Technology

Technology is a great way to augment teaching in the classroom. It can be a creative method for making learning interesting. I especially like Second Life for that purpose. I have already sent emails to my professorial friends suggesting that they offer Second Life as a resource in their classrooms. I can imagine how excited my freshmen would be to use Second Life to learn about such things as literary genres, symbols, etc. I can see myself using Second Life to bring Edgar Alan Poe or J.R. Tolkien to life.

I have been using technology in the classroom for a while. When I’m lucky, I teach in a classroom that has great technology. I have found that no matter what type of technology I use, I have to plan at least one day to physically teach my students how to find Black Board, how to use the school’s email system, how to find the Library’s web page (and use it), etc.

I’ve used Black Board for a long time. I used to use it a lot more than I do presently. It seems that every time an assignment is due, the program is either unavailable or locked up. That can be incredibly frustrating. Another problem I have with it is that I used to have my students use the discussion page to write their reading reflections and respond to others, but then students were upset because “if they wanted to take an online class, they would have signed up for one.” Waah, waah, waah Thus, I took a hiatus from using Black Board for a semester.

I have returned to using Black Board now. Presently I use it to keep my grade book. With this method, students can see exactly what their grades are without asking me to update them. Additionally, they can let me know if I have made an error in my record keeping (which I admit is easy to do). I also use it as a resource for my students to get copies of their syllabus, take reading quizzes, turn assignments in via turnitin.com, and complete group projects.

I am beginning to include film in my classes. It is a relatively new idea for me to include it in my college courses. I used to use it in my high school classrooms to illustrate the literature that we were reading. Now I use it in my university courses to show short UTube videos of How Not to Use PowerPoint and Wikiality. I would like to continue incorporating other videos into our learning atmosphere. I am planning on including a BBC version of an Agatha Christie movie in my literature course this fall. My students often use video clips in their oral presentations (I encourage them to do so). We like video clips, a lot.

Blogs are very new to me. My husband used to have a blog on a hiking web page. He walked the Appalachian Trail, and he would mail me entries to put on his blog. Man! His blog was extremely popular. He had over 200 hits daily. It’s funny how I would type his blog for him, but I never really thought about using one for myself, and after his hiking trip was over, I never thought about the blog again. Hmm… Now I am thinking that blogging is an interesting experience. I like journaling about what I am doing; maybe this is my egotistic nature. I wonder what my children and friends think about it. I wonder how I might want to use it in the classroom. Hmm…

Having a home page is new to me too, but it isn’t a new idea for me. I’ve wanted to have a home page for some time. When I was the president of the Non-traditional Student Organization, I created a web page for the organization. Unfortunately, SHSU does not subscribe to FrontPage, so I didn’t get the user friendly version of a web page creation software. Thus, I had to delegate the creation of the web page to another member of the organization. I started to create a web page at SHSU’s web site, but I haven’t had much success with that either. I am simply amazed at the success I have had already with my attempt at IUP. I hope I can recreate this accomplishment. I would like to update our Writing Center web page at SHSU.

Regarding my future teaching, I would like to reshape the way I teach composition. I would really like to hold a class in Second Life. I wonder how my university or new college will accept that. I wonder if they have a writing center in Second Life. I can imagine redesigning an online course that makes use of blogging, Utube videos, Second Life, and home pages. In fact, I’m thinking about how I can incorporate building a home page into my composition course in the fall. I’m thinking that it can be related to the informative essay they are required to write or maybe the personal narrative. I’m thinking a lot about it.

As a person and a scholar, I think using technology is making a huge impact on me, and it will make an even further impact on me in the future. Presently, I am taking the opportunity to reflect, to write about my experience (an exercise I always ask my students to do, but one that I rarely take the time to do myself). I’m thinking about how I can improve my Internet businesses (auctioneering and the used book store) and make them a better reflection of me. I’m thinking about my future, right here, right now.

In the future, technology is going to allow me to keep in contact with my cohorts (special relationships that I intend to cultivate), to make my research available for other scholars (a request that I have had but not been able to fulfill), and to improve my presence in the composition and writing center community (something I can’t imagine living without).