years, when those kids are ready to work. Think of the exponential rise in literacy–both text literacies and tech literacies. Think of 100 million kids who can program in the code the computers will be using. Think of 100 million kids who can type and get their messages out. This could change the world more quickly than any other educational development ever. It’s exciting.

Now, besides and beyond the issues surrounding the actual laptops getting into the actual kids’ hands… what needs to happen to make this wonderful new world happen? What pitfalls do you see?

Filed Under: Asides, Interpersonal Communication, Literacy, Resources, Technology, What if . . .

Alan Liu’s draft policy statement on student use of Wikipedia in research

July 6, 2006 By 6 Comments

Yes, sorry, I am posting about Wikipedia again. But I thought I would solicit your thoughts on Alan Liu’s draft policy statement on student use of Wikipedia (via Kairosnews). It has also been picked up by the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Wired Campus.

What do you think?

Filed Under: Pedagogy, Resources, Wikis

When I Was A Kid…

June 8, 2006 By 2 Comments

…I didn’t realize my family was special for having one of the early Commodore 64 home computers. I also didn’t realize how fortunate I would later feel at having learned a little Basic (the programming language), and how to touch-type when I was eleven. But today’s kids–whoo! I’m envious.

As reported in the New York Times today, we now have Arts and Crafts for the Digital Age. The German Science Studies theorist Friedrich Kittler has argued that one of the problems with the way most people currently interface with technology is that it is entirely at the level of software. The average person knows very little about their computer’s hardware, and is possibly quite frightened by it. We tend to assume it’s very powerful, and easily damageable. But with the PicoCricket Kit, designed by Mitchell Resnick (assistant professor of learning research at the MIT Media Lab), any child who can afford this $250 toy can begin to interact with digital technologies as both hardware and software. They can learn to program the small computer that comes along with the pipe cleaners, the legos, the electric wiring, and the felt.

The Vex Robot, from InnovationFirst (a robotics company) and Radioshack, is also mentioned. The article quotes a vice-president at InnovationFirst, “Talk to the average high school students, they are a lot smarter…They like open-ended problems, and a lot like to take the tools that are available to solve open-ended problems.” Not mentioned in the article is technoartist Natalie Jeremijenko, who has worked with high school and university students to reprogram robotic dogs made by Sony. These newly ‘feral dogs,’ so named for their street-smart capabilities, are able to sniff out toxic waste such as dry cleaning solvents and paint thinner. Robots… the next critical thinking tool?

When I was a kid, my mother bought my sister and I Erector Sets, in the hopes that we would become engineers. Maybe I’ll just have to save up for the PicoCricket Kit.

Filed Under: Resources, Technology, What if . . .

Little Gems

March 31, 2006 By 1 Comment

A colleague recently introduced me to a little gem — a small out of print Strunk & White type book that has the advantages of being small and not being Strunk & White. (Not that there is anything wrong with S&W, of course). The Golden Book on Writing by David Lambuth is yet another writing handbook which appeals to the word geek in me. There is something concise and gentle about this book and I would recommend it to anyone fortunate enough to find a copy.

I do wonder about writing handbooks, however. Like I said, there is something in me that enjoys reading about writing and putting a sentence together. (There is also something in me that is never quite sure how to use a comma and am always up for a refresher course.) But do students like these books? Do they actually read them? The ones like Keys for Writers which are less “talky” and more like manuals seem like they might be kind of complicated for undergraduates. And S&W and Elbow seem to require students to actually take the time to read them. I wonder how helpful others have found these books. I also wonder if anyone else out there knows of any little gems I might enjoy.

Filed Under: Language, Literacy, Resources

Student Self-evaluation

March 6, 2006 By 2 Comments

Does anyone have experience with having students evaluate their own drafts of papers? I think it’s important to get students to start thinking of their own work in critical and evaluative terms, to see that is not just an authority saying, “you should do this; it would be better if you could make it like this.” etc.

Last semester I developed a form with the following fields:

This essay is about ____

It’s main argument is ___

It is based on the following readings ___

The main strengths of this essay are ____

Is the argument well developed? How so or how not? ___

Explain how this essay is logical. Explain how this essay could be more clear ___

How can this essay be improved? ____

The intention was to have students start thinking in this way BEFORE coming to see a writing consultant. However, none of the students who were given this form last semester came to see me. Does anyone have feedback on the usefulness or limitations of my handout?

Filed Under: Assessment, Resources

writely.com, anyone?

February 22, 2006 By 1 Comment

Have any of you tried using Writely? It’s a site where you can share the writing and editing of documents, collaboratively. Teachers are beginning to use it as a space where students can write a document together, or do peer review. It would be useful for faculty who are co-authoring, too. Registration is free and takes two minutes. You can create documents there, or upload and download them in various formats (Word and others).

Filed Under: Group Composing, Peer Review, Resources, Technology

What’s in a format?

December 5, 2005 By 2 Comments

When I was an undergraduate, I used to think that the teachers who insisted that we stick to a certain format (for biblio, notes, etc.) were just bores and had nothing better to do with their time. Now, when I’ve read a few “freely-formatted” student’s reports and papers, I realize how distracting, unprofessional and confusing it may be.
I know that there are all kinds of printed guides for each style, but I didn’t want to tell my students that they need to buy them and read through the whole thing. So, with the help of Google, I found a site by Diana Hacker that presents MLA, APA, Chicago and CPE formats quite clearly and conveniently. It allowed me to make a quick resume of the relevant format for students, and I also referred them to this site, in case they have more specific issues. I must admit, I didn’t do a very extensive search, so there might be a better source with formatting guidelines out there. So, if anyone knows about it, feel free to share :o )

Filed Under: Resources

Teachers and Writers Collaborative

November 28, 2005 By 2 Comments

Have any of you heard of the organization Teachers & Writers Collaborative? I was just looking at their site and it looks like they have good information and a smart program. Their basic premise is that professional writers can offer writing teachers innovative pedagogical tools. They offer workshops, publish books, have a resource library and center, and run the online forum WriteNet. Most these tools are aimed at teaching K-12, but some of their ideas seem valuable for undergraduate teaching. This approach is similar to one that many college theatre programs take — hiring professional practitioners to teach students — and I know some college writing programs do this as well. Has anyone ever used their books or resources, or do you know more about this organization?

Filed Under: Pedagogy, Resources
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