Today’s readings about peer reviews brought up some good points.
Despite the fact that the word is now a pejorative, students need to recognize the value of criticism – I’m assuming that all of us already do. It’s something difficult to confront, this idea of an audience; after all, it didn’t exist back in high school. Yet when we reach college, our papers are expected to be seen by more eyes than just those of the teacher. For some, this is a terrifying prospect. I’ve known a few writers who have written pages upon pages of work, yet you wouldn’t know it because not a soul has seen this supposed writing. There’s nothing wrong with personal, introspective writing, but if your writing is personal due to fear of criticism, you might as well start practicing alchemy; it’s a little more productive.
The Practice in Context article was very informative with its classroom example of going over the “ground rules” of criticism. It established which comments were productive, which comments were hurtful, and gave examples of comments that are essentially meaningless like “nice.” From my own experience, I’ve been in classes that have had a real “culture of nice,” meaning that everyone was sweet and peachy-keen to one another, but absolutely nothing productive was said or done. We need to find ways around this (and the articles gave some great examples), because this seems to be the trap that students most often fall into. It may be tough for some to comprehend, but writing in college advances the writing discourse from a student-teacher relationship to a student-audience relationship. And in college, the audience is no longer imaginary; it’s a downright inescapable force of nature.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Word About Listservs
The Teaching Writing With Computers article for tomorrow discussed listservs in great detail, so I though I would provide my own advice on how best to use a listserv.
Step 1. Don't use a listserv.
Well, that may be a little harsh. E-mails that give the entire class important information (cancellations, postponements, etc.) are obviously a necessity. But for class discussion, the listserv has really been made obsolete. Some of you already know this information, but I'm posting for the benefit of those looking for new technologies to use in the classroom.
Anyway, here's my beef with listservs:
1. They clog your inbox. Instead of being in a static location that can be accessed by the student at any time, the messages of listservs may find students at the worst possible time: when they absolutely don't want to think about class. This can cause annoyance, and student inevitably ignoring most of the messages that end up in their inbox.
2. The discourse is unorganized. With listservs, you don't get clean threads of conversation that can be easily followed. Instead, there's more than a bit of confusion, which can make discussion through the use of a listserv far less productive than in-class discussion.
3. The discussion isn't saved in any real, easy-to-access, comprehensive form. Most people are going to care less if their writing becomes that ephemeral.
4. Listservs are too confusing for most people to use properly. In EVERY listserv I've been a part of, people always, ALWAYS reply to the entire group when they mean to reply to a single person (an easy mistake to make). Then they send an apology e-mail to the entire group for doing this. You also have to be physically removed from a listserv instead of quitting it at your own discretion. This can also be very annoying.
So my solution to the listserv is (obviously by this point) the blog or the message board. If you're concerned with students not knowing when new messages are posted to a blog, most Internet browsers have something called an RSS feed reader (which can also be stand alone programs) which informs the user of a blog or web page update without being as intrusive as a listserv. I have writing teachers writing in the "feeds" section of my web browser, and the title of the blog becomes bolded whenever someone makes a new post.
If you're interested in the concept of "feeds" on the Internet, there's a ton of information out there. Or you can just ask me :)
Step 1. Don't use a listserv.
Well, that may be a little harsh. E-mails that give the entire class important information (cancellations, postponements, etc.) are obviously a necessity. But for class discussion, the listserv has really been made obsolete. Some of you already know this information, but I'm posting for the benefit of those looking for new technologies to use in the classroom.
Anyway, here's my beef with listservs:
1. They clog your inbox. Instead of being in a static location that can be accessed by the student at any time, the messages of listservs may find students at the worst possible time: when they absolutely don't want to think about class. This can cause annoyance, and student inevitably ignoring most of the messages that end up in their inbox.
2. The discourse is unorganized. With listservs, you don't get clean threads of conversation that can be easily followed. Instead, there's more than a bit of confusion, which can make discussion through the use of a listserv far less productive than in-class discussion.
3. The discussion isn't saved in any real, easy-to-access, comprehensive form. Most people are going to care less if their writing becomes that ephemeral.
4. Listservs are too confusing for most people to use properly. In EVERY listserv I've been a part of, people always, ALWAYS reply to the entire group when they mean to reply to a single person (an easy mistake to make). Then they send an apology e-mail to the entire group for doing this. You also have to be physically removed from a listserv instead of quitting it at your own discretion. This can also be very annoying.
So my solution to the listserv is (obviously by this point) the blog or the message board. If you're concerned with students not knowing when new messages are posted to a blog, most Internet browsers have something called an RSS feed reader (which can also be stand alone programs) which informs the user of a blog or web page update without being as intrusive as a listserv. I have writing teachers writing in the "feeds" section of my web browser, and the title of the blog becomes bolded whenever someone makes a new post.
If you're interested in the concept of "feeds" on the Internet, there's a ton of information out there. Or you can just ask me :)
Computers and Literacy
Laurin mentioned that she wanted more information on how to use technology in the classroom as a way to expand writers as writers. And, I think her point is valid, so I wanted to start this new thread devoted wholly to the topic. The last thread was getting a little bit too convuluted, I think.
When I teach with technology, I hope to first help my students to view the internet and writing on the internet critically. Students must be taught to discern between credible and non-credible sources. (This could be taught in the classroom like Mel is teaching it. Going through websites, examing their information, determining if it should be trusted.... etc.) It can also be approached from another direction. Students often do not realize the way in which the internet presents issues of gender, race, and class. They often blindly absorb this sort of information, which can be very dangerous. (This issue was addressed in one of our readings. Black students realized that african americans were being portrayed stereopyically all over the net.) This stereopyical information infiltrates the mind, especially if we are unaware of it. I want my students to be able to actively read and write online, not pasively. The internet is not an inert, neutral space, and so it must be treated critically, and to be honest, it isn't. (Much in the same way that television, often isn't...) If students learn to view the internet critcally, they not only become better users of the internet for their own research, but also better writers, online and off, because they can learn that what they put out there counts. (They don't want to perpetuate the stereotypes.)
Also, I want to help my students use computer technology as a rhetorical space, as another outlet for their creativity, and one that allows them to express through many different venues. Technology allows people to intertwine visual and written communication. Now, more than ever, they are inextricably linked. Programs such as iweb, powerpoint, publisher, even Word, allow communication to be on two different levels, the visual and the written. I know that some people would consider that the visual has no place really in an English room, but since so much composition occurs on the computer, it cannot be ignored anymore. I am not suggesting that our students become visual designers, but rather learn how to combine technological aspects to make their arguments better heard, more appealing. This is not even a new idea, poets use visual design often in their work, playing with form on the page, to accentuate their meanings. Pictures, well-used white space, creatively presented words, all can be captured through composing via the computer. It opens up a whole new exciting range of creativity for our students. (And, it will help them in the future, since many employers are using this sort of visual and written communication in presentations, meeting, etc. in the workplace.)
When I teach with technology, I hope to first help my students to view the internet and writing on the internet critically. Students must be taught to discern between credible and non-credible sources. (This could be taught in the classroom like Mel is teaching it. Going through websites, examing their information, determining if it should be trusted.... etc.) It can also be approached from another direction. Students often do not realize the way in which the internet presents issues of gender, race, and class. They often blindly absorb this sort of information, which can be very dangerous. (This issue was addressed in one of our readings. Black students realized that african americans were being portrayed stereopyically all over the net.) This stereopyical information infiltrates the mind, especially if we are unaware of it. I want my students to be able to actively read and write online, not pasively. The internet is not an inert, neutral space, and so it must be treated critically, and to be honest, it isn't. (Much in the same way that television, often isn't...) If students learn to view the internet critcally, they not only become better users of the internet for their own research, but also better writers, online and off, because they can learn that what they put out there counts. (They don't want to perpetuate the stereotypes.)
Also, I want to help my students use computer technology as a rhetorical space, as another outlet for their creativity, and one that allows them to express through many different venues. Technology allows people to intertwine visual and written communication. Now, more than ever, they are inextricably linked. Programs such as iweb, powerpoint, publisher, even Word, allow communication to be on two different levels, the visual and the written. I know that some people would consider that the visual has no place really in an English room, but since so much composition occurs on the computer, it cannot be ignored anymore. I am not suggesting that our students become visual designers, but rather learn how to combine technological aspects to make their arguments better heard, more appealing. This is not even a new idea, poets use visual design often in their work, playing with form on the page, to accentuate their meanings. Pictures, well-used white space, creatively presented words, all can be captured through composing via the computer. It opens up a whole new exciting range of creativity for our students. (And, it will help them in the future, since many employers are using this sort of visual and written communication in presentations, meeting, etc. in the workplace.)
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