Random Thoughts

For about a month now I have been using Moodle with my classes rather than Blackboard.  Last week I gave a talk at a small conference we had on campus to publicize the Moodle Pilot program.  You can find it here.  It was fun, and there was some interest on the part of other faculty members, so I am hopeful that we will be able to continue using it next semester and that, eventually, it may become an official university option.

I have used Moodle for a number of years now, and I am so happy to be back using it.  It has made my life so much simpler!

It has been a frustrating semester technology-wise.  I have one course set up on a wiki and blog.  One course is not really using technology except to turn assignments in on Blackboard.  The other two use Blackboard to some degree or another almost every day.  After a terrible start to the semester, my students could finally all get on Blackboard.  Then they couldn’t access their university email.  Then they could get on both.  Then they could not access certain functions of Blackboard (like uploading assignments).  This semester has really made me think about going strictly to a wiki/blog environment for my classes.  So far they have consistently been available to the students.  I don’t even want to think about what I would do if that ceases to be an option.

I have tried to be patient, but this is ridiculous.  When I last complained to tech people at school, they indicated that if I don’t stick it out and get past this learning curve, I’ll never be able to use it.  I tried explaining that it wasn’t the learning curve that was bothering me; it was the fact that nothing works consistently.  I know there is more I can learn about everything.  I am willing to learn.  But when my students and I can’t use the technology because it doesn’t work, I can’t see much reason to stick with it.

Sorry for the rant.  I needed to get it out of my system.

In looking for something to inspire a post this evening, I ran across one called Education, or just getting by?by Robbie Mitchell.  While the purpose of the post was to talk to other young people about the need to get an education rather than a grade, I was struck by the story he used to open the post:

Today, my Mechanics teacher had trouble getting the projector to turn on.  I always find it entertaining watching someone very intelligent, but very behind the times, attempting to wrestle technology into submission.  He essentially kept trying to press the same button over again, and I guess that must have worked eventually because after about ten minutes, we finally began class.

… as all of this transpired, more and more students in the class decided that this ten minute wait was too long and decided to leave.  By the time he finally figured out how to use the projector, I’d say half the class was already gone….

The way that the writer talks about this professor and his struggle with the projector, I don’t think it was an unusual occurrence.  Maybe it isn’t always the same professor, but it seems like there are may be a number of professors at his school for whom technology is a challenge.

When I first read this, I thought, “How can someone not know how to run a projector?”  But then it morphed into, “Well, we have all experienced technical glitches.  I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.”  And, at least, he was attempting to use some sort of technology in class.  We can hope that it was an excellent presentation once the projector started working.

So I have to ask myself, what would I have done?  Would I have done any better? What could I or anyone else do to minimize the frequency of those kinds of situations?

Well, the first step, I think, is to practice.  Practice a lot.  Be sure you know how to use the equipment.  Write down all the steps to follow if you have to — and then follow them!  I almost aways write everything down because that is how I learn.  But I also refer to my notes until the task is automatic.  And even then, I make sure I know where those notes are in case I need them.

The second thing, and maybe the most important, is to ask for help when you need it.  Ask a colleague before class.  But if it happens during class, don’t be afraid to ask students. It shown much more intelligence to admit when you don’t know how to do something than to pretend that you do when everyone can see you don’t.

These seem like basic ideas that I would never have thought to blog about if I hadn’t read Robbie’s post.  It’s good to see things from the other side of the room once in a while!

I got another  wonderful comment on my “Rethinking my Connectedness” post.  This one was from Larry Sanger himself.  In the comment he said:

My disillusionment with the social Internet really doesn’t have to do with a dislike of specific tools. Like you, I honestly like what the tools I use do for me — if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be using them. What has me disillusioned is the opportunity cost the tools involve, and what I call the “pale shadow” of real human interaction that is Internet socialization. And now that so many people have moved so much of their free (social) time online, the actual quantity of social opportunities offline seems to be dwindling!

I think I understood all this from his original post, but perhaps I didn’t say it clearly, so I wantd to be sure to allow Larry to restate his position in his own words.

I am fascinated by this topic.  In my case and the case of my husband, I would say that most of our socialization takes place online.  Most of our non-work time is spent there.  And sometimes it feels like a “pale shadow” of what we could be experiencing.  But on the other hand, we don’t have a group of people here that we are ignoring in order to spend time online, so maybe it isn’t so bad.  We are slowly developing such a group of friends and acquaintances, but we haven’t really gotten there yet.  Is the Internet keeping us from doing that?  No, probably not.  It is our own laziness and, in my case, basic shyness.  And yet it probably contributes more than I realize.

What am I missing by being online?  That is a personal question that I will have to think about.  But there is another question that is maybe more important.   What could the Internet do differently to give us more real social interaction?

The answer, at least for me right now, seems to be community.  Just as in the small town where I currently live, in an online community I am known.  I am valued.  I am cared about.  I have belonged to such an online community for several years now.  I have been on the sidelines for most of that time, but over the years I have seen people reach out and connect to each other in really intense and very personal ways.  People in this community meet face to face.  They talk on the phone.  They interact both inside and outside of the community.

How is that community different from Facebook or some of the nings I have joined?  The main difference that I see is real diversity of focus.  It isn’t just about teaching English or about people who went to school with me.  It is about all aspects of life.  I can belong to the community and interact with people on many different levels and on many different topics.  It is a much richer experience.  Another difference is that the community has developed over time.  There aren’t thousands of new people joining each year.  There are new topics on a regular basis, but the old topics remain and can be revisited and reopened if the interest is there.  The pace is slower and more thoughtful.

I don’t know if such a community would seem different enough in Larry’s eyes to qualify as not being faceless.  But for me the experience there is hugely different from what I experience elsewhere.

Unlike Larry, I haven’t really written or even thought that much about this before.  I am thinking as I am writing.  I am learning as I go along.  And I still have a lot to learn!

Thanks, Larry, for both your original post that started me thinking and for your comment that made me clarify my thoughts.

Someone somewhere wrote about David Silver’s blog and teaching, and I started following silver in sf.  (My apologies to whomever it was that had the original link!)

Anyway…

Yesterday’s post was his most recent assignment for a digital media production class.  It is a wonderful assignment requiring students to attend a film festival and then use flickr, blogs and twitter to record and comment on the experience.

What a great assignment!  It makes me think about how I am and am not using these tools with my students.  It makes me want to do a lot better!

So if you are looking for inspiration, check out silver in sf.

I can’t seem to find who posted the link, but I ended up at Teach Paperless yesterday.  It is an entire blog devoted to not using paper in the classroom.  He has a lot of interesting ideas as well as facts and figures.  If you are even remotely interested in what it might be costing your district to make all those copies and distribute them, not to mention the additional paper the students bring into the classroom, this blog is worth a read.

I have written about this before.  I use almost no paper in my classroom.  This semester, most everything is on the blog or wiki.  Last semester it was on WebCT.  Teaching this way is so much easier than lugging around stacks of papers. My students do have a composition book that they use to take notes in and do work in class, but one composition book will last them the whole year, probably.  (At least the less prolific writers!).  I am not opposed to paper and certainly do not forbid my students to print things out, but I prefer to do it all online. So do my students!

In a post called Why Do I Hate Paper, the blogger at Teach paperless says,

It’s not paper I’m against.

I’m against the static idea of knowledge that paper so often represents.

That’s not where the future is.

That post is a great place to start if you want to check out his blog!