I'm listening in and sometimes contributing. Your trusty, roving e-reporter will check in tonight and report on the day's activities.
The roundtable on social networking such as Facebook and My Space ponders the imaginative uses of these Web 2.0 tools as well as its dangers. Amanda Hartman suggests that when adults join the Facebook community they should wait to be 'friended' rather than actively seek 'friends' among the younger set, thereby insuring their integrity and inviting respect.
At his roundtable today, Justin Cary presents 21st century composition: building a website IS composing, right? How might we utilize a resource like this to facilitate different methods of student writing in the composition curriculum?
http://www.wix.com/
Justin invites us to take a "look at a website built by one of [his] creative writing students during our poetry unit. [Justin] challenged the students to use the tools of technology to think about new ways to express poetry."
http://www.wix.com/holyllama/poetryetc
Consensus reigns at the Hybrid Roundtable: this part distance/part in-class delivery makes demands on the instructor to 1) produce and manage a coherent structure between the two modes 2) maintain a focused and timely instructor-student interaction, 3) be timely to respond to students’ contributions on the discussion boards. This group ponders compensation for the hybrid instructor's heightened activity such as caps on class size, merit pay, and other recognitions.
Also discussed are strategies to prompt students' "critical thinking": post "provocative" news articles to invite interactive thinking into postings on the BB Discussion Board. Another thread offers suggestions about how the BB Discussion Board activities could support students' learning of 'difficult' in-class lectures by uploading PowerPoints with voice over or providing study prompts before and after a scheduled lecture.
Just a clarification with the facebook friending: it really depends on the relationship you have with the younger person. If you are in a teacher/staff sort of position, you should wait for them to friend you; if you are a parent, family friend, etc, it's far more appropriate to friend them. (I know this is ridiculously nuanced). Depending on the age of the 'young' person, they may eagerly accept your request, or they may (in the case of many 14 year olds) say "Moooommm... you can't friend me on Facebook!!!" :)
ReplyDeleteI joined an online community called Eons a while back; though I haven't had much time to use beyond posting a profile, I do get invitations now and then. I suspect this is not the only online community for adults (older adults). I don't guess Facebook should be the first choice for adults, unless teachers are trying to communicate with their students--or alumni, maybe.
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