There are pros and cons to using digital tools in the writing process. According to a Pew Research Internet Project, some of the advantages are that they "encourage student creativity and personal expression" as well as "allow students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience." Some disadvantages that are cited are the "blurring [...] lines between formal and informal writing," and their propensity to "take shortcuts [... and] write too fast and be careless."
My anecdotal experience supports this research. The experience is both personal and professional. For a long time, I always wrote my first drafts out by hand. There is some evidence to suggest that writers may be more creative in writing by hand because it slows down the process, allowing the writer to think longer. Additionally, when using a word processor to compose, it may be easy to lose the "flow" of writing because of the distraction of editing while composing. This has both pros and cons. I sometimes get stopped on the computer because I am too focused on fixing errors while I write. On the other hand, it seems I am more able to work on errors at a mirco-level-- revising individual sentences much more heavily as I type than I might if I were just transcribing as I type.
The most successful method of writing that I use to address any step
in the process (prewriting, drafting, or revising) is writing by hand. I
find that I am forced to slow down the process and do more thinking
when I am writing by hand than when I am composing on the computer. I
can apply this method at any stage. For example, if I am blocked before
beginning, I will free write or use another prewriting activity to
develop my writing. If I get stuck during the writing phase--even when I
have been composing on the computer--I will print out what I have so
far and start making additions by hand. If I get all the way through the
process on a computer, I always print out a copy to edit by hand. There
seems to me a disconnect between the screen and my brain when it comes
to proofreading. If I only proof on the screen, I always miss something.
One comment I frequently make to my students is that I believe that
when we compose on the computer, what we are writing looks final, even
when it is not. In other words, something typed appears to be polished
even when it is not. I think that adds pressure to the writer to produce
a perfect product the first time around. For that reason, I encourage
my students to write their first drafts in a kind of
stream-of-consciousness so that they can get their ideas out and then go
back for revisions. That's the other reason I like to compose by hand.
My draft looks like a draft. I know it's not perfect. When I see a
student's handwritten draft without even a single word crossed out, I am
always suspicious.
I know my students are almost completely composing on word processors and I think that writing teachers can capitalize on this by encouraging it, but also encouraging, even requiring, students to put some ideas down on paper before they begin to compose.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Digital Tools in the Classroom
Grademark, Turnitin, Moodle, Blackboard, Google Docs...
Many of these tools are being used in classrooms across the
country. The question is: To what end?
I am a prime example of what she talks about. Though I have experience with some technology, I am not trained to use technology to teach in the classroom. I have stayed primarily within the first tier surface layer of Blackboard and used it mostly as a course management tool to grade and provide information, rather than as a teaching tool to engage students is blogging, portfolios, instant messaging, and research. Lane says "Expert users contextualize their resources fluidly and organize materials effectively, while novices just upload and share files, hoping students will find them."
Lane also notes that "Blackboard can be highly intimidating to learn, and may 'seriously hinder' choices the faculty member makes while using the tool." It's not that I haven't been offered countless opportunities from my school's resident Blackboard expert, it's just that, like many others, I have not chosen to avail myself of them. Part of this stems from my own busy schedule and part of it, as Lane notes, is that "faculty requests for help focus on what the technology can do, rather than how their pedagogical goals can be achieved." What that means in practical terms is that too often the Blackboard training offerings are the same thing over and over, just trying to get faculty up to speed with the basic functions.
On the other hand, there is ample opportunity for me to tinker. In part because of this class, I have spent far more time fiddling with Blackboard and its myriad uses than I have in the past. In his most recent podcast, Dr. Chuck Tryon stated that part of his purpose in the Technology 518 course is to overwhelm us as students. It's an important reminder to us as faculty that our students are under pressure, not only to complete their assignments, but to learn new technologies along the way. Mission accomplished, Dr. Tryon!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Paper or iPad?
I am generally a pretty laid back teacher. I do teach at the college level and have only had one instance where a student's behavior was consistently distracting enough that I had to pull him aside and let him know that the continued behavior would result in him being dropped from my course.
That being said, the issue of the distractability of personal devices, including laptops, tablets and cell phones, is one that has become a frequent topic of discussion among educators. Knowing how easily I am distracted in the presence of these devices, it is not surprising that many educators have banned them from their classrooms. My current situation provides me the great fortune (?) of multiple perspectives on this issue: that of student, teacher, and parent.
My attitude from the student standpoint is twofold. First, I know myself well enough to know that using a laptop to take notes would not be effective for me. I have a very specific method for note taking, and while the computer might be useful to help me organize after the fact, I like to have the ability to write in the margins, draw arrows, and make other types of notations that would be difficult to make on a computer. Second, I know that during any real or perceived lull, I would be tempted to be off task and use the device for some other purpose. Am I likely to be browsing Facebook? Probably not. But it wouldn't be a surprise if I were using it to play spider solitaire or scrabble. These days, all my coursework as a student is on line, so the temptation is not there, but at a recent faculty in-service, the speaker was so dry that I sat, unabashedly (though pretty far in the back), and played games on my cell phone.
From the perspective of a teacher, I am fairly open to allowing students to use laptops. I'll admit, though, that the courses I teach do not require extensive note taking. In a matter of two or three class sessions, my students are aware that there is no real need for one and they tend to stop bringing theirs to class (or taking them out). Since I teach at a community college and my class sizes are small, I also learn all my student's names, and I call them out when I see them using their devices inappropriately. Having had my share of disruptive students when I taught high school, I can also appreciate that tablets or computers might at least prevent some students from being troublesome. I sometimes see my students texting under their desks or in their laps or using their phones somewhat furtively. I generally ignore them, and find that their classmates give them plenty of dirty looks for being rude and disrespectful. I sometimes comment on it, especially when there is some clear task that they are supposed to be working on. I have mentioned this in other posts, but I am fortunate (this semester anyway) to have all my classes in a special tech room that has both an inner U shape of tables for 20 students and an outer perimeter of computers. This setup is ideal because I can easily send students to computers when necessary and pull them back when they're not. This type of classroom should be the standard.
As a parent, my views get a little fuzzier about laptops and tablets in the classroom. My children are in second and fourth grades and I am adamantly opposed to electronics as a matter of course. Partially this is because I want them to be learning in a hands-on manner, and they are. Also, I know how easily they are distracted. But these is no denying that tablets especially are hands-on devices. Is there a difference between completing a math worksheet and working the same problems on a tablet? I'm not sure. The research that exists supports both perspectives.
This past spring, an article in the Atlantic Monthly titled "To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand" chronicled Princeton graduate student Pam Mueller who makes an interesting discovery when she forgets her laptop and has to take notes by hand. She knows she must take excellent notes because she is the teaching assistant for the course and will be sharing her notes with others. In June, she co-published the findings of the research she conducted with the professor from that course in an article titled "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard." The gist of the findings is this: when we take notes with a computer, we are more likely to simply transcribe the lecture, word for word. When we take notes by hand, we are more likely to process the information as we write and listen so that what we have on our paper is not a transcription, but a fusion of listening and understanding. This is found on Bloom's taxonomy as students leap from knowledge to synthesis. It is the kind of critical thinking that we want for students.
Putting aside the pedagogy and best practices of the lecture as a teaching method, it is no surprise to me that, given the task of note taking, pen on paper is better than keyboard. My own personal experience supports this in many other settings as well, including solving math problems, revising papers, and conducting experiments.
A final caveat is that I do not contend that there is no place in the classroom for these devices. With careful planning and use, they should be excellent support tools in the classroom.
That being said, the issue of the distractability of personal devices, including laptops, tablets and cell phones, is one that has become a frequent topic of discussion among educators. Knowing how easily I am distracted in the presence of these devices, it is not surprising that many educators have banned them from their classrooms. My current situation provides me the great fortune (?) of multiple perspectives on this issue: that of student, teacher, and parent.
My attitude from the student standpoint is twofold. First, I know myself well enough to know that using a laptop to take notes would not be effective for me. I have a very specific method for note taking, and while the computer might be useful to help me organize after the fact, I like to have the ability to write in the margins, draw arrows, and make other types of notations that would be difficult to make on a computer. Second, I know that during any real or perceived lull, I would be tempted to be off task and use the device for some other purpose. Am I likely to be browsing Facebook? Probably not. But it wouldn't be a surprise if I were using it to play spider solitaire or scrabble. These days, all my coursework as a student is on line, so the temptation is not there, but at a recent faculty in-service, the speaker was so dry that I sat, unabashedly (though pretty far in the back), and played games on my cell phone.
From the perspective of a teacher, I am fairly open to allowing students to use laptops. I'll admit, though, that the courses I teach do not require extensive note taking. In a matter of two or three class sessions, my students are aware that there is no real need for one and they tend to stop bringing theirs to class (or taking them out). Since I teach at a community college and my class sizes are small, I also learn all my student's names, and I call them out when I see them using their devices inappropriately. Having had my share of disruptive students when I taught high school, I can also appreciate that tablets or computers might at least prevent some students from being troublesome. I sometimes see my students texting under their desks or in their laps or using their phones somewhat furtively. I generally ignore them, and find that their classmates give them plenty of dirty looks for being rude and disrespectful. I sometimes comment on it, especially when there is some clear task that they are supposed to be working on. I have mentioned this in other posts, but I am fortunate (this semester anyway) to have all my classes in a special tech room that has both an inner U shape of tables for 20 students and an outer perimeter of computers. This setup is ideal because I can easily send students to computers when necessary and pull them back when they're not. This type of classroom should be the standard.
As a parent, my views get a little fuzzier about laptops and tablets in the classroom. My children are in second and fourth grades and I am adamantly opposed to electronics as a matter of course. Partially this is because I want them to be learning in a hands-on manner, and they are. Also, I know how easily they are distracted. But these is no denying that tablets especially are hands-on devices. Is there a difference between completing a math worksheet and working the same problems on a tablet? I'm not sure. The research that exists supports both perspectives.
This past spring, an article in the Atlantic Monthly titled "To Remember a Lecture Better, Take Notes by Hand" chronicled Princeton graduate student Pam Mueller who makes an interesting discovery when she forgets her laptop and has to take notes by hand. She knows she must take excellent notes because she is the teaching assistant for the course and will be sharing her notes with others. In June, she co-published the findings of the research she conducted with the professor from that course in an article titled "The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard." The gist of the findings is this: when we take notes with a computer, we are more likely to simply transcribe the lecture, word for word. When we take notes by hand, we are more likely to process the information as we write and listen so that what we have on our paper is not a transcription, but a fusion of listening and understanding. This is found on Bloom's taxonomy as students leap from knowledge to synthesis. It is the kind of critical thinking that we want for students.
Putting aside the pedagogy and best practices of the lecture as a teaching method, it is no surprise to me that, given the task of note taking, pen on paper is better than keyboard. My own personal experience supports this in many other settings as well, including solving math problems, revising papers, and conducting experiments.
A final caveat is that I do not contend that there is no place in the classroom for these devices. With careful planning and use, they should be excellent support tools in the classroom.
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