Extreme Makeover: Updating Class Activities for the 21st Century
by Rena Shifflet and Cheri Toledo (June 2007)
This article discusses the idea of using technology to update traditional classroom writing skills. The authors list many "old" writing activities, then correlate each with a "new" idea that can utilize technology to enhance or replace the old way of creating the assignment. The topics discussed all feature a collaborative writing theme which ties in perfectly with the nature of the new technology activities. Newsletters were mentioned as a meaningful class activity. It was noted though, that it is very difficult to have 20+ students working on the same piece at the same time. Ms. Shifflet and Ms. Toledo suggest a free web based program called "Zohowriter" for newsletter work. This program has a built in archive for saving work with a feature that allows it to lock when another person is editing a piece. This is valuable so that work will not be lost from one student to another. The final newsletter can then be posted to a website or class blog for viewing. Blogs are useful in that they allow student writing to be viewed by an authentic audience. Another useful we tool is that of photosharing. Photosharing is a way for students to post photos to add to reports, presentations or blogs. "Flicktion" was mentioned as a site that assists students in writing a story inspired by a photo. The authors believe that wiki's are a useful tool for students in researching and editing. Students can upload their research content and edit the content of others as well.
I liked the ideas presented in this article. Most of the ideas themselves were not new to me, however, many of the free online websites and tools were. I am going to do some research on some of the sites listed to investigate how kid friendly, easy and safe they would be with young children in the clasroom. The authors do point out that the dark side of using all of this new technology is the potential for misuse. They advocate using this as a teaching tool in ethics and responsiblity. I would definitely be willing to try the blogs and newsletter tools. I would need to do more research on "wiki's" before using this tool. I do love the idea of using computers to update writing skills that were formally limited to paper and pencil. Between the articles and all of our projects in Educ 422, I am getting excited about technology and the limitless possibilities that it can bring to our future students.
The following is a partial list of websites/resources organized by topic for your convenience and review (complete listings are in the article):
Collaborative Writing: http://docs.google.com
www.zoho.com
http://www.writeboard.com
http://www.letterpop.com
Blogs: WordPress http://www.wordpress.com
21publish http://www.21publish.com
Blogger http://www.blogger.com
Edublogs http://www.edublogs.org
Gaggle http://www.gaggle.net
Flicktion http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/flicktion
Creative Commons Licensing (http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/
It's not coolness factor that counts, by Don Hall
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In this article, Don Hall talks about the emphasis on what is "cool," in
particular with technology. He says that there is too much focus on what's
cool, w...
14 years ago
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI like this idea too! It is always good to find new ways that you can present to a classroom. I am definitely going to be using the Newsletter and blog ideas for my classroom. I believe that if students can grasp ideas at a young age they can really excel, and feel accomplished by the end of the year. With every new technology has a down side though. Using the internet and giving students virtually the world is a scary to most parents. So I am going to encourage my students parents to go on the internet with their student and look at what they are posting on their blogs and pictures that they are using. I think that once parents feel more comfortable with the idea, nothing will stop the learning process. I will be checking out these websites as well! Great job!!
Erin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your article, I felt that it had a lot of useful information. A lot of what you mentioned was not foreign to me, but as you said some of the applications were. I would also use many of the tools in my classroom, but with any type of technology there could be downsides. The only negative I see would be the misuse if the technology and any outside interference with my classroom. I feel that away to combat that would be just as the author said using it as a teaching tool in ethics and responsibility.