After I read all the books Dr. Herter loaned me, and conducted all the "research" I could without access to Poly's database, I had a dilemma. My classroom computer, which has served as my office for the summer, is great for searching Google News or checking my stocks. However, if I want to access any of the databases from Poly, they're all blocked. Love that filter, tech services. The backdoor approaches I learned from my students didn't even allow me access beyond the first page. So, I could try to work at home with my three small children underfoot, or drive to Poly daily. I didn't like either choice as my classroom is directly around the corner and has thus far been ideal. Solution: Save articles as PDFs, and email them to my school where I can view or print them. [Click on image to view screen capture with 15 emails above]
How must our students feel when they are asked to research a project and, at every turn, are blocked due to "inappropriate" content. And teachers who wish to blog with students? Or students who wish to add to their own blogs on their own time (lunch, after school, etc.). I understand the necessity of a filter (avoiding litigation :)), yet, for the first time, side with my students as they constantly complain about their lack of access and are told that school computers are for "educational purposes only." Interesting that our IT dept. determines what is "educational."
Maybe the twelfth message down, Technology Toolkit, will have some helpful ideas.
Or maybe you do. Anybody? Anybody?
One idea from my coursework that I've always wanted to implement is the idea of a book review blog students write. Apparently students are more interested in what their peers have to say than their teachers (fancy that!), and blogging allowed them to write, share opinions, think critically (or so we'd hope), and engage in a dialogue with their peers and teachers about a variety of texts.
ReplyDeleteFrom your post it appears that blogging is not possible due to all of the IT filters. That stinks. I wish I was some sort of genius hacker or software engineer who could design a way around that. Hey, there's a good idea: design a school-friendly blogging software program, publish articles about using it, and have a secondary income stream!
I can't believe you actually read my paper. I put that on my site when I was applying for my current job . . . and that was overkill, apparently, for what I'm currently doing. :-0 My lot in life is to lose one of the two earrings of whatever pair is currently my favorite (a cosmic message about being attached to physical things rather than spiritual, I suppose). And I think you've had another child since I last saw you. You are a Very Busy Man.
Oh, and you are making my brain twitch with all of these words I haven't seen/used since I left Poly. You and that Roberta. Must wait until I've had plenty of coffee . . .
Keri,
ReplyDeleteI've also been toying with the idea of a student blog which deals, in some meaningful way with the content of our class. And a secondary blog designed just for book discussions. The first might be a graded assignment for book recommendations, like this http://smalibrary.blogspot.com/
A number of the students would need an introduction to blogging as they primarily use MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites to share.
Their interest in the input of peers would obviously be much stronger, as would their concern for how those readers would view them. Commenting on a friend's MySpace page, one doesn't have to worry about vulnerability, but on a blog where all have access, their audience changes. They then write for a number of reasons: to inform, to impress, to amuse, to "tag", etc. I guess that's not much different from what many do when communicating on other sites. Thinking of my own FB page and my wife's blog. Actually, in that respect, I guess our reasons and methods for communicating online don't differ too much from when we're unplugged.
Thanks for the feedback and, if you have time, check in every now and again as it's nice to bounce ideas off somebody.
Over and out.
Cade