Good Morning Wannabees! Hope everyone is doing well.
Below are our prompts for this week's discussion. My responses follow each question in wine colored font (infer as much as you'd like, however I assure you that I am currently sipping on a GIANT Diet Dr. Pepper, as caffeine is my best buddy these days).
Dr. Beach has asked us to address the following questions this week:
1. For what kind of activity do you think it would be better to have students collaborate on a wiki? For what kind should they collaborate on a blog? Why?
This question has me slightly stumped because I feel that they are two completely different entities with two very different purposes. From what I've read and personal experience, a blog is an individual's contribution of thoughts and ideas related to a specific topic. Others can reply or comment on the post, however I would not consider this to be collaboration. Perhaps I am misunderstanding and the idea is that the text is created collaboratively on another document (such as Google Docs) and then posted on a blog, but I feel like that's a different task. This class is my first experience actually writing within a blog myself, but my son James (you met him last class) wrote a blog in his First Grade class which he still talks about to this day!
As for a wiki, it is my understanding that a wiki is a website in which multiple people contribute/edit/revise the same site, which is collaborative by design. I am not sure if it is an optional setting or not, but the wiki that I have been a part of for several years now indicates which person contributed or edited each piece. This makes the accountability aspect very clear.
As for what kind of activity would be better for each, I really have no idea. I think that the purpose of the activity would have to be pretty clearly examined to make this call.
2. Look up your topic or look up New Literacies on Wikipedia.
What did you find? How accurate was it? How do you know?
(I am assuming that by "our topic" she is referring to the topic in which we are writing our chapter on, but if I have interpreted this wrong, please do not hesitate to correct me.)
I went ahead and looked up Project-Based Learning, which is the topic for my chapter. The information presented was accurate. It included references to research and other places where the information could be verified. I have a fairly decent knowledge of and experience with PBL, so I was able to identify that the information presented was accurate based on the background knowledge I had going into the reading. When reading the comments that were made about the entry, several readers criticized it as being slanted or "slick," as if the write was trying to sell PBL to the reader. I did not read it this way, but I can understand why someone who does not like PBL or is not familiar with the supporting research could. I'll be honest that I have on been on Wikipedia a handful of times prior to this, so I didn't even know that there was a "Talk" section for each article.
3. Which of these ideas that you read about have you tried with your students?
Which would you like to try with students?
I will be very honest in saying that I haven't tried any of these ideas with my students. The one thing I could stretch a bit and say I have tried is the use of an eFolio. When I was teaching in Hawaii we had a standards-based report card and were required to keep a portfolio of our students work that reflected their abilities. I scanned my students work into the computer and kept these portfolios electronically, but they weren't interactive or anything. I've been out of the classroom for a few years now, but honestly, learning about all of these great tools and methods have me itching to go back into the classroom!
I got really side tracked while looking at examples of blogs, vlogs, wikis, websites, and digital stories. I found a wiki that belongs to a Second Grade class in Canada that I think is awesome. It is several years old but contains all kinds of fantastic examples of the things we've been learning about this semester. The Owl Poems are really awesome! Be sure to click on the student portfolios at the bottom of the page to see how they used the wiki as an eFolio of their work. I would LOVE to have done something like this with my students when I was in the classroom! I am thinking that this is something I may want to try with my teachers, but I will have to think some more about the specifics and what I would want to include.
Additionally, I was thinking about our struggle with "conversation" via blogging and it sent me on a slight path of diversion. I'd like to know your thoughts on "one-size fits all" assignments, specifically in regards to those in digital spaces. Do you feel that there should be some element of choice regarding what tools are used to complete assignments or tasks, or do you feel that it is important for students to learn how to use the tools that you designate because you have selected them for a specific purpose? OR do you have a completely different opinion?
The reason I bring this up is because as an instructional coach I work with teachers across the whole philosophical spectrum of learning, teaching, assessment, homework, etc. I have my own opinions, some of which are very strong, yet it is not my job to tell others what they are, but help them develop their own or reflect on their own based on student need and performance. So... if you're up for it, I'd like to hear what you think. :)
Mackinley, thank you for your post. Like you, I experienced my first postings on class blogs. My first experiences were last spring semester participating in 2 class blogs. Each blog had its own personality. The personality of each blog is really based on the participants that exchange information. Different blogs have different purposes. For mind dulling moments, I’ll look at make-up blogs or The Pioneer Woman’s blog for recipe ideas and fun chatter. My class blog last spring from my Theories class with Dr. Beach was challenging due to the difficult concepts and complex text we were reading.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it seemed many times that I wasn’t “getting it” (and I wasn’t), what I realized towards the end was I was in the midst of learning how to construct my own perspectives while interpreting information from my colleagues. Additionally, I realized there are no “right” or perfect answers. Despite the fact that some student posts alluded to knowing all the meanings behind the text, I came to understand that their posts were “their” interpretations. I also learned that adults, even striving scholars, are not always able to collaborate and critically problem-solve due to the fact that they can only envision one way of interpreting a concept.
The process of blogging seems elementary from the outside looking in, however, when posts are used to exchange, build, and question ideas to understand different perspectives, we are utilizing all the critical thinking skills and abilities we want to foster in our classrooms. The conversation, or lack of at times, between our group can be difficult because we are all coming from different backgrounds, points of references, and varied interpretations. The challenge is to push forward and ask questions when ideas aren’t clearly articulated for your understanding. I learned it isn’t that I continually have difficulty with new and difficult concepts, it is that I sometimes may not have reached a point where I am able to form my own interpretation of the meaning while taking in other people’s interpretation of the same concept---so, I need clarity and more opportunities for exchanges. The work is the back and forth exchanges to articulate each other’s thinking so that we reach intersubjectivity (before this past spring I had no idea what that meant!).
To comment on blogs or wikis as a tool for me---it’s blogging all the way. I personally have grown in so many ways by my struggle to express my thoughts and responses to other’s and their perspectives. Dr. Beach can attest to that. The place where I began to move forward is when I allowed myself to be vulnerable. I would admit in my blogs and reflections how I could only summarize certain sections of text, or I couldn’t find the message in the author’s wording no matter how many times I reread the pages, but with time I began to build a foundation of vocabulary and conceptual understanding that enabled me to use language to articulate my thoughts and my processes of understanding.
I still have not mastered the art of blogging to exchange ideas and build on understandings, but I can empathize with your frustration and feeling that contributing is difficult. Realize that the difficulties come in articulating new ideas, new thought processes, and new epistemologies regarding literacy and communication. It’s not easy---if it was, we would all be corporate attorneys or slick salespeople, using our language skills, and making 6 figures!
I have a great hyperlink (when I can figure out how to link it in Blogger!) that you can visit (tomorrow, when I figure it out) that will give you a window into what we all are working to become—a scholar. Jerome Bruner is one to study and work to understand all the gifts he has left for us to study and interpret. Hopefully, all of us at the end of the class will be able to express our knowledge and understanding of new literacies, their importance, purpose, and most importantly, how we can use them to enhance literacy in our classrooms.
Thanks Mackinely to help us move forward this week. :) I think Barbara pointed out very important aspect in terms of blogging and wiki - that is, one's interpretation is "his" or "hers" own. We basically start from there; and we make meaning based on it because that is a part of the nature of knowledge, meaning-making, and collaboration indeed in our society. Extending the intersubjectivity, which I also had no ideas about before last semester, blogging and wikiing have interobjecticity aspects as well, because we "transform" our thoughts by going over reading, reflecting on, and even finding some sources in the Internet regarding others' posts to justify our commenting sometimes. Blogging and wikiing are an asynchronous collaboration tool; a positive aspect of it is that team members can work together no matter what time they work - e.g., now I'm posting this comment around 3 am. Plus, we can keep our narratives (ideas, stories, and thought processes - Bruner) on the web, which is better than having just a synchronous conversation in terms of data keeping and sharing. Still we know that both have cons when comparing them to a real-time and in-person collaboration though.
DeleteI'm using a blog for my students this session just started this week - seven week long. My class is about speaking and listening, but I am giving a try to integrate a blogging with the target skills. Personally, I believe writing is also based on inner speech, which is an effective preparation for a real speaking. Thus, I gave open-ended questions and prompted them to make at least 2 replies for others' comments after composing their initial comment. I got 30 ish comments for one posting so far - now I think I can show my students the list of useful expressions for blogging discussion Dr. Beach provided this week (e.g. "This discussion led me to think...").
To wrap up, this discussion really led me to think about the intersubjectivity and the interobjecticity aspects through blogging and winking. We understand the former aspect is here because we build up our meaning through interactions by reading and commenting on others' posts. What about the latter then? As I said earlier, I believe blogging can contribute to interobjecticity as well because we transform our thoughts through these Web 2.0 interactions. Any thoughts? :)
Barbara, random but are you a part of our children , our future? I know you were talking about how you were going nuts with the capital legislators before and it made me think of that group.
DeleteWiki vs. blog, I'd say that a Wiki would be kids collaborating on a factual essay-type thing, whereas a blog is comparing opinions and experiences and changing minds.
ReplyDeleteBlogging and conversing online is second nature to me, but I've been writing daily since I was very, very young (before the Internet came and made writers of us all). I debate online, typically, and am able to digest information better through read-write; but I also know that's not necessarily normal.
Hi Jacqueline, I really like your clear explanation of the two. I'd like to add a thought on each. To my understanding, blogging is rooted into the so-called "PC communication" which was quite popular back in 1990s when the graphical user interface was not that prominent. The Internet geeks back then communicated using texts only in their black or blue screen. With the advent of Internet browsers, the PC communicators transformed their communicating tool/channel towards blogging. This is probably why the blogging is more referring to an individual information archiving and sharing them with others through commenting features. Also, in nature, bloggers rarely allows others to write a "post", not a comment, in their own blogging.
ReplyDeleteWiki is more about collaboration indeed as we know. However, the contents or setting seems a bit, not fun when comparing it to blogging to me. Wiki, from the start, is designed for working, making, or sharing information through collaboration. But blogging was for fun and communicating with others.
My point here is that blogging seems more approachable to students with the image of "for fun, easy-to-access" nature of it. But, wiki seems more professional, so it might make students feel less fun but professional. For example, not that many people discuss the best restaurant in town at wikis.
To me, this is my first feeling/perception with regards to these two tools. So, I think blogging would be good for team conversations, but wiki would be better for building a collaborative craft for a coursework such as a portfolio. Just my thought and I will read more and get back to you all. And I will include hyperlinks too as Barbara said. :) Any thoughts?
I don't think we can make hyperlinks in the blogger comments? But if we can html a link is nickname
DeleteBahahaha it actually linked it! Anyway, looks like John posted instructions further down so use that instead, lol...
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFYI, thanks to Krystie Webster - one of our classmates, I am forwarding how to add a hyperlink when commenting on a blog. Click here --> How to Insert Hyperlink
ReplyDeleteHope this works and helps. :)
I've tried that link and a couple others to insert a hyperlink---ugh! It should be so easy--
ReplyDeleteIt's like a sentence . A opens the sentence href is the "verb" telling us to reference the "URL," name, then /a is the punctuation ending the command or "sentence." Does that help at all?
DeleteGreat! It helps me a lot. And, this explanation will help our students think about the difference between what they "see" and what's "behind."
DeleteWhat I mean is, teaching hyperlink may also foster critical thinking, because digital texts go down to "1 and 0" in the end. This could be a good starter for our students to deconstruct the layers of anything. What do you think?
Most HTML is like that. For example, < i > word < / i > (spaces added so it won't format) will create italics and < strong > word < / strong > creates a bolded word. Most formatting in HTML works like that. < img src = "imageurl.jpg" > will make an image too, if you guys want to get visual; and to link it, it's exactly what you might think:
Delete< a h ref = "url" > < img src = "image url" > < / a > (spaces added so it won't link, but we'll see how that works) In this case, you would replace the linked word with the HTML for an image. ;-)
e.g., < a h ref="http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/02/17/133785829/a-shockingly-short-history-of-hello" >< i mg src = "http://i.imgur.com/EgErRdF.jpg" >< /a >
ReplyDeletemeans Allow user to reference http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2011/02/17/133785829/a-shockingly-short-history-of-hello with the image found at http://i.imgur.com/EgErRdF.jpg, done.
(Oh goodness, I probably made it more complicated; but I wanted to give you guys the basic linking techniques so you can try them out -- though evidently not on Blogger because it won't accept image tags, which is what the things in the < > are called.)
DeleteWhat a nice source to know! I'm using a blog now for my students; I'll ask them to add a hyperlink when commonting with regards to an interesting topic. Do you have any interesting topic ideas? My students will study chapters about genius, overcoming obstacles, sleep deprivation, and longevity this session. :)
ReplyDeleteJacqueline--you are wonderful. You wear many hats. I'm going to try it again and see if I can insert my hyperlinks to Blogger. Persistence and tenacity...
ReplyDeleteWhen you are creating a new post in Blogger, it allows you to insert a hyperlink in the same manner that you would in a standard word document. It is only in the "comments" or "replies" that you run into issues.
DeleteI really like the e-folio idea that Mrs. Anderson's class used. I am thinking about having my students at CESL create a wiki as a portfolio medium next session. Let me keep you posted for that. :) One critique about the wiki idea in that manner, however, is that I think wiki looks a bit more boring than other digital writing tools such as a blog or a note-keeping app (e,g,m evernote). See Dorian's example --> Drian's e-folio
ReplyDeleteSo, I may ask my students to use a blog for e-portfolio. Any thoughts? :)
I don't know enough details about how to construct a blog from scratch to know what you can and can't do with them as far as formatting, inserting documents of various types, etc., however I do follow numerous teacher blogs. I've also never created a wiki from scratch, but I am a member of one (focusing on arts integration) and have added and accessed resources on it for several years now.
DeleteI did a little bit of research though and found these websites that you may find helpful...
Electroni Portfolios
E Portfolios
Edutopia article- E Portfolios
Evernote Portfolios
Awesome! I'm recently really interested in Evernote as a form of portfolio. Thanks Mackinely. :)
DeleteYou're welcome. I am thinking of creating my own ePortfolio to document what my job actually consists of, as there is a lot of talk about whether or not our positions will exist after this year.
DeleteI've also been toying with the idea of having my teachers create one, but since it is not a requirement of their contract, I am not sure that I can convince them of the benefit. Most of them are so overwhelmed that getting them to grade papers and write lesson plans is a huge feet in and of itself.