Friday, December 02, 2005
Reflecting, looking forward
In this space, I usually point to articles or blog posts I've read that I think might be of interest. I write here primarily for my local audience though I know others outside of Bryn Mawr College read this. Today will be different. I am in the middle of catching up on my blog/article reading, but I've also been thinking a lot about technology integration. A few local events have spawned some of that thinking. I've been talking to several faculty about tablet pcs and their use of them. I'm planning an open house/showcase to demonstrate some of what these faculty have been doing. In many ways, their use of the tablets has changed or will change the way they teach and/or the way they give feedback to students. I, myself, experimented with the tablet this semester, using it to create both audio and visual markup on student papers. Doing things differently really makes you rethink the way you do things and your pedagogical goals.
Another thing that has me thinking is the CSEM course I taught with Doug Blank, using blogs extensively. It's really interesting to turn over control to the students, to let them explore and write and think on their own. Yes, we've had to come in and guide them and no, the results aren't perfect, but I think they've learned about more than just writing. They've learned what it's like to have an author of an article you've critiqued respond and defend themselves. They've learned what it's like to have their opinion challenged by someone other than a teacher or fellow student. I think they need more practice in dealing with the latter as they sometimes have a tendancy to become defensive and lapse into ad hominem attacks, but having a real conversation about why ad hominem attacks are bad based on real examples is something I haven't been able to do in the many years I've been teaching writing. Ultimately, I think we've given them some real experience in navigating the public sphere via blogging.
Additionally, I had some nice conversations with faculty, staff, and librarians along with David Green from Wesleyan University about the use of images in teaching. It was really interesting to hear Linda Caruso-Haviland talk about the sense of movement she liked to create with her slide shows. And we had a nice discussion about setting students loose in image collections versus a more constructed collection. We also talked about students created their own image collections or presentations. I also spoke with Linda afterwards about the possibility of supplementing her image collection with images from Flickr. Serendipitously, Claudia Ginanni stopped by and pointed me to a wonderful collection of images by a current student, some of which include dance images. I hope to continue this conversation in the fall.
In essence, technology is in the air right now. It's a good time to reflect on what we've done and to think about where we're going. I'm thinking that tablets are going to take off fairly quickly. I also think people will be podcasting/screencasting more. Digital images will increasingly become part of more and more disciplines. Students will be (as they already are) constructing their own multimedia works. We will continue to find ways to help students think critically about the wealth of information available to them at their fingertips in a variety of media. We will do this through the use of tools such as blogging, social bookmarking, and in having them create their own information and publishing it for the world to see. In other words, we will encourage them to analyze and reflect on information and respond to it publicly rather than be passive recipients of it. And it is this latter element that has the potential to change what we do. We have to continue to think of students as active participants in their own learning. In some cases, that means a change in the way we do things, trying out new ways of presenting information. In others, it means asking the students to change, to respond more, to engage, to ask questions.
Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a crazy ride.
Another thing that has me thinking is the CSEM course I taught with Doug Blank, using blogs extensively. It's really interesting to turn over control to the students, to let them explore and write and think on their own. Yes, we've had to come in and guide them and no, the results aren't perfect, but I think they've learned about more than just writing. They've learned what it's like to have an author of an article you've critiqued respond and defend themselves. They've learned what it's like to have their opinion challenged by someone other than a teacher or fellow student. I think they need more practice in dealing with the latter as they sometimes have a tendancy to become defensive and lapse into ad hominem attacks, but having a real conversation about why ad hominem attacks are bad based on real examples is something I haven't been able to do in the many years I've been teaching writing. Ultimately, I think we've given them some real experience in navigating the public sphere via blogging.
Additionally, I had some nice conversations with faculty, staff, and librarians along with David Green from Wesleyan University about the use of images in teaching. It was really interesting to hear Linda Caruso-Haviland talk about the sense of movement she liked to create with her slide shows. And we had a nice discussion about setting students loose in image collections versus a more constructed collection. We also talked about students created their own image collections or presentations. I also spoke with Linda afterwards about the possibility of supplementing her image collection with images from Flickr. Serendipitously, Claudia Ginanni stopped by and pointed me to a wonderful collection of images by a current student, some of which include dance images. I hope to continue this conversation in the fall.
In essence, technology is in the air right now. It's a good time to reflect on what we've done and to think about where we're going. I'm thinking that tablets are going to take off fairly quickly. I also think people will be podcasting/screencasting more. Digital images will increasingly become part of more and more disciplines. Students will be (as they already are) constructing their own multimedia works. We will continue to find ways to help students think critically about the wealth of information available to them at their fingertips in a variety of media. We will do this through the use of tools such as blogging, social bookmarking, and in having them create their own information and publishing it for the world to see. In other words, we will encourage them to analyze and reflect on information and respond to it publicly rather than be passive recipients of it. And it is this latter element that has the potential to change what we do. We have to continue to think of students as active participants in their own learning. In some cases, that means a change in the way we do things, trying out new ways of presenting information. In others, it means asking the students to change, to respond more, to engage, to ask questions.
Hold onto your hats, it's going to be a crazy ride.
