Poet Ponders the Digital

Online composition and participation are always a requirement in the courses I teach. When I began teaching at Fresno State as a graduate student in 2004, I was one of the few instructors who required students use Blackboard on a weekly basis. I believe there are several reasons to use tools like Blackboard / WebVista: Students can read and respond to the thoughts of their classmates. I have a record of how writing (and thinking) improve during a semester Peer editing can occur online, in small groups. Students less vocal in class discussions tend to participate more online. Normally, I post a " Weekly Response Question/Topic " based on class discussions during the week. Students can then extend the in-class discussion online. Those who were unable to speak up during the class have time to reflect and post their thoughts, too. By requiring every student to post at least 50 to 100 words a week, they soon engage each other in discussion. I always use threaded discussions...

You must read Podcasting News if you are interested in podcasts! The New York Times has NYTimes Podcasts covering almost every area of interest. For anyone and everyone, podcast.net is a directory of professional and amateur podcasts. Unfortunately, many podcasts come and go too quickly and the directory links to some ghost sites. For October 30, 2007, we were instructed: In your blog: listen to some podcasts and analyze different aspects of the production quality of these podcasts; then, reflect on ways that you could use writing to create podcasts or coursecasts; brainstorm some ideas for creating your own podcast: an interview, presentation... I am a fan of Internet Radio, podcasting, and pretty much all things resembling "radio" in any form. For November 6, we have been asked to create a podcast of some form, and I certainly don't see a problem creating a theatrical production of some sort. Podcasting has the convenience that most Web tools lack. A podcast ...

For October 16, 2007... Blog post: Add a YackPack plugin to your PBwiki (click on plug-ins) and try it out. Sign-up for tappedin.org (http://ti2.sri.com/tappedin/index.jsp) and explore its features for online chat (see how it was used at Hillcrest High School: http://www.slideshare.net/sbgaddy/hillcrest-high-school-21st-century-project-student-products). Reflect on how you might use tappenin.org or other discussion sites (WebCT/Vista, Moodle, Drupal) or tools (IM’ing, etc.) or virtual/game sites (Second City, etc.) for online discussion. I gave up trying plug-ins with OS X and Safari, which I think might happen in many educational settings. I just don't have the energy to manually link and setup so many items, even though I have done so with images and other elements in PBwki. As with Google Docs and other "Web 2.0" items not supporting Apple's browser at this time, I generally won't sacrifice my system to another browser. (FireFox is the only major alternativ...

I know excuses are inexcusable, and being even a week or two off schedule bothers me. But, the last few weeks have been miserable. New Glasses . I've never worn prescription glasses before, but I ended up needing them to deal with some strange color separations and "starburst" effects I was seeing. The glasses ended up being incorrect the first time I tried them, so the optometrist had to repair them. I lost a week of computer use while struggling to see. Even now, I'm not used to the glasses. Family Things . Let's just say that my wife's family will not be visiting from California. But, until Mother Nature's wrath was felt we had been rushing to accommodate visitors. My Best (Feline) Friend Died . He was 16, and had been with me for a lot of years. Losing him was tough and both my wife and me; she even took time off work to care for him. Not sure how any of this fits with pedagogy, but it goes to show that even the most obsessive student can get s...

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley November 2007 Issue October 14, 2007 Changing Holidays The holidays are changing, and I don’t just mean the fact that the Toyland section opened in mid-October at my favorite warehouse store. Another major change is the loss of Christmas cards. Charlie Brown used to wait at the mailbox for even one card. Today, he’d be waiting for an electronic greeting, which offers slightly more warmth than a “video fireplace” and some virtual eggnog. Every major greeting card company offers e-cards, often through portals like Yahoo or MSN. Programs like The Print Shop and Print Explosion also offer an e-card design option, where your customized card design is sent via e-mail to a recipient.       I suppose we’re saving thousands of trees with e-cards, and some of us are finally getting cards to people before the new year begins, but you can’t cover a door with e-cards or stand them on a shelf to remind yourself of all the wonderful people in...

Ivanhoe, California I am from Ivanhoe, California , and believe growing up in a small, Hispanic, farming community has influenced most of my decisions. Before viewing my slide show, I think you should know about the place I call home. Population (year 2000): 4,474 Median resident age: 24.9 years California median age: 33.3 years Ivanhoe median household income in 2005: $29,700 California median household income in 2005: $53,629 Ivanhoe median house/condo in 2000: $76,900 Ivanhoe median house/condo in 2005: $159,100 California median house/condo in 2005: $477,700 The ethnic composition of Ivanhoe also shaped my views on social issues: Races in Ivanhoe Hispanic 76.2% Other race 40.4% White Non-Hispanic 21.8% Two or more races 9.5% American Indian 2.0% As you can tell, it is not what people imagine of California. My wife and I uploaded some of our photos of the area around Ivanhoe, which I have marked as a slideshow on Flickr . Somewhere in storage I have photos of Ivanho...

I am a skeptic when it comes to technology in the classroom. From accounts like those found in The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology , by Todd Oppenheimer, to the works of Larry Cuban, one finds a series of issues with technology that keep repeating every generation — as if technology and the excitement that always follows it will translate into better-educated students. Oppenheimer is an award-winning San Francisco journalist who toured the country to study how computers were used in the classroom. He began as an optimistic believer in technology and ended the work on a skeptical note, almost a "back-to-basics" philosophy based on everything from the price of technology to the lack of technical support and training teachers generally receive. Gene I Maeroff's work, A Classroom of One: How Online Learning Is Changing Our Schools and Colleges , is authored by one of the leading experts on education. Maeroff has written 11 books in 3...

Selected Bibliography My views on the implementation of online writing curricula are also informed by the following texts and articles: Anson, Chris M. "Distant Voices: Teaching and Writing in a Culture of Technology." College English 61.3 (1999): 261-80. Applebome, Peter. "The on-Line Revolution Is Not the End of Civilization as We Know It. But Almost." New York Times 4 April 1999 1999, sec. Education Supplement: 26-28, 35-37. Armstrong, Alison, and Charles Casement. The Child and the Machine : How Computers Put Our Children's Education at Risk . Updated ed. Carlton North, Vic.: Scribe Publications, 2001. Beniger, James. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986. Berlin, James A. Rhetorics, Poetics, and Cultures : Refiguring College English Studies . Lauer Series in Rhetoric and Composition. West Lafayette, Ind.: Parlor Press, 2003. Callister, Nicholas C. Burbul...

For a graduate course in curriculum, we have been asked to experiment with "mind mapping" software. As my previous post reflects, I've never been comfortable with such maps personally, though I realize many people find the exercises useful. I'm clearly in a minority. It is important that teachers understand any potential tool, whether or not they are comfortable, because students are not homogeneous in learning style. I love outlining... most people do not. I also like flowcharts, graphs, and charts. Order, lots of order, works to my advantage, even when my artistic output isn't "organized" in familiar ways. Background As an example of how to integrate new technologies for composition across the curriculum, I am proposing a series of units relating to radio. As radio has shifted to the Internet and podcasting, radio theatre has remained a part of the tradition, from rebroadcasts of classic "Old Time Radio" programs to original plays. Mappi...

The thoughts for this week are in response to: In your blog: how might you digital note-taking tools (see links on the wiki) to have your students take notes/engage in prewriting activities? Create a digital map using Inspiration (use a free trial download: http://www.inspiration.com) about your potential final project topic; reflect on how you could use digital mapping for helping students exploring relationships between different topics/images. I have to admit that I need more time to experiment with Inspiration 8, as well as other tools, because I am fairly set in my own note taking ways. Until I gather my thoughts a bit more, I can at least explain my own habits and my personal views on software tools. Before I start, I'll make a pitch: If you use a Mac, the Omni Group makes some of the best organizational tools I have used. ( http://www.omnigroup.com/ ) I like the fact Omni applications do not “feel” like PC software ported to the Mac — these are OS X applications from to...