(no date)
Well, I would just like to say that in my response tothe article we read, I don't see a lot
point inarguing that the internet and all of its trappings arebad. Seriously, who is going
to give up the internet? It is a useful tool to look up information for aquick reference.
For example, I had a paper forShakespeare due today and I couldn't find the paperthat had
how to spell Branaugh and Olieve. I got onthe internet and in about 3 minutes found out
how tospell it.
I like online communication. I find it is a goodway to keep in touch with
friends and stay informed inthier lives, even if they are far away. In Poland, itwas my
only way of communicating home, really. I doprefer to write a letter or call though,
because it isa really impersonal form of communication. I don'tthink I could really have
a true conversation on theinternet because I can't hear the speaker's voice, orsee their
facial expressions. It is good thoughbecause it has opened up the world.
I talk to
peoplefrom all over, people I would never have the chance tomeet in person. I read an
article once, I don't remember where itwas from, but it said that the internet was
destroyingreal communication. People come to depend on this asa way to communicate and so
lose certain socialskills. I agree with this. I am biased because Iwould prefer to talk
about things and discuss them inperson. I learn so much better that way. I get somuch
more out of it than just what words on a pageportray. I also dislike writing journals.
I don'tthink that anyone can really understand what I amtrying to say through these.
Going back to the breaking down of communication andthe loss of social skills, I feel that
by making itconvenient for students to stay quiet in class doesn'thelp them. How can they
ever learn to say what theyfeel if they are not pushed to do it?
I think wewould all agree
that face to face communication is thebest way to talk to someone. If you take away
thenecessity for people to talk, then you are settlingfor second rate communication and I
don't think youwill ever understand their emotions that go with whatthey are saying.
You just settle for the best you canget because you don't push for something better.
I get tired of being on the internet. For me, thisway of communication will never take
the place of myphone calls or visits. It will never replace books.Who wants to stare at a
screen for hours reading anovel or Shakespeare? It just makes my eyes tired.
So for part
2 - I agree with starting with somethingsmall like you ladies were talking about. The
onlinegrammer guide is good. I'm not sure if you mentionedthis, but how to do a works
cited with all thedifferent versions of citing would be really useful.I think maybe
something like links to a cite forteachers with different lesson plans that have
usedcomputers in them.
What about having a site on how towrite an essay, how to read
critically, how to getstarted writing..there are warm-up and different waysto get your
brain thinking. Start with the basics,using as guidance a freshman who might not
knowanything about writing. Have a link to an onlinedictionary and theasaurus.
Have a word of theday/week. Have links to word games..crossword puzzlesor something.
Just a few little extras that wouldmake the website interesting, making people want
tocome back not necessarily for writing tips. I don'tknow. I am just throwing out some
ideas that may notreally be relevant.
-jess
(9/9/01)
This website was mainly about how to chose software for your classroom. There were 3 main
things to look for when chosing what programs to buy and use. The first was that you have
to identify what you want your program to do. You need to have specific ideas about this
because there are so many programs out there you could get lost loking for one.
Secondly,
you need to look at how versitile this program is. What all can
the program do for you. Is just word processing enough, or would you like revision software
included too? The third thing to look at is how easy it is to use. If you want to use a
program in your classroom, your students have to be able to learn how to use it
in a short amount of time. For example Microsoft Word is a good program because it is easy
to learn the basics of it in a short amount of time. This is important because you only
have your students for a limited amount of time during the day and you want to get the most
out of this time.
In conclusion, this site talked about creating your own programs to use.
Now, it says that it can be done with just a little computer programming expertise.
So, if we become proficient with these computers within the next year or two, we might try
it sometime.:) You never know; it might happen.
jess
(9/17/01)
I started looking at this site,http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/6.1/index.html and found not a
lot of relevant information so far. However, as I started to write this, I came upon an
article that Ithought was really interesting:
http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/6.1/binder.html?coverweb/whelan
This actually discussed I believe, a freshman college classroom that used the internt chat
rooms specifically to enhance classroom writing. The teacher used the internet to teach
point of views andgender roles. They read assingments and them tested them on the web.
The students then wrote a paper on their findings. There is a really good discussiont that
I read about it. If you have time, check it out. I would use it for my classroom.
A lot of
the information on this website talked about good points and bad points of using the
internet in the classroom, but didn't give specific examples orreally say anything. I
found this website to be interesting.
http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/6.1/binder.html?news/K01CWONLINE.htm
You could sign up for the online conference. It included online discussions and cwonline.
I thought it might be interesting to try out and see what all this is about. I am planning
on doing that this week and reporting on that later. I am done now. See you in class!
-jess
(9/25/01)
Well, I would just like to say that in my response to the article we read, I don't see a
lot point in arguing that the internet and all of its trappings are bad. Seriously, who
is going to give up the internet? It is a useful tool to look up information for aquick
reference. For example, I had a paper for Shakespeare due today and I couldn't find the
paper that had how to spell Branaugh and Olieve. I got on the internet and in about 3
minutes found out how to spell it.
I like online communication. I find it is a good way
to keep in touch with friends and stay informed in thier lives, even if they are far away. In Poland, it was my only way of communicating home, really. I doprefer to write a letter or call though, because it is a really impersonal form of communication. I don't think I could really have a true conversation on the internet because I can't hear the speaker's voice, or see their facial expressions. It is good though because it has opened up the world. I talk to people from all over, people I would never have the chance to meet in person. I read an article once, I don't remember where it was from, but it said that the internet was destroying real communication. People come to depend on this as a way to communicate and so lose certain social skills. I agree with this. I am biased because I would prefer to talk about things and discuss them in person. I learn so much better that way. I get so much more out of it than just what words on a page portray. I also dislike writing journals. I don't think that anyone can really understand what I am trying to say through these. Going back to the
breaking down of communication and the loss of social skills, I feel that by making it
convenient for students to stay quiet in class doesn't help them. How can they ever learn
to say what they feel if they are not pushed to do it?
I think wewould all agree that face
to face communication is the best way to talk to someone. If you take away the necessity
for people to talk, then you are settling for second rate communication and I don't think
you will ever understand their emotions that go with what they are saying. You just
settle for the best you can get because you don't push for something better. I get tired
of being on the internet. For me, this way of communication will never take the place of
my phone calls or visits. It will never replace books. Who wants to stare at a screen for
hours reading a novel or Shakespeare? It just makes my eyes tired.
So for part 2 - I agree with starting with something small like you ladies were
talking about. The online grammer guide is good. I'm not sure if you mentioned this, but
how to do a works cited with all the different versions of citing would be really useful.
I think maybe something like links to a cite for teachers with different lesson plans that
have used computers in them.
What about having a site on how to write an essay, how to
read critically, how to get started writing..there are warm-up and different ways to get
your brain thinking. Start with the basics, using as guidance a freshman who might not
know anything about writing. Have a link to an online dictionary and theasaurus. Have a
word of the day/week. Have links to word games..crossword puzzles or something. Just a
few little extras that would make the website interesting, making people want tocome back
not necessarily for writing tips. I don't know. I am just throwing out some ideas that
may not really be relevant.
-jess
(9/26/01)
So, I think that we should start with the MOO/MUD thing because we hear so much about it,
and I think it would be interesting to learn more about it to use in the classroom. I
liked Kari's idea about the story starting with one sentence and going to another, likewe
did in creative writing. One question I would like to know the answer to is what is the
goal of working with computers in the classroom. Do we want to facilitate discussion?
Dowe want to have peer editing? If we have a goal of what we want to do, I think it would
be easier to come up with ideas on how to work with computers in theclassroom.
When I was
doing my student observation at Shawnee, my teacher wanted the students to learn how to use
Word and how to write, concentrating on audience and writing styles. The seniors had to
design a magazine with graphics, interviewing people for articles andputting advertisements
in. I thought it was a good idea and it was efficient in teaching the students how to use
the computer, how to conduct interviews and cite them, and how to look at audience.
By the time they were done, they knew more about computers than Idid. That is jsut one
thing that I think might be a good idea to use in a class. I really don't have anymore
ideas at this present moment, but if I think of anything, I will e-mail all of you.
-Jess