My Take on Twitter

     I was  introduced to twitter in EDM 310 class one night.   Twitter, to my understanding, is a web based way to make short comments to others that you "tweet" or communicate with, much like a chat.   The entries are relatively short.  This reminds me of texting which I can do on my phone.  This is a social device.  I really don't see much good that it can be in the field of education unless teachers want to communicate ideas this way.  However in order to effectively communicate, I need much more space like in a blog.  The newscasts have talked about Twitter and how it has become the new sensation catching on fast around the world.   This is great for social situatiohns, but I do not see much academic good in it.   Online I found out what twitter is exactly. I have experience setting up a twitter account online.  I doubt that I will have much use for it since I stay very busy already.   Perhaps it would be good for interacting with fellow sorors that are miles away or for meeting new sorors that live in other places.  For this benefit, I will give twitter a try. 

EDM 310 Podcasts Review

I have reviewed podcasts from my own EDM 310 Spring 2009 class as well as podcasts from EDM Fall 2008. In all, I enjoyed most of them. There was much in-depth well thought out information. However, I would improve some things. First of all, when doing a podcast it is important to sound conversational. Many students sounded as if they were reading from a script. Perhaps they wanted to make sure that they had given all the information, but podcasts are supposed to sound conversational. Know your material well so that you can discuss it. Second, many students repeated the sound "um" which denotes nervousness. Perhaps the idea of performing in front of the class or on the web made them nervous. I know that this made me nervous. Perhaps in the future, podcasts can be done one group at a time without an audience of fellow classmates present. I heard some papers shuffling which was somewhat distracting. Note cards may help in the future as well as maybe a practice run on a tape recorder before the actual podcast so the students can become more comfortable with themselves in front of a mike.
I would use podcasts in my classroom experience as a teacher. I would employ some of the above tips in order to ensure a smooth production. I would also like to add that of the professional podcasts that I've heard on the web, some were too conversational. The hosts talked about everything from the weather to the coffee they were drinking to their vacations before getting down to the subject that they were supposed to be speaking on. So my fellow students shouldn't feel so badly at this critique. We all have room for improvement.

Plusses and Minuses of Blogs in a Classroom

It has been a wonderful experience learning and sharing with the fellow students in EDM 310 Spring 2009. Everyone has been very eager to learn, share and help each other. We have used blogs extensively in our classroom. I have very much enjoyed the experience. Even my husband, Leonard, who had not heard of blogs before this class was so excited that he created two of them: one personal and one for his outreach ministry. He is even encouraging his Masonic lodge to use blogs for some of their business dealings. In other words, blogs have caught on in a big way with me and my family. I think that they will have just the same effect in the classroom.
I think that blogs are a fun, easy, different way to get students to look at reading and writing assignments. It is also an innovative way for teachers to share information with their students. I would have my students to create a blog at the beginning of the school year and respond to reading assignments that way. I would also require blog following among my students and idea sharing. My own class blog will keep my students up to date on assignments, had outs and test dates as well as test materials needed. This is how I would encourage a paperless classroom.
However, I do see some drawbacks to this method of teaching. First of all, some of my students may not have access to a computer to create a blog and keep up with postings. In addition, many students may complain that they may not have time to post assignments to blogs when using public computer facilities which are often closed when the student leaves school or work. Some other students may complain of computer illiteracy while others may complain of constantly losing passwords.
All in all, I would be willing to work around many of these obstacles whenever I can because I feel that computer literacy and advanced technology should be taught and made available to every student. We are not only preparing our young people to be lifelong learners, but we are also preparing them to be ready for the technological future ahead.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

In his July/August Atlantic Monthly Magazine article entitled "Is Google Making Us Stupid," Nicholas Carr explains how he feels about the availability of information on the web superhighway and how that availability is affecting us mentally. He asserts that as we read and mentally digest so much concenrated information over time, the very way our brains are wired to process and think changes. According to him, we lose the deep thinking and reasoning capaacity that comes with more in depth material interpretation. He goes on to say that even though we lose this skill, we are gaining the access to much more factual intelligence. In fact, he asserts, our brains are becoming rewired to process such copius, fast paced, largely factual information. However, this makes us become more dependent on the computer for knowledge and the seemingly impending control of our facultieds by artifical intelligence, but how reasonable is he really being?
Technology and the fast pace of the internet has been for me very intimidating. I am one of those English majors who not only is used to but who also sees much merit in the long, involved read. I am not very good at digesting a lot of knowledge in a short period of time. Howevr, I do see the trend toward a more information prone society. I will use technology in my classroom because, after all, much can be gained by it and it is the way of the future. I want my students to be prepared for the what the future brings. However, I believe that both worlds can co-exist. I will also instill in my students the appreciation of more critical and literary thought. This is also good for the intellect. After all, we were created for thought. We cannot be so busty gathering information that we do not have an appreciation of it or of how to use it.

What Is Wikipedia and How Should My Students Use It?

Wkipedia's name means "a collaborative website encyclopedia". The basis of Wikipedia is that its information can be edited or added to by contributors who, it seems, can be anyone. The encyclopedia's credibility is not very well trusted because it can be contributed to or edited in this way. However, one good thing about the encyclopoedia is that it does ask for certain guidelines for contributing. The contributor must have a neutral point of view as well as provide credible citations, sources and references. Articles often have links to other websites and sources of information as well. This "grass roots" project has more than 75,000 active contributors working on 9,000,000 articles worldwide in over 250 languages.
I feel that Wikipedia is a good way to get started with research. In other words, its information can get a student on the road to information gathering in ther research process. However, as a teacher, I would not recommend that this be a primary source or even a final source for information in writing. The links that the website provides within its articles can be more reliable and usable as confirmation sources of information, so as a research tool, I would encourage my students to use Wikipedia minimally.