This week for class we spent time discussing the use of blogs, wikis, and feeders in the classroom. I have personally used wikis and blogs on my own but I haven't had the opportunity to use them with my students yet. I am very excited after reading all about them in Hicks(2009) I now see that there are so many opportunities to use the wikis and blogs. I like the idea of students being able to communicate and construct their own meaning online. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to work on a project online where they research and collaborate.
I have never worked with RSS feeder or even heard of them for that matter. But I think that the concept of students being able to choose topics they are interested in and have many different sources brought to their fingers tips is wonderful. These many different sources can be used as a teaching tool for students. The ability to figure out if something is a worthwhile piece of information is an important skill that they will always need. I also like how the feeder can bring different points of view of the same topic to you, it pushes students to think outside of their own worlds and learn about others and their experiences. I think that giving students the ability to use the RSS feeder is a useful teaching tool however; I do struggle with giving students so much freedom on the internet. There are so many things out there that are incorrect of misleading or inappropriate for students. I’m just not sure how we give them this freedom while still keeping on top of what we’re doing.
I am very excited to introduce digital writing workshop but I have so many reservations of giving students that kind of freedom on the internet. There are so many things on the internet that students can get into that I don't think that students should be exposed to. The internet also creates an issue of anonymity that allows people to give their point of view or say things that they may not say normally face to face that could be hurtful instead of helpful. I think that these are hurdles that we will all have to cross with the introduction of so much technology into schools. I think that this will have to be a continued discussion as we experiment with our students to find out what works and doesn't work.
You made a very significant comment here Rianna: "I am very excited to introduce digital writing workshop but I have so many reservations of giving students that kind of freedom on the internet." When you pose an issue like this, you need to try and explore your answers to your own questions. For example, say more specifically how you could use the digital writing workshop in your curriculum? In addition, what reservations do you have and why? How would these reservations realize themselves in the assignments you would design in your class? These are exactly the kind of issues you need to explore further in these entries.
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