Final Thoughts

I just wrote a message on the community blog about what I learned this semester. I thought I would add a few things here since that question asked us to focus on just one thing.

Perhaps one of the most important things that I will take away from this class is a different sense of awareness or sensitivity to the new technologies and the students of today who are growing up with them. I’m now in touch with the fact that technology is everywhere and it has permeated everything. There were some things, like Twitter, which I had never heard of before this class, and now I hear about Twitter at every turn. CNN tells its viewers to Twitter them; there are battles to see who can have the most followers. Before the class I was somewhat aware of blogging, but now I see blogs everywhere and I even have my own. New social networking sites such as Twine, Linkedin, and Hi5, are springing up all the time. I’ve even joined a few.

I am now much more sensitive to privacy issues than I was before. I had, of course, heard about a Miss America contestant whose nude photos had surfaced on Facebook or job applicants who were denied employment because of their MySpace content. But I hadn’t thought about the issue of privacy for students who might use technology in a class.

Before this class I had never heard of a teaching philosophy. I appreciated learning about it and it was good to have to put together my “teachnology” philosophy. It made me think hard about what how and why I would use technology in my teaching. Now, I think I should spend some time thinking about and articulating my teaching philosophy.

I think the time we spent reflecting on today’s students was well worth it. It’s not that I learned a lot of new things, but it was helpful to contextualize it.

Learning styles was not a new thing to me. It was interesting, though, to juxtapose learning style and technology.

I also really appreciated learning about new media. This was a totally new concept for me. I will now be more aware of how writing and storytelling are changing; how important images are and the usefulness of video.

I know I will use the skills and knowledge I’ve gained in this class. If I have the opportunity to teach, I have some very specific ideas for using technology to enhance my students’ learning. On the other hand, I might never actually teach English in the future so I might not have the chance to apply the learning in a pedagogical way. Even so, I know much of what I’ve learned will be useful in my personal life. I will keep my blog and make it a personal link with friends and family. I will start to be the keeper of our family webpage and stop relying on my husband to post things for me. I will constantly be aware of technology and will want to stay abreast of changes and new developments. I will have confidence that I can learn new technology. I’m very glad I took this class.

Final Presentation

I find myself doing some major procrastinating with the final presentation. After an entire semester of learning about various ways to use technology in the classroom, I have a pretty good idea what I'll use in my ESL classes but I don't have a good idea about how to present my ideas. I think part of my problem is the fact that I'm not currently teaching. It's been four years since I taught. On top of that, I don't have plans to teach in the near future and might, in fact, never teach. So it's hard for me to pull my ideas together and talk about what I plan to do with technology.

I know that the most important thing in any ESL class I might teach is to give the students plenty of opportunity for practice. Whether it's a listening class, a conversation class, a writing class or whatever, they need to practice. I used to tell my Japanese students the three most important things to do when learning English is practice, practice, practice. It was always fun to hear them quoting me on that.

Another thing I believe strongly is that it is important to create an environment where students can relax and feel comfortable practicing. When there is anxiety, language learning is harder.

Those are two goals I would have for technology in the ESL classroom--to give students a lot of practice, and to create a learning community where they feel safe and relaxed.

Knowing what I want to accomplish, the task now is to decide on the technology that will best meet those goals. I think the choice of technology would be related to the class I'm teaching. If I'm teaching writing, for example, blogging would be a good way to give students practice and create community. If I'm teaching listening, using sites on the internet could give them practice and having them create and listen to podcasts could give them community. For conversation, MOO could be useful. The writing done in a MOO is very conversation-like. And, of course, MOO creates community. In a speech class, I would have students make videos in addition to doing speeches in front of the class. When making a video, students would, hopefully, practice over and over to get the speech just right. I don't think students do that when they are speaking to the class. With a video, they would also have the chance to see and hear themselves. While this can be anxiety producing for some students, the anxiety will be ameliorated by practice. Watching each other's videos would help build community. Another option for community building is to have students work on the videos in small groups.

As I see that written out, I think one thing I should do for the presentation is to choose one class to focus on. That will make it easier to decide on the most appropriate technology.

So, now that I've organized my thoughts a little better, I think it's time to open a PowerPoint document and start putting it together. Monday will be here before I know it!

Blog Requirements

I don't know if it was during class or after class as we were leaving last night that Sue mentioned that to be "on track" with our blog requirements we should have 30 blogs total. I thought I was behind in my writing and thought I needed to spend time this week "catching up." After all, when I asked Judy how many points we would lose if we didn't have 30 blogs, she said, "150." Of course, she was just kidding.

I'm happy to say, though, when I checked today I learned I had written in my blog 32 times. I was very surprised. It seemed like I struggled to think of topics to write about but as I look back, maybe it wasn't as hard as I thought.

Some people have said in their blogs that they will continue to write after the class is over. I've thought about that as well. I believe I will continue to write. Without the pressure to have to write and without the pressure to write on "appropriate" topics, I think I can enjoy writing just for the fun of it.

I haven't told many people outside of the class about this site. (Just the other day, though, my tennis group started a blog and I signed in and left a comment as Effie, which will put them in touch with my blogspot.) After the class is over, I will probably let my friends and family know about the site. I'll put more pictures up on it and use it as a place to connect with people in a social way.

Professional Web Designers

I like simple websites. Robin Williams likes simple, uncluttered websites. However, I read somewhere recently (I didn’t make note of it at the time and now I can’t find it) that web designs are changing. They are becoming, like many modern things, geared toward the Millennials who like all things fast-paced, and exciting, which means moving, busy, hyper-active websites.

As I searched the web for examples of pages I like and don’t like I found something interesting. I found a number of websites for individuals and companies that do website design. I thought that might be a good place to find examples of “good” websites. However, I was mistaken. Many of the websites of designers were not designed very well. For example: http://www.alteredimpressions.com/ is a webpage that to me looks messy, clutter, and hard to follow. There are too many words on it and it just isn’t attractive.

On this page for professional web design, the text flows beyond the borders of the box and into over the Copyright insignia: http://risingline.com/ It seems very unprofessional to me.

The designers of http://www.sabiadesign.com/ chose a font that is very hard to read. It is small and is doing some strange pixeling and it’s pink! The page contains typos. And to top it off, there is a graphic that looks like curly hair that seems pretty distracting to me. I thought for sure with the pink font and curly hair graphic, this was a woman’s company, but I was wrong. In addition to all that, the designer talks a lot about himself. I find this much too personal for a business website that is trying to attract customers. After finding his portfolio where he links to some of his work I took a look at some of the pages he designed. They are busy and cluttered and some simply don’t work.

I did find one good thing on his website. It’s some interesting statistics. He doesn’t say where he got them so I don’t know if they are accurate, but they are interesting, nonetheless:

A few things you probably didn't know...
40% of users will not return to a site when they have had a negative experience.
79% of users scan a web page.
62% of users do not find what they are looking for on a site.
25% of users read slower online than in print.
Most users spend less than 10 minutes on most web sites.
A user will decide within 20 seconds if they are going to browse past the home page of your web site.

This all just goes to show you, anyone can design a webpage and someone might even pay you to do it. Maybe we can supplement our teaching salary with what we’re learning in this class. Someday we may come back and thank Judy for the newfound knowledge.

Webpage Woes

I'm busy working on my webpage assignment. I understand why I shy away from challenges like this. You would think that learning a new computer program (Dreamweaver) and designing a simple, straightforward webpage that will deliver my message would be enough for right now. But, noooo, I want to do more. I want rollover buttons and I want animated gif images and I want to import photos and on and on. So, I find myself not just trying to learn Dreamweaver, but now I'm busy trying to figure out Fireworks besides. There just isn't enough time for all that, not even taking into consideration my difficulty with technology in general.

I have been able to figure out how to make a rollover button and I have one of those on the page. I hope I can make myself satisfied with that and now move onto putting up my content.

Technology meets Religion

When churches started playing rock gospel music with guitars and drums, that was one thing. But now...the passion play on Twitter? Can it be?

A New York City church, founded in 1697, has joined the technology age and Tweeted the entire passion play, "in 140 character bursts," for three hours today.

You can read about it here.

I've never used Twitter myself. But I find it difficult to believe that anyone would have the patience to read through three hours of 140 character bursts. Was that an exercise in futility?

Well, I did a little more digging and found that there were many, many comments posted about the Passion Play. It looks like a lot of people followed it.

I also found a link on the church's website with the Tweets. Here's the link. Perhaps it wasn't three-hours worth of reading. Maybe it was a small number of tweets published over a three-hour period. Cody, as our Twitter expert, can you tell me more about this?

Word Map, Technology, and Gender

Digging a little deeper into the Cool Stuff blog on Twine, I found this interesting tidbit. Neoformix has made an interactive word map of the most popular words used on Twitter about the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. The larger the word, the more often it was used. You click on the word and it will take you to all the Tweets that used that word. That is cool!

I made another observation while checking out these Tweets. Based on profile pictures, I estimate that around 90% of the Tweeters tweeting about the Web 2.0 Expo were males. That doesn't really surprise me. In general, males tend to be more interested in technology than females. When you combine attending a technology expo with using technology to talk about the expo, I would assume men would far outweigh women.

That's been true of the STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) for a long time. The Department of Education has been trying to find out how to attract more females into these areas for years.

So far, not only have they failed to get more females into the sciences, but males are becoming less interested in going into STEM courses. Where are our scientists and engineers of the future going to come from?

Demotivators

I was looking through Twine today to see what new technology posts they might have. I didn’t see anything interesting there, but when I went to the Cool Things blog, the first one that came up was a website for Demotivators. I had seen some of these anti-achievement posters before but it was fun to see them again and be reminded of certain important axioms. For example, we need to remember: Agony: not all pain is gain; Defeat: for every winner there are dozens of losers; Failure: when your best just isn’t good enough.

I wonder what a principal would say if a teacher wanted to post some of these in their classroom?

14 year old Computer Literacy

I was reading the article on D2L “Teaching Internet Literacy Strategies: The Hero Inquiry Project.” In it, the authors quote Eagleton who says, “Navigating the Internet has become an essential literacy task for
today’s middle school students.” They go on to describe a project that teaches students how to choose topics, asking research questions, and do internet searches.

As I read this article, I thought about a conversation I had with my niece who is in 8th grade. She told me she is taking a computer class. I was excited to talk to her about it, thinking of all the things she might be doing and learning about computers and how to use them. Unfortunately, she said the class is boring and she hasn’t learned anything. Now, I know that might not mean much coming from a 13 year old. Lots of things are boring to them. She said, though, that she had the class last year also, and all they did was learn to use the keyboard (which she already knew) and they had to take a “virtual vacation.” She and her partner learned about Australia and made a PowerPoint about it (which she said she already knew).

Even that, I thought, could be interesting and a student could learn a lot about the internet and about PowerPoint. However, it seems her teacher is not very helpful and since she has already finished her project, which she says didn’t take much time or effort, all she does is talk to her friend during the class. She isn’t required to nor does she choose to use that time to explore the computer and all that she can do with it. I find that very disappointing, given what we are learning about the importance of computer literacy and using computers to enhance learning. Here she is in a computer class and even there, the teacher isn’t using the computer to enhance learning. It seems ironic. And it’s a pity.

Creepy Treehouse

Cody posted an article about "creepy-tree-house" in a discussion forum a while ago. I spent some time reading it again today and reading the responses to it. One of the responders, Melanie, made some very good points that have me thinking about our use of technology in the classroom.

The thesis of the article is that students are turned off by teachers’ use of technology to lure them into the classroom. The author, Jared Stein, says that when professors require students to interact on things like networking sites or use “an institutionally controlled technology/tool that emulates or mimics pre-existing technologies or tools that may already be in use by the learners” that is “creepy treehouse.”

If that is true, then we are currently learning a lot of creepy treehouses. It seems to me that D2L is an example of the latter—an institutionally controlled technology.

Now Melanie responded to this article with some interesting thoughts. She said, “Negotiating power relationships and privacy issues is the greatest challenge for equity-focused classroom 2.0 educators. Unless you are teaching a web-focused course…asking students to participate in social and participatory media should require clearly defined intentions.”

We spent a good amount of time early in the class discussing privacy with media such as Facebook and Blogs. But most of that privacy had to do with keeping outsiders from reading the Blogs or not posting things on Facebook you wouldn’t want your mother to read. Is that enough to take away the creepy treehouse feel for students?

I also appreciate Melanie’s concern with power relationships. That’s an interesting concept for teachers. There is definitely a power imbalance in the classroom, and I don’t think teachers would want that to be different, otherwise there would be chaos. At the same time, some of the power can be negotiated as Melanie suggests. One way to do this is to present various technology options and find out from the class which ones feel more safe and comfortable for the students.

I also agree with Melanie when she says we must clearly define our intentions for the use of technology. If we make it clear to students why we are using a particular technology, what it will add to the class, how we hope students will use it and what we hope they will learn, it is less likely to feel like creepy treehouse.

This was a thought provoking article. Thank you, Cody, for bringing it to our attention.

Just for Fun

My husband has always said, "Technology can be used for good or evil." I don't know if that was an original quote or not, but I like it.

Here's a bit of technology--neither good nor evil (except if you don't like the way they used animals). It's just for fun...

sheep

More on Visual Literacy

It feels good to have the group presentation behind me. It was exciting to hear from the class all the different ways students bring visual literacy into their classes already. It felt like preaching to the choir. I think I learned more from the class than they learned from the presentation. But preparing the presentation was quite a learning experience. I found many websites that will be useful in the classroom. I also found some I was able to use for my teachnology presentation.

It was also useful to reflect on the whole idea of visual literacy. I found myself thinking back on the ways I learned visual literacy. We used to make posters, drawings, maps, and diagrams. We would tell stories through collages. So, like everything else, I think there has always been visual literacy in the classroom but it is evolving. There is more emphasis on it now because of the new technology. The “information age” includes more graphics and images than perhaps there was in the “olden days.” There is more reliance on the visual over alphabetic than in the past.

Selfe said without visual literacy composition studies may become irrelevant. I don’t believe that. Yes, students need to be visually literate, but I don’t see how composition studies can become irrelevant. Students still need to have the ability to write. They can’t do all their communication through images. I think they need to be taught side by side.

On another note--my husband is taking a class in video documentaries. He was interested in the digital storytelling websites I found. I’m not sure what the difference is between digital storytelling and a documentary. One site said that digital storytelling is more of a first person narrative—a personal story. However, I found some story examples on some of the sites that were very much like a documentary.

After reading Selfe’s chapter and preparing the class presentation, I’m sure I will be incorporating more new media texts and visual literacy into my ESL teaching.

Neat sites

I've been digging around looking for interesting sites I might want to include in my web portfolio. I've found some pretty neat things that I can see myself using in ESL classes. They offer interesting ways for students to practice using English--reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Here's one where you can read the headlines from newspapers all over the world:
Newseum

Here's one that lets you draw comics. I think ESL students might enjoy being creative with this:
make believe
I tried my hand at comic writing--it's not very good, but it was fun: my comic

Comic Creator is similar to makebeliefscomix.

This one helps students learn spelling through interactive games. It has an audio file so students can hear how the word is pronounced and it gives an example of the word in a sentence.
spelling

Sketchcast acts like a whiteboard where you can sketch, draw, write, or whatever.
What makes this more interesting is that you can record audio as you are sketching. This would be a good opportunity for students to practice speaking.

Clover lets individuals to write vignettes including animation.

This site allows students to create multimedia presentations. You can use audeio, video, still images and text to put together a digital show:
surweb

I've used ask.com many times but now I know about answers.com. This is a tool that let's you get definitions of words as well as other information just by highlighting the word. You download the software onto your computer. This could be a very handy tool for English learners to easily find definitions of unknown words as they read webpages.
answers

Many students don't take the time to proofread their work. This is probably more true of ESL students. And even when they do proof their papers, they don't see many errors. Here's a site that helps students practice proofreading. It can be a nice exercise for developing grammar skills as well.
proofreading

Those are some of the recent sites I've found that will let my ESL students practice English in a number of fun, interesting, and educational ways.

Visual Literacy

I’ve been preparing for our upcoming group presentation on Selfe’s chapter on Visual Literacy. It’s been quite interesting. I’ve found some good sites for photos and images. I’ve learned about digital storytelling. I’ve seen some good lesson plans to help students learn visual literacy.

Through all this, I can see myself using new texts in my ESL class. I think it would be very good practice for students to listen to some of the digital stories on the internet and to have to author a digital story of their own. Through each other’s digital story, students can get to know each other better and increase their sense of community.

Many ESL teachers have students make presentations to the class. Often they suggest a cultural theme. Public speaking is an important skill and needs some attention. However, visual literacy is also important.

I wonder how/if visual literacy translates between cultures? Would a Middle Eastern student have trouble understanding a digital story made by an Asian student? Hum…something to research.

New Social Networking Site?

Today I was invited to join a Twine. Anyone ever heard of it? I joined because I got 50 reward points for doing so. I'll join lots of things for reward points! I haven't looked around the site much, but from what I can tell, it looks like a sophisticated Facebook. In fact, there's a technology trends twine that looks pretty interesting. I've found another way for me to explore the world of technology.

Here's the link if anyone is interested...

twine

Technology Problems

When I went to my blog last night to write about Medical Technology, none of my writing was there. Titles of the blogs showed up, and my pictures and profile were there, but none of the words I had written. It was an awful sight!

I thought maybe if I wrote a new blog it would stimulate the old blogs to return, so I wrote and posted the new entry. Unfortunatly, the title was there, but still no words.

I went into "Help" to see if there was something there that could, well, help. I found out that there had been others reporting inability to see their posts. They said they were working on it. Who knows what that means.

Judy thought maybe I had changed my font color. That is a possibility. I remember I had tried to change the font color for my heading and maybe I changed it for my blogs. But, the fix I chose is to go with a different template. So my blog has a new look. I don’t like it as well, but at least it now can be read. Besides that, maybe green is more fitting of a flamingo nest.

Medical Technology

I know we're studying pedagogy and technology, but I thought I would talk just a little bit about my recent experience with medical technology.

I came back from Ecuador with some kind of ailment. After three weeks without improvement, I went to the Dr. She ordered the routine tests--blood, urine, sinus and chest x-ray to look for infection or pneumonia. Everything came back normal except for the sinus x-ray which showed some congestion. The Dr. wanted to know what that was so she ordered a CT scan of my sinuses. It was scheduled for last Tuesday.

A couple days after seeing that Dr., I received a call from the specialist in infectious disease I had seen before my trip to Ecuador to consult about immunizations and prevention. He had reviewed my chart and wanted to see me. I scheduled that appointment for Tuesday since I was already going to be near his office for the sinus CT. Why make two trips to town when you can do it in one?

He was quite concerned because I had had a fever for a month. He said that shouldn't be happening and wanted to do a work-up for "fever of unknown origin." At that point, I had not had a fever for a day and a half so I thought maybe I should wait and see if I was getting better. He said that was an option, but thought it would be better to check it out since it could be a sign of something serious. I agreed and was promptly escorted to the lab where for the next 20 minutes I was poked and prodded and forced to donate a liter of blood that was separated into maybe 15 different vials and 4 different bottles for cultures. I won't go into a description of the paraphernalia that they gave me for "homework."

The most interesting test, though, was the CT. He wanted to see all my insides. That CT Scan is really some kind of technology! You lie on a bed, they shoot some “contrast” solution into your veins that you can feel coursing through your system with an interesting feeling of warmth, and they take pictures. It is so amazing to me that they can look right inside your body and see everything that is going on. When I went back on Thursday I was able to see my insides, there on the computer monitor. It boggled my mind.

Problem is, they could see something in my lungs that didn’t belong there, but even with all that technology, they couldn’t tell what it is. So now they are talking about more tests with more technology. I will talk to the Pulmonologist tomorrow to find out about that option. Personally, I think I’ve seen enough medical technology for right now. Since I’m feeling a lot better and believe I’m getting well, I think I’ll forego the next bit of tests and stick to technology I can use in the classroom.

Internet Dependence

Twice this week my Internet connection was not working. The first time was Monday morning and I started to panic, wondering if it would be available in time for class. When that happens I see just how dependent I’ve become on the Internet. This is my morning ritual. I sit down at the computer and get it up and running (since it’s a slow connection I usually turn it on, then go make coffee or tea while it warms up). I click on Outlook so it will start and then I click on Explorer. Then I wait. If I eventually get an Explorer message that says, “Internet Explorer cannot display the page,” I try a different browser address, just in case the problem is with Yahoo, my home page. When that fails to work, too, I know the problem is with my connection and I feel totally lost. I start thinking about other things I can do on the computer: I could go to D2L, but no, that needs a connection; I could play a game, but no, that needs a connection; I could Skype but same thing. No e-mail, no class, no games, no searching for that special information I woke up wanting. I feel utter despair.

At least this morning I realized I could write my blog in Word, and then when I am connected to the Internet I can upload it. I’m relieved.

But now that I’m finished this, what to do….

TED--do it yourself White Board

I learned about TED from Judy and have been enjoying watching some of the lectures. Today, an SCSU faculty member sent an e-mail about the Wiki he uses in his class. I checked that out and saw a link to a TED lecture and since I was familiar I thought I would check it out.

Some of you talked about white boards in the classroom. Some said they have one but don't know how to use it, others use it, and others want one but can't afford it. For the latter, here's the solution. This is fascinating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H1zrLZwPjQ

A comedic comment on the new technologies

Louis CK is a comedian who makes a lot of routines social commentaries. Here is a video in which he is on Conan O'Brian's show commenting on the millenials' use of technology, and their lack of patience. It's titled "Everything's Amazing and Nobody's Happy":

http://barefootmeg.multiply.com/video/item/56

It's interesting to think about his comments. As someone who grew up with the rotary phones he talks about, I can, on one hand, identify with his irritation with those who are impatient when their phone is slow, and on the other hand, I, too, have gotten used to the speed of technology and feel impatient with it when it doesn't work the way it can (and should).

You can learn more about Louis CK from his MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/louisck

Privacy

I mentioned in the last blog that there was an article on the care2.com blog I wanted to talk about. This is the link if you care to read it: http://www.care2.com/causes/civil-rights/blog/Google-Latitude/
It's a story about technology and privacy. Google has a new tool called "Google Latitude." It allows users to track people in real time. This can be great to help you find your friends or to find out the nearest Caribou coffee shop. The problem is, it can also be used by employers to keep an eye on employees, stalkers to do their stalking more easily, or the government for heaven knows what. Talk about Big Brother watching!

It's like my husband has always said, "technology can be used for both good or evil."

My inspiration

Today I realized just how much of an influence my Goddaughter, Caitlin, has been on my journey into technology in this class. As you already know, she introduced me to Skype. She also got the moo set up on her computer in Ecuador so I could attend class from there. But today I learned something new about how she is inspiring me.

Back in November, she sent me an e-card for my birthday from a site called www.care2.com. It was a nice card and although I usually use other gretting card sites like bluemountain, yahoo, american, etc., I signed up and sent her a thank you. When I signed up I unchecked the boxes that asked if I wanted to receive newsletters and information from them. There was a pop-up that came along with the card asking me to sign a petition to save the seals in the arctic. I like the little seals and don't like to see them slaughtered, so I signed the petition. Still, unchecking the box asking me to allow them to send me more information.

Since it was a nice card, I started using it to send cards to my friends and wouldn't you know, somewhere along the line I forgot to uncheck the box so I started getting mailings. I was annoyed at first but then I started looking at them. I signed more petitions and began to see some interesting articles about various environmental causes I believe in. I didn't have a lot of time so I kept deleting. But finally this week, I have had some extra time and I started reading some of the articles. I'll post about one of them later because it has some interesting info on technology.

The interesting thing about this, that makes it worthy of a class blog, is today I discovered that the articles I'm reading are part of a blog. I didn't realize that. So, I've started following a blog and I didn't even know it. It's full of interesting things so I imagine I'll be reading more blogs.

Thanks, Caitlin, for introducing me to Skype and www.care2.com. I wonder what other technology you might have up your sleeve that I can learn about.

"Fun-Thing" class

Wow! My head was spinning when I went to bed last night after our lively class discussion. There were so many interesting ideas floating around, lots of responses to the ideas, and challenging multi-tasking going on. It was exciting, but difficult at the same time to be mooing while going out on the internet to see some of the resources people were talking about. I wanted to keep up with the moo, but when people continued to moo as I looked at a webpage, I fell behind.

My head was also spinning from learning how much technology there is out there that I haven't been aware of or haven't known how to use. There is so much to learn!

Students gave good introductions to various technologies--blogs, wikis, twitter, e-portfolios, etc.-- each of which I want to know more about. They also gave good examples of how they can be used in the classroom. I don't think a teacher can, nor should, use all the different technologies but it's good to know about them in order to be able to decide which is best for the goals of the class.

More blogging

Penrod's book, Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, is listed as optional reading for the class. I bought it and have really been enjoying reading it. Here are a couple things she has to say about blogging:

"Bloggers may enter a state of "flow" where they lose track of time." That hasn't happened to me yet. I still have a hard time thinking about topics to write about and when I'm writing I'm very consious of time and what I'm doing. However, I can see how some people might really enjoy writing in their blog and therefore could get into "flow." Maybe if I keep doing this, it can happen to me.

"There are several elements that encourage writers to keep on blogging." One of these is there is no fear of failure and little to no self-consiousness. Again, that isn't true for me. I think about what I'm writing, I wonder if it will be of any interest to readers, and I worry about potential mistakes, especially of saying something stupid that will be published for all to see. Also, as an introvert, I'm usually self-consious when I'm in the public spotlight, and that's where I am with my blog. I can tell myself that nobody will read it so it's OK, but deep down, I know that it can be read by anyone who happens across it and who feels like taking the time to read.

Perhaps my challenge for blogging is to create a new persona, one that's more extroverted; one that doesn't care what people think so I can write with abandon and can enter that glorious state of flow.

Blogging

A friend of mine who teaches reading told me a couple years ago that students don't read anymore. However, Penrod, in her book Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, points to blogs as something that is motivating young people to read and write more. That's good news.

A few years ago, an SCSU professor had a blog where he expressed his political views. I read it a couple times out of curiosity, but didn't find it very interesting, not because of the content, but because I didn't particularly like reading a computer screen.

I found out last year that a family member of mine has a blog. It's very interesting writing and it's enjoyable to get to know her better through that medium. Still, I haven't visited it much.

Now, here I am with my own blog. In much the same way I have trouble reading other people's blogs, I'm having trouble motivating myself to write mine.

Skype discussion

I was trying to think of some "fun" thing I've discovered that I could talk about with the class on February 16th. It suddenly hit me that I've just discovered Skype. Well, I didn't discover it in the same way Al Gore discovered the Internet, but it's a new technology to me.

As I thought about it I realized there must be some classroom applications for Skype, after all in some ways it is more powerful technology than moos and blogs. On Skype you can see the person you are talking to, you can write a chat, you can make conference calls and talk to up to 10 people at a time. So, between now and the 16th, I'll do research on Skype, learn more about it and see if and/or how others are using it in classrooms. I'm excited to talk about this new technology with my classmates.

Skype

My latest venture into the world of new-age technology is Skype. Caitlin has it in Ecuador and I watched her talk face to face with her boyfriend while I was there. So, I called my husband and told him he should get it on my computer so we could talk and see each other (for free) while I was there. He was a little reluctant because when he had tried programs like that in the past it messed up my computer. Since Caitlin was being successful with it, I was pretty insistent that he try.

The next night, there he was. After only talking to him once in 2 weeks and not having seen his sweet face, it was exciting to see him and hear his voice. We talked for about an hour, then ended the session with a "kiss." Then talked again the next night.

After I got back home on Friday, I wrote to my brother and suggested he download skype. I skypped Caitlin to let her know I made it home OK. I'm telling all my friends about it in the hopes they will get connected.

But, technology can be problematic in some ways. For me, it was a problem because yesterday, each time I got on the computer to do some work for class, I got a skype call and got distracted from my work. I had planned to catch up with my blog, but didn't. I was going to discuss some articles, but didn't. BUT, I did get familiar with and comfortable with a new technology, so that should count for something.

A little early

Caitlin and I were out this afternoon, doing a little sightseeing and souvenir shopping. I was never completely able to focus on what we were doing because I kept checking the time, wanting to make sure we got back to the apartment in time to log into acadiana for class. I didn't want to be late again. About 4:30, I told Caitlin we should start heading back, not knowing how long the taxi ride would take given it was rush hour. She thought we had plenty of time. By the time we got to the taxi, it was about 4:50 and I was getting pretty anxious.

As it turned out, I didn't need to be. The taxi ride took about half what it did going there so we were back in the apartment by 5:20. Plenty of time to get settled, make a cup of tea, and get logged in before class starts.

Then I realized, we're on Eastern time. An hour later than Minnesota! Waahh. I could have done more shopping.

Elfinwood

I went into Elfinwood today to do a little practicing before class. I'm happy to say I finally learned how to wave! Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

Judyk was there, asleep. Does she live there?

Another day in Ecuador

Another day in Ecuador, another visit to the medical establishment.

I was up early this morning, and did some work for class. I was able to do some reading and some posting and got my technology philosophy statement uploaded. Yippee. Now, we are getting ready to take Caitlin to the hospital, or Dr., I'm not sure which. She is still having serious stomach problems. It's been over a week now. She took all the meds that were prescribed during the first hospital visit and the problem is still there so she will have it checked again.

I'm feeling better so I think I'll live without seeing a Dr or taking antibiotics. I would love some more Pepto-Bismol, though. I used up the small supply I brought and haven't been able to find it here. Maybe the Dr. we talk to today will be able to tell me how to ask for it in Spanish.

Yesterday I didn't feel well enough to go out of the apartment, so I was able to get some of my classwork done. I felt very productive.

Today, we were well enough to get out for about 3 hours. We went up to the top of one of the local peaks via a gondola ride, then a walk that took us higher. We ended up at 4100 meters. Between the cold I have and the altitude, I thought I would die. But since I'm here writing, obviously I didn't.

Now we are both too tired to go out and do any more sightseeing, so after I put in a little more time on classwork and get my philosophy statement uploaded to D2L, we'll probably watch a movie on Caitlin's computer.

There's another piece of Ecuador technology to tell you about--we can buy first run movies for $1.00. She bought the latest Batman, Bride Wars, the new James Bond (Quantum of Solace), and Australia.

Technology in Ecuador

I'm so excited to be back online. I had forgotten my log-in information and even though I had a couple opportunities to get on the internet throughout Ecuador, I wasn't able to blog. Judy was kind enough to to e-mail me the directions for how to get my log-in information, but the instructions came back in Spanish. My Spanish isn't too bad, but not good enough to understand the instructions. That was combined with the fact that I'm in an internet cafe, people talking all around me, it is hot, etc., etc and I didn't have the patience to work on it. I also realized that even if I got in, I wasn't going to be able to concentrate and write a coherent post.

Now I'm in Quito in my Goddaughter, Caitlin's apartment. I was able to get into my blog, and I can concentrate, at least to some degree. I'm fighting a cold and a pretty good case of "turistas" so I'm not in the best of shape. But, I'm going to give it a go! (no pun intended)

Being in Ecuador and having part of my mind on technology because of this class has been interesting. I've been paying attention to technology in the places we've been. We went all over Ecuador, from Quito to the Amazon Basin jungle, to the coast, then to the Galapagos Islands. Here are some of my observations:


Cell phone technology is different here--many people have cell phones, but they are pay as you go. There is a "Porta" store on every corner selling recharge cards. Cell phone coverage has been good. Even in the Galapagos, we had bars. There are also "Cabinas" on every corner where one can go to make phone calls. Those are for the people without cell phones, I guess. By the number of cabinas, it would appear that many families don't have phones or they use the cabinas to make international calls which perhaps can't be made on home phones.

Internet cafes are popular. I doubt that many people have personal computers so they use cyber cafes instead. They are used by children to play games on line as well as by tourists to stay connect to the news back home. The night I was logged on to our class moo, on one side of me I had two girls playing games and giggling, and on the other side there was an American young man reading the headlines out loud to his companions. The connections are slow and not very reliable. They use a Spanish keyboard and that took some getting used to. I had to have help finding out how to find the @ sign. In most parts of the country, the cost was 50 cents/hour. However, when I logged into class, at break time I asked how much it was and was told $2.00 per hour. I had not brought that much cash with me so I had to log out. I was able to catch up on what I missed here tonight by reading the recorded log.

We were in two hospitals. We went to one to get a "cleansing" by a woman who practiced "alternative" medicine. At that hospital, there were computers, but they didn't appear to be networked. We gave our information to one woman who put it in the computer. She then printed it out and we carried the printed form to the next place. I had to take Caitlin to the hospital in the Galapagos. There I was able to see what little technology they had in their emergency room. They merely wrote down her information on a sheet of paper. They then wrote down the list of medicines for her to take to the pharmacy. They wanted her to have a rehydration solution so I had to run to the store and buy some water and bring it back. It was so very different from an emergency room here in the States. But on the other hand, they didn't charge her anything for the visit.

Karaoke is popular. We were going to go into a karaoke bar to see what it's like, but never were able. That's a little different kind of technology.

Some of my experiences with technology

OK, I'll try this again. My short post last night appears to have worked.

As I said last night, I'm getting ready for a trip to Ecuador. I've been planning it for four months. I wasn't expecting to take a class this semester so there wasn't going to be a problem with missing school. But then my advisor suggested this class. After talking to Judy about the fact that we could log in from anywhere, it seemed do-able.

However, last week, my Goddaughter/traveling companion sent me our itinerary and I realize that I may not have access to technology for the first two weeks of the trip. Isn't that ironic--for the first two weeks of a class in technology, I might have to limit my learning to old fashioned print materials.

I'm very excited about this class. I have a lot to learn. I'm older than the average college student (to say the least) so I haven't had the same kind of technology exposure that many of you have had. On the other hand, I do own a PDA, a cell phone, a laptop, a digital camera, and a HD TV. I have been exposed to D2L from other classes (although have never used the discussion function) and have even taken an on-line class. I wrote my literature review for my thesis using on-line searches. I took a workshop on Dreamweaver a few years ago and have the beginning of a webpage out there somewhere in cyberspace, but have never done any more with it. So, I guess I do know more about technology than I might have thought at first.

My very favorite technology is e-mail. I just love e-mail. I use it all the time, check it at least 3 times a day and go crazy when it's not available. I don't know how I'm going to handle two weeks in Ecuador without it. I'm hoping to be able to find some cybercafes but kind of doubt there will be many in the Amazon jungle. I'm sure I'll go through withdrawal.

Getting Read for Ecuador (again!)

Well, here's one of the reasons I don't like technology. I wrote a very nice piece for this blog. I saved it along the way, in addition to the autosaves it does. After previewing and editing a couple times, I finally hit "publish post." For some reason, it didn't post. The message said it might be a temporary problem and hit the back button to try again. When I hit the back button, I encountered an empty page. What a bummer!

I'm in the middle of getting ready for a three-week trip to Ecuador and my time is precious. It really hurts to have to do this again.

I'm going to do just this much and see if it will publish. Then I'll come back tomorrow and re-write some of what I had before.

Getting Ready for Ecuador

I'm in the process of packing, checking my passport, deciding what I need to take, letting friends and family know my plans, and all the other things that involved in taking a major international trip to a new destination.

I will leave Thursday for a three-week trip to Ecuador. It's very exciting.

But mixed in with all the trip preparations, I'm also feeling the need to do some work as a student. Today I prepared the Informed Consent Forms for participants in my thesis. I will start collecting data soon after I return, so having that piece of paper prepared puts me just that much closer to data collection.

The other thing I need to do is prepare as much as I can for my computer class. Since Caitlin (my Goddaughter/travel companion) has developed a very fully itinerary for us that will probably leave me without access to a computer for the next two weeks, I figure it will be good to do a little work before I go. I've been on D2L and have saved some work onto a flashdrive. I thought if I don't have internet access but have computer access I can at least do some reading. I'm also going to print out some helpful articles that I can read on my travel day, which will be quite long. (I leave here at 4:30 am and arrive in Quito at 10:00 pm.). I have a PDA that I'm going to try to use as well. After writing a little more here, I'm going to see if I can download some of the articles onto it. In the past I haven't been very successful download files, but maybe tonight will be different.

I've never had a blog, nor have I ever thought I would have a blog, so this is an interesting venture. I'm not really crazy about being public. I joined facebook a couple months ago because a friend of mine thought it would be fun. I actually have 4 or 5 friends there. I've had three more requests, but haven't accepted. Like I said, I don't like the idea of a lot of people being able to have access to my information.

I also have a webpage, or I should say my husband and I have a webpage. He set it up and he keeps it. He has shown me a couple times how to upload things to it, but I haven't tried. I also took a workshop a few years ago on Dreamweaver and have a webpage of my own that I created in the workshop. I never did much with it. I think it will be good for me to have to do that work again. It's something that I can and probably will use as a teacher so I need to get more familiar with it.

As I write all those things--having a PDA, a webpage, a being on facebook--it could sound like I'm pretty tech savy. However, don't be fooled. I feel very un-tech savy. I do use my computer all the time, but mainly for e-mail and internet searching (which I don't even do that very much). I love e-mail. I'd rather use e-mail than the telephone or snail mail. I'm on it all the time.

I'll be a lot more savy after this class. I'm excited about that. I'm ready to learn more about using technology and to start getting better connected with the "net generation."