Spring!

In a nice combo of old and new technology, I started class last night with a free write/reflection on a series of photos published online by The Atlantic depicting spring around the world.

Using photos as a writing/reflection prompt on the evocations and implied narratives in images trods on well worn ground in the writing classroom. But the images were curated by an online publisher -- and I happened on them through Twitter.

Each week as we explore the uses of Twitter in the research writing classroom, I continue to be struck by its ability to inject a little serendipity into the research process. It's not great for looking up specific answers to specific questions (or finding the piece of information students want to neatly fit into what they think their paper should be about). But if you are in the habit of scanning, and you click that "follow" button occasionally based on whimsy, wonders do await. Really, just take a look at those fabulous pictures and see if you aren't in the mood to write about spring!

(oh, and students came up with some great insights about the uses and limits of images in the composing process)

Mostly Ups!

First, an update: I did finally figure out a way to turn off the projector. And, as a class, we figured out how to lift the blinds to let the gorgeous sunset in during class last week. I’m marking this down as significant technology progress.
 
The Twitter assignment I’m using to promote lateral and creative research also is working well – or at least I can say it is accomplishing one goal: Improving my own Twitter practice. I think I have an easier time deciding what to Tweet and Retweet now that I have a specific audience in mind (and not just the randomly assembled tiny group of followers who have chanced upon my account, and, digging my cowboy hat and hot dog eating picture, have signed on to follow).
 
I have also found a number of tech-related articles that are very helpful to the digital literacy work and research I am doing. And I have to say I find it very cool to check my feed and see my students conversing with one another on their research topics. Yes, they are assigned to do so. But they are doing it – and doing it better than I could have predicted! Feel free to check us out @emilysimnitt and/or #Eng102.

Ups and Downs

I’ve been thinking a lot about technology and limits – that is, how far should I stretch my digital literacy in public, or, put another way, how much can I embarrass myself with digital faux pas in class and still maintain enough credibility and authority to make the evaluative decisions I must as the class instructor?
 
As the last person of the day in the special technology room in the ILC on Tuesdays, I’ve been trying to figure out how to turn everything off. I am not always successful and may be responsible for shortening the lifespan of the projector. Sigh. It would seem that turning things on and off is a basic technology skill mastered by pretty much all humans tall enough to reach a light switch (a skill that can be acquired by some non-humans as is evidenced by smart pet videos on YouTube). Apparently not. I’m adding to my to-do tech list this week: Figure out how to turn the projector off!
 
My inability to perform this simple task is undermining my confidence somewhat in the much trickier digital technology project I’m undertaking: Incorporating Twitter into the research process for an 8-10 page paper requirement in my English 102 class. We began last week with an in-class workshop where everyone present was able to sign up for an account and (mostly) follow each other and try out the format. I will be following up with students tonight to see how researching within the social media network site went on their own.
 
Essentially, students are required to find and follow Twitter handles that appear to be related to their areas of inquiry and/or their service learning agencies. I went through and saw that most students had found a number of accounts to follow. The question remains: Will this yield any useful information? Will this be a useful assignment? Will students be able to transfer this activity to other types of research they will do in their personal and professional lives?

SMART moves

This week’s digital learning in the ILC was literally hands-on: I had students demonstrate how they found the best sources for their Annotated Bibliographies using the SMART board. I still feel a bit like I’m in the matrix when I stand in front of the thing and make the sweeping arm gestures necessary to move the virtual keyboard to the corner or scroll up and down a web page. As with most new technology, practice – and trial and error – helps you feel more comfortable and less like a fool when you use it.

One of my goals in teaching with the SMART board is to give students the opportunity to try it out. Since I’m constantly making minor errors and accidents, they should feel more comfortable being put on the spot. There is no expectation of perfection in trying out new technology in my classroom!

I am beginning my Twitter-as-a-research tool assignment next week and plan to incorporate the SMART board into that sequence as well. I also think it might be useful in demonstrating revising short passages of text.

Anyone else use a SMART board in teaching writing and/or research? Any best practices?

Procrastination

I have been meaning to post to this blog for months -- where does the time go? Oh, yeah, into the belly of procrastination!

I am teaching English 102 (College Research and Writing) in a technology-enhanced classroom this semester and had planned on making an entry each week (after each of my weekly classes) about the pros and cons of using the different technology available. It is now the fourth week of the semester, and I have yet to post.

Last night in class, I took advantage of the two screens to show a few Superbowl ads to talk about cultural assumptions and how the argument of each ad relies on its creators having knowledge of a specific cultural context and audience (just like students will need to as they work on their Research Arguments). I also used class time to help a number of students who are behind (doh!) get caught up. To help them in the class -- and myself -- in keeping procrastination at bay, we watched this nifty little video.

I thought I would share and make a public committment to stop procrastinating and honor my goal of writing more about digital technology in the classroom!

The Beauty of Prezi

A couple of quick digital technology updates: First, I created a "Twapper Keeper" of tweets from the HMA conference last month. I like the idea of using Twitter as a way of taking notes at a public event; notes can be shared with an interested group -- and they are stored for the Twitterer as well. This feature -- one of taking notes -- will be useful in my English 102 class semester, I think.

On a second Teaching Composition with Digital Technology note: I finally understand the fuss about Prezi. I used it in my English 101 class this week in lieu of a midterm. I divided up the course Learning Objectives we've covered so far (writing process, revision, rhetorical choices, genre, challening reading) among groups and assigned them to brainstorm how we as a class have worked toward meeting these objectives. I then showed them Prezi and assigned them to make a brief presentation using the platform that could serve as a reminder and digital resource for the class about the objectives.

Students easily learned the platform and made great, engaging presentations. As a class we were able to discuss the rhetorical choices they made in creating the presentations and students were able to share tricks they learned as they explored Prezi.

Practical stuff: I teach in a computer classroom; two out of five groups used their own laptops instead of the computers in the room. My class is a three-hour block, and, from start to finish (including Prezi tutorial), the activity took up about half of class. This could easily be done in a twice-a-week class.

Best midterm ever!

Twitter @ the HMA Conference

@EmilySimnitt will be tweeting during the conference. Follow and add to the discussion at #HMAConf.