Since I took over as coordinator/supervisor for the English Supplemental Instructors in Spring 2009,it has been my aim to accomplish two goals. First, I wanted to make English supplemental instruction more accessible. Currently, we are able to cover with an SI only about 10 sections of English 100 each semester, and, unlike the SI programs in other subjects, English SI cannot offer services to students who are not enrolled in a covered section. (In other words, an SI for math offers a session outside of class each week that students in any section of that math class can attend. English SIs do most of their work in class, so this is not a possibility for other English 100 students.)
Second, I wanted to encourage SIs and other SADC employees to use the technological tools available to them to both encourage more students to utilize our services and to work with the students in an environment that might be more comfortable to them. In my tenure as SI coordinator/supervisor and SADC research and publications coordinator, I have created a Facebook page for SADC, engaged in a long-term project to better their web site, and enrolled my SIs in a Facebook group and Google group to communicate with them online. I also served as the first English SI in an online composition course last summer.
All of this has lead up to my premiere project, an online SI portal for all English 100 students. After discussing my vision with Jackie Reason of SADC and Dr. Bishop Morris last week, I am hoping to pilot the program this spring and launch the program for all ENG 100 students in the fall.
My vision is this:
All ENG 100 students will be enrolled in a Blackboard course upon registration. The course will be stocked with reference materials that the SIs have been developing and will be developing over the course of the semesters that they work for SADC. It will also be "staffed" by one to two SIs who will be available for synchronized chats during certain hours. Asynchronous forums will also be set up--at least one for responses to papers and the other for general questions. In the future, I hope to also establish labs--such as labs for ESL students, students who exhibit difficulties with grammar issues, students who need supplemental instruction in the area of research, etc. Students will also be encouraged to answer their own questions through interaction with each other using the chat and forums feature.
For the final project, then, I plan to research similar programs that may be in use at other universities. I also plan to look into the issues inherent in using digital modes to respond to student writing. Some of the questions I plan to answer include:
1) What challenges is this program likely to face during it's pilot?
2) How should tutors respond to student papers--in the forum itself, by e-mail, using the comment feature in Word, etc.
3) What different challenges will students face during synchronous and asynchronus tutoring sessions.
For the multimodal component of this project, I would like to create a video that will be shown in all ENG 100 sections as an orientation to the new program. The video will explain the reasons behind instituting the program, its benefits, and how to use it.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Why Miranda's Here Today
When I was in the sixth grade, I discovered The Gossamer Project, and the rest (to use a cliche) is history.
Unlike the 16-year-old Harry Potter fan that told Jenkins that there was a difference between analyzing a short story and his friend's fanfiction, I grew up loving to read everything I could get my hands on. By the second grade, all of my teachers knew I had an affinity for writing and reading, but I resisted pursuing this area because I didn't want to follow in my mother's footsteps. In the late 1990s, though, I found my affinity space. And that was X-Files fanfiction. I would spend hours upon hours on the computer reading and writing fanfiction. And the following note I placed on the first story I wrote (which is still posted on The Gossamer Project) shows that I was definitely thinking like a writer when the thirteen-year-old me penned this story:
In just this note, I take a stab at summarizing my work, ask other writers to give me feedback, show that I've already used peer review--I apparently had my friend Ali read the story before I posted it--and show that I care about the writing itself. While I liked what we were doing in my English classes during middle school, I wasn't really motivated to go "above and beyond," to teach myself how to compose. But Fanfiction motivated me, and I wasn't the only one doing it. Instead of circulating notes, my friends and I would circulate fanfiction. Oh, and of those friends, one is now an English teacher and another is a librarian. My experience is proof--pop culture helps kids learn to write, to think, and to engage, even among the geekiest of us!
Jenkins uses the Healther incident to show how fanfiction helps students learn to engage in the writing process--to write, revise, interact with other writers, and even to learn grammar, but I say that fanfiction does something else as well. In the other piece, Jenkins writes that games help students to adopt fictional personalities through which they can learn to write creatively. I say fanfiction writing give skills that are not limited to writing alone. Instead, fanfiction allows students to "become" other people so they see things from other people's perspectives. In the case of X-Files fanfiction, for instance, students must pretend to be one of two FBI agents or an FBI director. This requires a large amount of research. In addition, it requires the writer to think about the character and how their characteristics would shape how they think about a certain issue/would react in a certain situation, etc. These are skills that can be applied to audience analysis, argument, and simply critical thinking. For instance, if a particular show involves two characters who tend to disagree, students can compare the two characters' thoughts and see an issue from multiple perspectives.
Recently, I was in a class where a professor made some negative comments about pop culture. While I do think that many aspects of pop culture can be ridiculous, if pop culture motivates students to become engaged in academic pursuits, it should be used in the classroom. I would not be here today if fanfiction had not been there in the late 1990s. I have it to thank, and that's one reason that I will encourage my students to find their own affinity spaces, whether they be fanfiction, video games, etc.
But encourage your students NOT to put their real names on their fanfictions. That way, 11 years later, when they're "real" writers, they won't cringe when they realize there's no way to take that off the database--a lesson I learned the hard way!
Unlike the 16-year-old Harry Potter fan that told Jenkins that there was a difference between analyzing a short story and his friend's fanfiction, I grew up loving to read everything I could get my hands on. By the second grade, all of my teachers knew I had an affinity for writing and reading, but I resisted pursuing this area because I didn't want to follow in my mother's footsteps. In the late 1990s, though, I found my affinity space. And that was X-Files fanfiction. I would spend hours upon hours on the computer reading and writing fanfiction. And the following note I placed on the first story I wrote (which is still posted on The Gossamer Project) shows that I was definitely thinking like a writer when the thirteen-year-old me penned this story:
Posted October 20, 1999 Spoilers: ReduxII Summery: A few changes on the scene where Mulder is crying by Scully's bed. Feedback: Please! Author's notes: This is the first story I've posted so please tell me what you thought my mail is beside my name!!!(David is Hot!) Sorry, just had to do that! Thanx: My best friend Ali for saying it's stupid, but not badly written. I is a honerz student! On with the show...
In just this note, I take a stab at summarizing my work, ask other writers to give me feedback, show that I've already used peer review--I apparently had my friend Ali read the story before I posted it--and show that I care about the writing itself. While I liked what we were doing in my English classes during middle school, I wasn't really motivated to go "above and beyond," to teach myself how to compose. But Fanfiction motivated me, and I wasn't the only one doing it. Instead of circulating notes, my friends and I would circulate fanfiction. Oh, and of those friends, one is now an English teacher and another is a librarian. My experience is proof--pop culture helps kids learn to write, to think, and to engage, even among the geekiest of us!
Jenkins uses the Healther incident to show how fanfiction helps students learn to engage in the writing process--to write, revise, interact with other writers, and even to learn grammar, but I say that fanfiction does something else as well. In the other piece, Jenkins writes that games help students to adopt fictional personalities through which they can learn to write creatively. I say fanfiction writing give skills that are not limited to writing alone. Instead, fanfiction allows students to "become" other people so they see things from other people's perspectives. In the case of X-Files fanfiction, for instance, students must pretend to be one of two FBI agents or an FBI director. This requires a large amount of research. In addition, it requires the writer to think about the character and how their characteristics would shape how they think about a certain issue/would react in a certain situation, etc. These are skills that can be applied to audience analysis, argument, and simply critical thinking. For instance, if a particular show involves two characters who tend to disagree, students can compare the two characters' thoughts and see an issue from multiple perspectives.
Recently, I was in a class where a professor made some negative comments about pop culture. While I do think that many aspects of pop culture can be ridiculous, if pop culture motivates students to become engaged in academic pursuits, it should be used in the classroom. I would not be here today if fanfiction had not been there in the late 1990s. I have it to thank, and that's one reason that I will encourage my students to find their own affinity spaces, whether they be fanfiction, video games, etc.
But encourage your students NOT to put their real names on their fanfictions. That way, 11 years later, when they're "real" writers, they won't cringe when they realize there's no way to take that off the database--a lesson I learned the hard way!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Responding to and Assessing Multimodal Texts
Assessing and responding to student writing is an area that particularly interests me, something that I am considering for a thesis area. I think what intrigues me most about this area is something I hear from my new SIs every semester: "I know there is a problem with this student paper, but I'm not exactly sure what it is or how to tell this student how to fix it." I think this is a challenge for everyone who reads student work. If we were reading (or viewing or listening as the case may be) to student work as an editor, it would be easy to point out where we would make changes. But when we assess or respond to student work as teachers, the issue is much more complex. We must think realize the student is the author of the work, so we shouldn't be trying to change it or alter it in a way that imposes our purpose over the student's purpose. Instead, we should be using formative assessment to help students evaluate and achieve their own goals. And we should be using summative assessment to determine whether a student met his or her own goal.
Formative Assessment
The progress journal mentioned in the Selfe text is one innovative way to help teachers and students alike strive toward an ultimate goal in their multimodal composition. Like these kinds of formative assessments do in the strictly written composition classroom, progress journals do a good job of allowing students and teachers to keep track of where they are in a project, along with the steps that they need to take to continue. A few versions of this that teacher friends of mine have used are as follows:
1. The Writing Process Pegs: I saw this during the NWIWP institute in 2009. Students would have a small piece of yarn featuring a charm with their name on it. A set of pegs that were labeled with the different steps in the writing process would be at the front of the room. Students would put their names on the peg that best represented where they were in the writing process. Then, students and teachers could discuss in private what needed to be done to advance to the next step, or if the student should take a step back.
2. Status of the Class Conference: To keep her freshman English class on task, a friend of mine would take a "status of the class conference," asking each student where they were in their project and writing it down on a piece of paper. This helped the students feel accountable.
3. Cumulative Progress Journal: Some teachers, like those in the Selfe text, keep a progress journal during an entire semester or course so they can track what concepts their students get the hang of and which ones they are still struggling with.
Each of these ideas can be easily applied to the multimodal project, and I think many of them can be used even more appropriately with this type of project. As the Selfe text suggests, many students become so engaged in their multimodal projects that they find it difficult to stop and turn the project in. They find that there's always something that can be done. In addition, as the Selfe text suggests, some students won't admit when they need help with a multimodal project. For this reason, status of the class conferences, writing process pegs, and progress journals can help the student and teacher stay in communication and on task with the project.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is a difficult area for me to discuss because I greatly dislike grades and wish we could go to a system where they are not used. However, because they must be used, I find the rubric the best way to evaluate students. A rubric gives students a clear explanation of what is expected in an assignment. However, I think a weighted rubric is best in the case of a multimodal assignment, a rubric that shows content as more important than technicalities, similar to the rubric listed in the Selfe text. In addition, I think summative assessment should take into consideration the progress the student has made throughout the year or semester. A student who began at the level of C but ended class at the level of A, therefore, I think should be given an A.
Understanding how to assess and respond to multimodal assignments seems challenging to be, someone who has not yet viewed a great deal of these kinds of assignments. However, as the Selfe text points out, all essay crafting is about good rhetorical decisions. Assessing a student based on these components in a multimodal assignment makes the prospect of grading multimodal assignments less harrowing.
Formative Assessment
The progress journal mentioned in the Selfe text is one innovative way to help teachers and students alike strive toward an ultimate goal in their multimodal composition. Like these kinds of formative assessments do in the strictly written composition classroom, progress journals do a good job of allowing students and teachers to keep track of where they are in a project, along with the steps that they need to take to continue. A few versions of this that teacher friends of mine have used are as follows:
1. The Writing Process Pegs: I saw this during the NWIWP institute in 2009. Students would have a small piece of yarn featuring a charm with their name on it. A set of pegs that were labeled with the different steps in the writing process would be at the front of the room. Students would put their names on the peg that best represented where they were in the writing process. Then, students and teachers could discuss in private what needed to be done to advance to the next step, or if the student should take a step back.
2. Status of the Class Conference: To keep her freshman English class on task, a friend of mine would take a "status of the class conference," asking each student where they were in their project and writing it down on a piece of paper. This helped the students feel accountable.
3. Cumulative Progress Journal: Some teachers, like those in the Selfe text, keep a progress journal during an entire semester or course so they can track what concepts their students get the hang of and which ones they are still struggling with.
Each of these ideas can be easily applied to the multimodal project, and I think many of them can be used even more appropriately with this type of project. As the Selfe text suggests, many students become so engaged in their multimodal projects that they find it difficult to stop and turn the project in. They find that there's always something that can be done. In addition, as the Selfe text suggests, some students won't admit when they need help with a multimodal project. For this reason, status of the class conferences, writing process pegs, and progress journals can help the student and teacher stay in communication and on task with the project.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is a difficult area for me to discuss because I greatly dislike grades and wish we could go to a system where they are not used. However, because they must be used, I find the rubric the best way to evaluate students. A rubric gives students a clear explanation of what is expected in an assignment. However, I think a weighted rubric is best in the case of a multimodal assignment, a rubric that shows content as more important than technicalities, similar to the rubric listed in the Selfe text. In addition, I think summative assessment should take into consideration the progress the student has made throughout the year or semester. A student who began at the level of C but ended class at the level of A, therefore, I think should be given an A.
Understanding how to assess and respond to multimodal assignments seems challenging to be, someone who has not yet viewed a great deal of these kinds of assignments. However, as the Selfe text points out, all essay crafting is about good rhetorical decisions. Assessing a student based on these components in a multimodal assignment makes the prospect of grading multimodal assignments less harrowing.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thinking About Podcasts
In Chapter 7 of their text, Beach et al. write, "In creating podcasts, students are doing a lot of writing. They may often write a script or notes to read aloud o their podcast. In performing their script or notes, they may then recognize the need to revise or edit their writing to enhance the sound of it."
This reminds me of a workshop I attended at the 4-Cs last semester. Lead by Peter Elbow, the workshop questioned the patterns of speaking that are found in written text. We analyzed the text of speeches, identified elements of "voice" that we noted in the text, and then compared them to the spoken speeches. The workshop served to reinforce the importance of the concept of "voice," and the exercise lead me to believe that voice can be expressed much differently, or perhaps even superiorly, in speaking rather than in writing.
For this reason, I think Beach et al. are on the right track when they discuss the benefits of spoken projects in the classroom. When students are asked to read their work aloud, they must add elements to achieve the "flow" we often ask them to achieve in writing. When they speak their essays, I think we encourage students to develop their voice and encourage them to revise to achieve the authentic voice we so hope they will discover as they complete our courses. The element of voice is one of the hardest to teach in the traditional composition classroom. It's abstract, illusive, and almost impossible to explain until a student actually does it. When students read their essays aloud, they immediately begin to notice how they "sound." If they're using words that don't "sound like them," they will be quick to realize this as they stand before the sound recorder. They'll also begin to use elements of style, like varying sentence type and length, word choice, and literary techniques (like assonance, allusion, etc.) because they'll start to see that including these rhetorical elements makes a podcast more interesting.
As for the project I am developing, I believe this holds particular implications. Although students can choose any genre in which to create their capstone projects for my advocacy writing class, those capstone projects will be, at least to a degree, persuasive. And perhaps more than any other type of writing, persuasive writing must have the art of "flow," as it's hard to convince an audience to take your side if you're stumbling over your words. In addition, requiring a project that includes a written and a multimodal component can make it much easier for students to see the differences between writing that is meant to be read aloud and writing that is meant to be read to ones' self. This leads to an excellent lesson on rhetorical analysis, as students can relate the medium of publication to what is communicated and how that message is communicated.
I think using podcasts in the classroom can, as Beach et al. suggest, help students to learn to teach each other the methods of composing and the differences between different kinds of compositions.
This reminds me of a workshop I attended at the 4-Cs last semester. Lead by Peter Elbow, the workshop questioned the patterns of speaking that are found in written text. We analyzed the text of speeches, identified elements of "voice" that we noted in the text, and then compared them to the spoken speeches. The workshop served to reinforce the importance of the concept of "voice," and the exercise lead me to believe that voice can be expressed much differently, or perhaps even superiorly, in speaking rather than in writing.
For this reason, I think Beach et al. are on the right track when they discuss the benefits of spoken projects in the classroom. When students are asked to read their work aloud, they must add elements to achieve the "flow" we often ask them to achieve in writing. When they speak their essays, I think we encourage students to develop their voice and encourage them to revise to achieve the authentic voice we so hope they will discover as they complete our courses. The element of voice is one of the hardest to teach in the traditional composition classroom. It's abstract, illusive, and almost impossible to explain until a student actually does it. When students read their essays aloud, they immediately begin to notice how they "sound." If they're using words that don't "sound like them," they will be quick to realize this as they stand before the sound recorder. They'll also begin to use elements of style, like varying sentence type and length, word choice, and literary techniques (like assonance, allusion, etc.) because they'll start to see that including these rhetorical elements makes a podcast more interesting.
As for the project I am developing, I believe this holds particular implications. Although students can choose any genre in which to create their capstone projects for my advocacy writing class, those capstone projects will be, at least to a degree, persuasive. And perhaps more than any other type of writing, persuasive writing must have the art of "flow," as it's hard to convince an audience to take your side if you're stumbling over your words. In addition, requiring a project that includes a written and a multimodal component can make it much easier for students to see the differences between writing that is meant to be read aloud and writing that is meant to be read to ones' self. This leads to an excellent lesson on rhetorical analysis, as students can relate the medium of publication to what is communicated and how that message is communicated.
I think using podcasts in the classroom can, as Beach et al. suggest, help students to learn to teach each other the methods of composing and the differences between different kinds of compositions.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Rhetorical Analysis in Multimodal Assignments
I was pleased to see that the Selfe text recommends teachers rely heavily on their knowledge of teaching rhetorical analysis as they prepare to give multimodal assignments. Indeed, it seems that Selfe suggests that a teacher who has mastered the understanding and teaching of rhetorical analysis is ready to move on to giving multimodal assignments, even if her background is not technological. I also think giving multimodal assignments to teach rhetorical analysis can help students, first, get a better understanding of what rhetorical analysis is and, second, get a better understanding of why it is important. For instance, it's important to perform rhetorical analysis on the television ads we see for political candidates because knowing the author of the message, its goal, and the ways through which it attempts to achieve that goal can help us evaluate our trust for the ad. I often give these kinds of assignments in the classroom, assignments where students are asked to evaluate in multiple modalities. Here is an assignment I gave last week, for instance:
Activity #1 Begin Introducing Informative Essay
a. How is writing to inform different than writing to persuade?
Students talk in groups for a couple of minutes, then move to whole group
b. Remind the students of the John Lennon song “Imagine” that they watched. Watch the song again, and ask students to post (if they haven't yet) where they see Lennon using ethos, logos, and pathos in the song (This is a RA activity I did second week.)
c. Have the students watch the video for the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Questions:
- What are the main differences between Lennon's goal in the song “Imagine” and Lightfoot's in “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?
- We see how Lennon uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade in his song “Imagine;” what elements does Lightfoot use to inform?
- Do you note any persuasive elements in Lightfoot's piece? If so, what are they? Should their be elements of persuasion in a piece that is meant to inform?
This assignment asks students to identify rhetorical appeals in a persuasive song and contrast that song with an informative song. The ensuing discussion lead us to think about Lennon's politics and Lightfoot's biases. Even though some of the students originally told me that they had no idea how to analyze Lennon's song, they were soon coming up with examples of ethos, logos, and pathos. I think the activity was especially effective because this was a "real life" scenario where they were being asked to evaluate a "real life" message from pop culture, not a textbook example that they would probably not be able to translate into real life.
With proper scaffolding (using assignments like these), I think creating a multimodal assignment that asks students to use the rhetorical elements to effectively convince a real audience is very beneficial, as students will not only begin to better understand the daunting concept of RA, but they will also begin to be more vigilant consumers of the messages that are given to them.
Right now, at PUC, I am working with an assignment that allows a multimodal option, should the students choose to accept it. When completing the new informative essay, students can choose to write a set of directions, with which they may include photos or other visual aids. I have really encouraged a few students to add photos or diagrams to their pieces, suggesting that the process would be confusing without them, and they've been hesitant to do so. In fact, instead of adding a simple photo, they've been more likely to ask if they can pick another genre!
When Selfe writes: "What most teachers add to the process of composing multimodal assignments is a strong background in rhetoric--an understanding of purpose, audience, organization, arrangement, and form," I am tempted to agree, and to even think that a teacher might have an easier time of teaching the actual concept of RA through multimodalities, though assigning an actual multimodal project will still have its frustrations.
Activity #1 Begin Introducing Informative Essay
a. How is writing to inform different than writing to persuade?
Students talk in groups for a couple of minutes, then move to whole group
b. Remind the students of the John Lennon song “Imagine” that they watched. Watch the song again, and ask students to post (if they haven't yet) where they see Lennon using ethos, logos, and pathos in the song (This is a RA activity I did second week.)
c. Have the students watch the video for the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Questions:
- What are the main differences between Lennon's goal in the song “Imagine” and Lightfoot's in “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?
- We see how Lennon uses ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade in his song “Imagine;” what elements does Lightfoot use to inform?
- Do you note any persuasive elements in Lightfoot's piece? If so, what are they? Should their be elements of persuasion in a piece that is meant to inform?
This assignment asks students to identify rhetorical appeals in a persuasive song and contrast that song with an informative song. The ensuing discussion lead us to think about Lennon's politics and Lightfoot's biases. Even though some of the students originally told me that they had no idea how to analyze Lennon's song, they were soon coming up with examples of ethos, logos, and pathos. I think the activity was especially effective because this was a "real life" scenario where they were being asked to evaluate a "real life" message from pop culture, not a textbook example that they would probably not be able to translate into real life.
With proper scaffolding (using assignments like these), I think creating a multimodal assignment that asks students to use the rhetorical elements to effectively convince a real audience is very beneficial, as students will not only begin to better understand the daunting concept of RA, but they will also begin to be more vigilant consumers of the messages that are given to them.
Right now, at PUC, I am working with an assignment that allows a multimodal option, should the students choose to accept it. When completing the new informative essay, students can choose to write a set of directions, with which they may include photos or other visual aids. I have really encouraged a few students to add photos or diagrams to their pieces, suggesting that the process would be confusing without them, and they've been hesitant to do so. In fact, instead of adding a simple photo, they've been more likely to ask if they can pick another genre!
When Selfe writes: "What most teachers add to the process of composing multimodal assignments is a strong background in rhetoric--an understanding of purpose, audience, organization, arrangement, and form," I am tempted to agree, and to even think that a teacher might have an easier time of teaching the actual concept of RA through multimodalities, though assigning an actual multimodal project will still have its frustrations.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Digital Collaberation: Using Google Docs
Reading Beach et al.'s descriptions of how to use Wikis in the classroom immediately brought me back to my first experience using a Wiki. That experience was here in English 504--Fall of 2008. (It's hard to believe I've already been here for two years.) The students signed onto a Wiki to try to develop a collaborative writing assignment regarding the writing that we could give our students. I remember the assignment not going too well. All three of us in the class at the time weren't really sure what to do with a Wiki. We found the concept of editing and working with each other's texts strange. Of course, we'd all heard of Wikipedia, but we weren't very familiar with Wikis.
This situation exemplifies what McLoughlin and Lee point out as the digital divide between the "fully wired" generation and those that aren't quite so fully wired. Although I consider myself to be as tech savvy as the next person, I still wasn't fluent in the vocabulary of wikis. Although this doesn't mean wikis shouldn't be used in the classroom, it does show how challenging some instructors might find these assignments.
However, I agree with Beach et al. when they write: "Collaboration is an important skill to learn in preparation for working with others in schools and the workplace" (71). Furthermore, I also think that working collaboratively can help students "learn how to negotiate differences among opinions, ideas, and perspectives" (72). In addition, I think that collaboration in the composition classroom has at least two more distinct benefits:
Because of this experience with technology and collaboration, I would like to use more activities like this. I think these kind of collaboration techniques allow students to not only become familiar with and discuss a multitude of ideas, but it also allows students to practice the recursive nature of the writing process with others' work, teaching them to do it in their own work.
This situation exemplifies what McLoughlin and Lee point out as the digital divide between the "fully wired" generation and those that aren't quite so fully wired. Although I consider myself to be as tech savvy as the next person, I still wasn't fluent in the vocabulary of wikis. Although this doesn't mean wikis shouldn't be used in the classroom, it does show how challenging some instructors might find these assignments.
However, I agree with Beach et al. when they write: "Collaboration is an important skill to learn in preparation for working with others in schools and the workplace" (71). Furthermore, I also think that working collaboratively can help students "learn how to negotiate differences among opinions, ideas, and perspectives" (72). In addition, I think that collaboration in the composition classroom has at least two more distinct benefits:
- It offers lessons in problem solving. Students have to learn to negotiate the logistics of working together.
- It allows students to see the writing process transform before their eyes. When they see others re-organizing, making additions, and deleting information, they can work on transforming their own writing processes or at least feel confident in their writing process that may take several steps before a competent final draft is completed.
Because of this experience with technology and collaboration, I would like to use more activities like this. I think these kind of collaboration techniques allow students to not only become familiar with and discuss a multitude of ideas, but it also allows students to practice the recursive nature of the writing process with others' work, teaching them to do it in their own work.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A Second Blog on Blogging
In his article, "Educational Blogging: A Forum for Developing Disciplinary and Professional Identity," author Geoffrey C. Middlebrook quotes Ruth Reyard saying that a blog "must be integrated early into the course design, and must be clearly connected to the course outcomes, before it can become anything more than just an extra task for students." Earlier in the article, Middlebrook also mentions that the most frequently chosen blog topic is a person's own experience and life. Put together, both pieces of evidence seem to imply that the care and deliberation necessary for integrating blogs into the classroom is monumental. While I think they can be a valuable tool, I would have to agree that designing specific blogging assignments with the genre in mind is of the utmost importance.
When I ask my ENG 104 students to tell me about the genre of blog (I do this every semester when we discuss genre; we discuss Facebook posts too.), they usually say that there are no rules for this newly formed genre. I posit that I don't think that's necessarily true. After all, there must be some conventions for this to be a genre. We discuss how the genre has evolved from being primarily an online diary to an effective form of communication maintained by corporations, public figures, etc. However, we also note that it continues to offer a soapbox for the common person. Despite these blog differences, what reigns supreme in the minds of my students is the fact that a blog, to them, is nothing more than a ramble.
As instructors, then, we must be sure to create blogging assignments so that students understand they are being asked to do much more than ramble. In addition, what use is it to do in a blog what can be done in a journal or on a discussion forum? This is not to say blogging is pointless, because I don't think it is, but I am of the opinion that blogging assignments must be specially designed for the genre of blog. For instance, Middlebrook did this by asking the students to make a log and tag their posts, in addition to offering multimodal assignments. Requiring an interaction component is another way to make a blog assignment right for the blog genre. However, it's important to be purposeful about what we assign as blog topics and what we assign as forum topics.
Another point Middlebrook brought up was the point of engagement. Though I think it's important to want to engage students in their assignments, we need to be careful that we don't attempt engagement at any cost. I found this video, in which students discussed why they liked using blogs. While I think that many of the reasons listed are valid ones, many of the reasons listed could also be boiled down to the fact that blogs are more "fun" tha other assignments.
While it's not wrong to give "fun" assignments because they are more engaging, assignments need to be given because they do more than JUST engage students. Middlebrook made the point that using blogs had a professional connection. I also think bogging teaches students technological composing skills they will use throughout their lives. However, I think students should be given blog assignments that really stretch and challenge them to compose in a virtual environment. Otherwise, they are just keeping online diaries.
Some of the components of an authentic blogging assignment, to me, would include:
- The use of hypertext and multimodality in posts.
- The customization of the blog's look and feel as a rhetorical element.
- The use of tagging tools to categorize and sort posts.
- The linking to other blogs (in and outside of class) to establish an audience and participate in a conversation.
- The promotion of the blog using social media, SEO tools, etc.
The best defense I've heard of blogging in the classroom (as of yet) is the fact that bloggers have an "authentic" audience when they write. But how real is this supposed audience, and is it any more real than the faux audiences they have as students in the composition classroom? If students are blogging without parameters, it is likely that no one (save the instructor and maybe a few classmates) will happen on their blogs. However, with proper assignment design, blogging can be a meaningful assignment that really teaches students composition in the world of web 2.0.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)