Monday, September 29, 2008
A Brief VideoThread Survey of American Literature
Here is my first experiment with composing "digital literature" using VoiceThread. The images are all from Flickr and are licensed under "Creative Commons."
This VoiceThread is an audio and video tour of some of the writers I cover in the two-semester course sequence of American Literature: ENGL 2230 and ENGL 2235 at Anoka Ramsey Community College.
Flickr Slideshow of Mankato, MN, and American Literature
The slide show you've just seen is, apparently, an odd miscellany of images from Flickr. There's no explicit, coherent theme, I don't think, so don't think you've missed anything! (Sounds a little like Mark Twain at the beginning of Huck Finn, don't you think? "Persons attempting ....") However, being the English professor that I am, I suppose there's something lurking under the surface. Maybe we can find something there?
Also, Flickr does not let me organise my faves, so there's no way I can impose upon my choices a coherent, linear narrative. Maybe that's where VoiceThread will come in handy? Moreover, my faves seem not to be organised in the order I chose them on Flickr, so that's not even helpful, where one might try to choose images in a certain order so that the faves are organised. (Did you like the British spelling of organize? I hope so. I also think we should go metric! Powers of 10 are so much easier.)
The coherent narrative is this: I went to college in Mankato, and in college I studied American Literature, first with Dr. Robert Houston, and then with Dr. Ronald Gower, both excellent professors--perhaps more on them later, in another blog post. Literature has an imaginative, playful component, much like I'm trying to adopt in this blog post, which some of these images demonstrate, and Mankato has a picturesque past and present, which also lends itself to the imagination. For example, while I could not find any images of the Dakota Sioux hanging in Mankato (it happened around 1862, I think), I did find the image of a Mankato-area man tarred-and-feathered for not supporting the war. This stuff should only happen in the imagination, right?
So there's the coherent theme or narrative. Of course, you might also see things I didn't, and that's OK too. It's what we English professors call "reader response," where the act of reading, or viewing, or interpreting, is as much a creative act as the act of composing. There are no wrong answers, right? Not as long as one can support their "reading" with evidence from the "text." (Sorry! Don't know where that lecture came from.)
NOTE: All images in the slide show have a "Creative Commons" license, which is great, and I thank the artists for allowing their use. (However, limiting a Flickr search to only those images with the "CC" license does, sometimes dramatically, limit your choices. Using your own images and/or checking other image repositories on the web, such as Google Images, might be even better.)
Friday, September 26, 2008
Interesting Class Topics/Themes
In an earlier post, I was all excited about an idea for a class wiki: "Minnesota Literature." Since then, I've been toying around with variations on the theme, since "literature" is sometimes thought of narrowly as only poetry, drama, novels, and short fiction. But I don't want the class or the wiki to be that limiting, especially since some/many students might have reading (and, thus, research) interests in other forms of "literature"--memoirs, autobiography, biography, history, self-help, letters, essays, all the various forms of journalism, etc. Not to mention all the various forms of novels--romance, mystery, science fiction, historical, etc.
So I was thinking of "Minnesota Writing." Or "Writing Minnesota." Or "Minnesota Writers." And I was still excited about the idea.
Then we went to a confirmation party last weekend, where I visited with my nephew who is in his first year at the University of Minnesota at Morris. He was telling me about his first-year writing course and how excited he was about it. And the class topic/theme? Was there one? What was it?
Conspiracy Theories.
And he was saying things that every writing teacher would love to hear. "The readings are so interesting and engaging." "It's fun to go to class and listen to him try to convince us of things." "The topics really get me to think and keep me thinking." "The writing we do is real. We're not just writing to him; we're writing to people we hope to convince about our ideas." "My friends in other writing class aren't reading and writing about anything nearly as interesting."
(When I got home and looked at the UMN-Morris bookstore website, I could kind of see what he meant. A few sections were using a straight "inquiry and academic writing" kind of text. I've done that a lot in the past. One section seemed to be focused on Nature Writing. Seems to make sense for Morris. And one section, well, I couldn't really figure out what they were doing.)
And his enthusiasm is infectious. But I know NOTHING about conspiracy theories--although I've always been interested in them. I love the Dan Brown novels and all the JFK information, among other things. But I've never formally studied conspiracy theories, so would I really feel comfortable about using a theme like that in my classes?
And what would my students think? Some would love it. Some might wonder if it's a history class instead. Some might hate it, have no interest in it. And what about my students from many other countries and/or cultures? What would they think? Would any of the topics even interest them or apply to them? Could they relate? Would they have any background knowledge to draw upon? And any of the "Christian" conspiracy theories might not interest my Jewish or Muslim or Native American students--and might in fact irritate my very deeply religious Catholics or Lutherans. (It is Minnesota, ya know!)
What now?
So I was thinking of "Minnesota Writing." Or "Writing Minnesota." Or "Minnesota Writers." And I was still excited about the idea.
Then we went to a confirmation party last weekend, where I visited with my nephew who is in his first year at the University of Minnesota at Morris. He was telling me about his first-year writing course and how excited he was about it. And the class topic/theme? Was there one? What was it?
Conspiracy Theories.
And he was saying things that every writing teacher would love to hear. "The readings are so interesting and engaging." "It's fun to go to class and listen to him try to convince us of things." "The topics really get me to think and keep me thinking." "The writing we do is real. We're not just writing to him; we're writing to people we hope to convince about our ideas." "My friends in other writing class aren't reading and writing about anything nearly as interesting."
(When I got home and looked at the UMN-Morris bookstore website, I could kind of see what he meant. A few sections were using a straight "inquiry and academic writing" kind of text. I've done that a lot in the past. One section seemed to be focused on Nature Writing. Seems to make sense for Morris. And one section, well, I couldn't really figure out what they were doing.)
And his enthusiasm is infectious. But I know NOTHING about conspiracy theories--although I've always been interested in them. I love the Dan Brown novels and all the JFK information, among other things. But I've never formally studied conspiracy theories, so would I really feel comfortable about using a theme like that in my classes?
And what would my students think? Some would love it. Some might wonder if it's a history class instead. Some might hate it, have no interest in it. And what about my students from many other countries and/or cultures? What would they think? Would any of the topics even interest them or apply to them? Could they relate? Would they have any background knowledge to draw upon? And any of the "Christian" conspiracy theories might not interest my Jewish or Muslim or Native American students--and might in fact irritate my very deeply religious Catholics or Lutherans. (It is Minnesota, ya know!)
What now?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Experimenting with Bubbl.us
Here's my experiment with Bubbl.us. I was brainstorming about possible final projects for CI 5330.
Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Let me know what you think. Thanks!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Mankato State University ... Picking a Major
This is where it all began. I began my college career at Mankato State University as a "pre-med" major. But since there wasn't a major called "pre-med," I had to choose something else. So I started with Chemistry, then I switched to Biology, then Environmental Science, then Chemistry, then Math, then Chemistry, then Biochemistry, then English. (But I minored in Chemistry after all that!) The reason for all the switches? I was interested in too many things! With each class I took, I could see myself majoring in that field.
But I was still interested in medicine through it all. (I still am.) So interested that I applied to the Medical School at the University of Minnesota through its Advanced Admissions Program, a program targeting college sophomores. (I think medical school admissions were down at the time.) You could apply at the end of your sophomore year of college. They looked at your grades, your activities, your writing sample, and your interviews. If you were accepted, that was it. No MCAT! You had to complete your B.S. or B.A. degree, of course, and keep up your grades and activities. But you were in!
My interviews were a dream! The first interview was with a professor of public health whose brother played the trombone. And since I knew of his brother because I played the trombone myself, we started talking about music and the interview took off from there. It couldn't have gone any better. The second interview was with an ophthalmologist who turned out to be the assistant of the ophthalologist who had performed three surgeries on my eye when I was about 2 years old--I had remembered his name through my mother's stories. So that interview was more about my eye and him digging around for my file--but he also asked the questions he needed to. Again, it couldn't have gone any better.
And so I was accepted to the U of M Medical School. And then things changed. And it was all their fault! Part of the acceptance agreement was that I could major in anything I wanted, as long as I completed all the Medical School requirements--they wanted well-rounded physicians, not all science drones. So I changed my major, one last time, to English. Another part of the acceptance agreement was that I was assigned a mentor to "shadow" once a month for my last two years of college. He was a professor of Radiology and I met with him for a full day, once a month, for two years. But in talking to him and his residents, it became clearer and clearer to me that the "culture" of medical school and I weren't going to "jive." (Especially when most residents, when I asked, said they wouldn't do it again.)
And at the same time, I was having a blast in my English courses. I had always wanted to teach, and I knew that by going to Medical School, I wouldn't be able to teach for at least 6-8 more years. Then, a bulletin board outside the MSU English Department office caught my eye. Teaching Assistantships were being offered for incoming graduate students. To make a long story short, I applied to the graduate school at MSU, in English, and I applied for a Teaching Assistantship, in Composition. (I didn't know at the time that, usually, one does not go to graduate school where one was an undergraduate--but it made little difference in the end.)
When I received my graduate school acceptance letter and my Teaching Assistantship contract, I applied for a one-year extension from the Medical School ... just in case the English gig didn't work out. But it did. I was having a blast, both with the teaching and with the coursework. So the next year, I notified the Medical School that I wouldn't be joining them after all.
I haven't looked back. And, I have wonderful memories of Mankato State--now called Minnesota State Mankato. Fancy!
NOTE: This photo has a "Creative Commons" copyright.
But I was still interested in medicine through it all. (I still am.) So interested that I applied to the Medical School at the University of Minnesota through its Advanced Admissions Program, a program targeting college sophomores. (I think medical school admissions were down at the time.) You could apply at the end of your sophomore year of college. They looked at your grades, your activities, your writing sample, and your interviews. If you were accepted, that was it. No MCAT! You had to complete your B.S. or B.A. degree, of course, and keep up your grades and activities. But you were in!
My interviews were a dream! The first interview was with a professor of public health whose brother played the trombone. And since I knew of his brother because I played the trombone myself, we started talking about music and the interview took off from there. It couldn't have gone any better. The second interview was with an ophthalmologist who turned out to be the assistant of the ophthalologist who had performed three surgeries on my eye when I was about 2 years old--I had remembered his name through my mother's stories. So that interview was more about my eye and him digging around for my file--but he also asked the questions he needed to. Again, it couldn't have gone any better.
And so I was accepted to the U of M Medical School. And then things changed. And it was all their fault! Part of the acceptance agreement was that I could major in anything I wanted, as long as I completed all the Medical School requirements--they wanted well-rounded physicians, not all science drones. So I changed my major, one last time, to English. Another part of the acceptance agreement was that I was assigned a mentor to "shadow" once a month for my last two years of college. He was a professor of Radiology and I met with him for a full day, once a month, for two years. But in talking to him and his residents, it became clearer and clearer to me that the "culture" of medical school and I weren't going to "jive." (Especially when most residents, when I asked, said they wouldn't do it again.)
And at the same time, I was having a blast in my English courses. I had always wanted to teach, and I knew that by going to Medical School, I wouldn't be able to teach for at least 6-8 more years. Then, a bulletin board outside the MSU English Department office caught my eye. Teaching Assistantships were being offered for incoming graduate students. To make a long story short, I applied to the graduate school at MSU, in English, and I applied for a Teaching Assistantship, in Composition. (I didn't know at the time that, usually, one does not go to graduate school where one was an undergraduate--but it made little difference in the end.)
When I received my graduate school acceptance letter and my Teaching Assistantship contract, I applied for a one-year extension from the Medical School ... just in case the English gig didn't work out. But it did. I was having a blast, both with the teaching and with the coursework. So the next year, I notified the Medical School that I wouldn't be joining them after all.
I haven't looked back. And, I have wonderful memories of Mankato State--now called Minnesota State Mankato. Fancy!
NOTE: This photo has a "Creative Commons" copyright.
Possible Activities for Blogs in the Classroom
I’m supposed to develop some activities for how I might use blogs in the classroom, but I think all my initial ideas run straight into the warnings given in the Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss book, Engaging Students in Digital Writing (draft copy, 2008). For example, the authors quote Sandy Hayes:
In English 0950, for example, since it is a developmental-level college writing course, perhaps start out the semester with the idea of blogs, perhaps even assign some of the chapters in Blogging for Dummies, and have students set up their own blogs. Then, rather than continue on with teacher-assigned readings, have students explore the course anthology and find five readings that they are interested in. This next part sounds the most like the “blog-as-teacher-assigned-horror,” but I could have the students write five posts, one for each reading they’ve selected, briefly summarizing and then perhaps arguing why other students should explore the same reading. All these activities would help them setting up their blog, get them reading, help them with writing fluency, get them to think of their audience as they write, and get them responding to and thinking about each others’ posts.
My next idea also seems very teacher-driven and really just another spin on a typical classroom activity, though this time in the electronic medium. Once students have drafted an essay, rather than the usual in-class peer reviews (which never seem to work the way I want them to, and which never seem to result in all students getting great feedback), the students would copy-and-paste their drafts into a blog post, and then their “writing group,” perhaps now called their “blog partner(s)” (grouped in pairs, trios, or quads), would read their posts/drafts and provide feedback through the comment feature.
This seems only a novelty, however, which might produce one round of good feedback, or which might improve over the semester. However, Hendron, in RSS for Educators, offers something similar to this idea in Chapter 9, in “Lesson 2: Keeping a Fine Arts Portfolio” (pp. 163-165). I think the key here would be to get students to comment on the comments they receive, something I don’t allow them to do in class in their small groups, thinking that they would start “defending” their paper (they should be seeking to understand the comments, asking questions for clarification, etc.). However, with the blog, maybe it would be different. I would, of course, tell them not to defend their paper but to seek clarification, or to initiate some sort of dialogue. This, of course, might require that I have the writing group read the drafts/posts again, including the comments, and to comment on the comments to their comments. If you can follow that!
Lastly, for English 1121, our college writing (or FYC) course, I’m not sure yet about blogs for that class. Since it is the class focusing on argumentation and research, perhaps a class blog and/or a wiki would work better. But I still need to find out more about class blogs; hopefully, that will happen in class on 9-23-08. The Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss book has already given some good examples where class blogs and wikis are used for argumentation and research assignments. And the Hendron book, in chapter 9, offers “Lesson 4: Let’s Review” (pp. 168-170) which seems like an ideal assignment for this course. The critical review / critique could be of a movie, book, or musical recording, as Hendron suggests, but it might also be of an argument (the focus of the course), whether written, oral, or visual, whether academic, political, social, or pop culture.
NOTE TO RICK BEACH: I would still like to learn about “track-backs” in blogs, wherein the blogger cites and links to other sources within his/her own blog. I know you covered this a bit last week, right at the end, but a little more time on it would be great! How is it best done? Is it copy-paste, or a hyperlink, or both, or what? It is especially mentioned on p. 103 of your book.
“’It’s not about learning how to use the tools . . . it’s about understanding how to use the tools to learn’” (p. 8).One page later, the authors add:
“We need to consider how students perceive their uses as more than simply completing writing assignments for teachers—now on blogs or wikis rather then [sic] in Word. Clay Burell (2008) warns that blogging can easily become ‘just another way to turn in homework.’” (p. 9).Similarly, the authors quote Anne Beaton:
“However, I felt that my students were essentially experiencing a typical classroom task via a blog—an electronic substitute” (p. 101).So now I’m left wondering: Maybe it’s a learning curve. Maybe I need to start with whatever ideas I have, see how they work, then modify and improve upon them. But it’d sure to nice to start off with wonderful ideas that will work splendidly every time. Of course, I know from experience that this is well nigh impossible. So on to my initial ideas.
In English 0950, for example, since it is a developmental-level college writing course, perhaps start out the semester with the idea of blogs, perhaps even assign some of the chapters in Blogging for Dummies, and have students set up their own blogs. Then, rather than continue on with teacher-assigned readings, have students explore the course anthology and find five readings that they are interested in. This next part sounds the most like the “blog-as-teacher-assigned-horror,” but I could have the students write five posts, one for each reading they’ve selected, briefly summarizing and then perhaps arguing why other students should explore the same reading. All these activities would help them setting up their blog, get them reading, help them with writing fluency, get them to think of their audience as they write, and get them responding to and thinking about each others’ posts.
My next idea also seems very teacher-driven and really just another spin on a typical classroom activity, though this time in the electronic medium. Once students have drafted an essay, rather than the usual in-class peer reviews (which never seem to work the way I want them to, and which never seem to result in all students getting great feedback), the students would copy-and-paste their drafts into a blog post, and then their “writing group,” perhaps now called their “blog partner(s)” (grouped in pairs, trios, or quads), would read their posts/drafts and provide feedback through the comment feature.
This seems only a novelty, however, which might produce one round of good feedback, or which might improve over the semester. However, Hendron, in RSS for Educators, offers something similar to this idea in Chapter 9, in “Lesson 2: Keeping a Fine Arts Portfolio” (pp. 163-165). I think the key here would be to get students to comment on the comments they receive, something I don’t allow them to do in class in their small groups, thinking that they would start “defending” their paper (they should be seeking to understand the comments, asking questions for clarification, etc.). However, with the blog, maybe it would be different. I would, of course, tell them not to defend their paper but to seek clarification, or to initiate some sort of dialogue. This, of course, might require that I have the writing group read the drafts/posts again, including the comments, and to comment on the comments to their comments. If you can follow that!
Lastly, for English 1121, our college writing (or FYC) course, I’m not sure yet about blogs for that class. Since it is the class focusing on argumentation and research, perhaps a class blog and/or a wiki would work better. But I still need to find out more about class blogs; hopefully, that will happen in class on 9-23-08. The Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss book has already given some good examples where class blogs and wikis are used for argumentation and research assignments. And the Hendron book, in chapter 9, offers “Lesson 4: Let’s Review” (pp. 168-170) which seems like an ideal assignment for this course. The critical review / critique could be of a movie, book, or musical recording, as Hendron suggests, but it might also be of an argument (the focus of the course), whether written, oral, or visual, whether academic, political, social, or pop culture.
NOTE TO RICK BEACH: I would still like to learn about “track-backs” in blogs, wherein the blogger cites and links to other sources within his/her own blog. I know you covered this a bit last week, right at the end, but a little more time on it would be great! How is it best done? Is it copy-paste, or a hyperlink, or both, or what? It is especially mentioned on p. 103 of your book.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My Search Strategies
The databases I typically use for my teaching and for my own writing probably tend to be more “old fashioned” than “tech savvy,” and most are found on my college’s library website. I use these primarily because I feel there are fewer “credibility” issues to worry about. I usually begin with MnPALS, the library catalog used for all the MnSCU colleges and universities as well as other MN private colleges; this catalog is mostly for books. I then go to the EBSCO family of databases, which is free for all faculty and students; it includes other databases such as Academic Search Premier, CINAHL (for nursing and allied health), EBSCO MegaFILE, and MasterFILE Premier. I then go to ProQuest for newspaper searching.
When I help my lawyer friend with medical research for his insurance-claims cases, we tend to go to the Diehl Hall Medical Library at the U of MN and use the computers there. I forget off-hand which specific databases we use there, but using the in-house computers not only guarantees access to those databases but also allows us to easily print full-text articles online and to physically go to the shelves if we can’t obtain a full-text article online. Another benefit is having a reference librarian right there to help us if we get stuck.
I sometimes will check Google, but it’s usually last instead of first, which is exactly opposite what I advise my students to do! I tell them to check Google first, even Wikipedia if they must, to get an overview of the topic and what’s out there. I then encourage them to go to the “better” sources and databases for their actual research. Much of this has to do, I suppose, with my own reluctance to use technology and my own skepticism of the credibility, reliability, validity, relevancy, etc. of much of the stuff on the Internet. We do, however, cover all these questions in class, and most, if not all, writing textbooks and handbooks include a section on “evaluating sources,” complete with lists of questions to ask about each different type of source.
The other advantage with the databases listed above is that, more and more, the full text of things is available online. This is ironic, because I also value the physical act of “browsing” in libraries and bookstores. More and more, I find that students will avoid going to the library if they can help it. They’d rather get the full text of things online, even if we are in a computer lab just down the hall from the library and I tell them they can walk down there during class if they need to find, get, or copy something. Rather, if they can’t get the full text online, they will probably skip that source, even though it might be the best source ever for their topic, the source with the “smoking gun,” even if the library owns a hard copy of a book or journal they could photocopy, and they go on to find something else, something similar, but probably something not as good. Another related thought: students also tend to avoid asking the librarians for help, even if the librarians are present with us in the computer lab or are wandering throughout the library.
For identifying and testing out relevant search categories or keywords, I usually begin by brainstorming as long a list as I can before even hitting the computer. I use the most obvious keywords, but I also try for synonyms, and I also try various combinations of key words. (For the law/medical research that I do with my friend, we do this together.) I also note where and when to use Boolean operators and quotation marks to group words together to be searched together.
Right now, I’m only beginning to understand, and use, RSS feeds to subscribe to things such as news, blogs, online magazines, podcasts, etc. I have feeds set up now for my three blog partners. I’m going to see if NCTE has a feed so I can receive their “INBOX” in Google Reader instead of through my email, which sometimes blocks NCTE emails for some reason. I’m also going to explore the Ed-Tech-Talk and Teachers-Teaching-Teachers that Prof. Beach has been talking about. I also still need to set up feeds for iTunes and YouTube, but I don’t yet know how to do that.
I think I’m already pretty good about teaching my students effective search strategies. I’m pretty detail oriented, and I think and do things my students don’t do, and hearing about these things helps them—I know because they tell me so. But, I admit, more and more they are actually teaching me things too—which I give them credit for and then share these tips with the entire class through the class distribution email lists. I can see already, through this digital writing class this semester, that I will have much more to teach when I return from my sabbatical in Fall 2009!
When I help my lawyer friend with medical research for his insurance-claims cases, we tend to go to the Diehl Hall Medical Library at the U of MN and use the computers there. I forget off-hand which specific databases we use there, but using the in-house computers not only guarantees access to those databases but also allows us to easily print full-text articles online and to physically go to the shelves if we can’t obtain a full-text article online. Another benefit is having a reference librarian right there to help us if we get stuck.
I sometimes will check Google, but it’s usually last instead of first, which is exactly opposite what I advise my students to do! I tell them to check Google first, even Wikipedia if they must, to get an overview of the topic and what’s out there. I then encourage them to go to the “better” sources and databases for their actual research. Much of this has to do, I suppose, with my own reluctance to use technology and my own skepticism of the credibility, reliability, validity, relevancy, etc. of much of the stuff on the Internet. We do, however, cover all these questions in class, and most, if not all, writing textbooks and handbooks include a section on “evaluating sources,” complete with lists of questions to ask about each different type of source.
The other advantage with the databases listed above is that, more and more, the full text of things is available online. This is ironic, because I also value the physical act of “browsing” in libraries and bookstores. More and more, I find that students will avoid going to the library if they can help it. They’d rather get the full text of things online, even if we are in a computer lab just down the hall from the library and I tell them they can walk down there during class if they need to find, get, or copy something. Rather, if they can’t get the full text online, they will probably skip that source, even though it might be the best source ever for their topic, the source with the “smoking gun,” even if the library owns a hard copy of a book or journal they could photocopy, and they go on to find something else, something similar, but probably something not as good. Another related thought: students also tend to avoid asking the librarians for help, even if the librarians are present with us in the computer lab or are wandering throughout the library.
For identifying and testing out relevant search categories or keywords, I usually begin by brainstorming as long a list as I can before even hitting the computer. I use the most obvious keywords, but I also try for synonyms, and I also try various combinations of key words. (For the law/medical research that I do with my friend, we do this together.) I also note where and when to use Boolean operators and quotation marks to group words together to be searched together.
Right now, I’m only beginning to understand, and use, RSS feeds to subscribe to things such as news, blogs, online magazines, podcasts, etc. I have feeds set up now for my three blog partners. I’m going to see if NCTE has a feed so I can receive their “INBOX” in Google Reader instead of through my email, which sometimes blocks NCTE emails for some reason. I’m also going to explore the Ed-Tech-Talk and Teachers-Teaching-Teachers that Prof. Beach has been talking about. I also still need to set up feeds for iTunes and YouTube, but I don’t yet know how to do that.
I think I’m already pretty good about teaching my students effective search strategies. I’m pretty detail oriented, and I think and do things my students don’t do, and hearing about these things helps them—I know because they tell me so. But, I admit, more and more they are actually teaching me things too—which I give them credit for and then share these tips with the entire class through the class distribution email lists. I can see already, through this digital writing class this semester, that I will have much more to teach when I return from my sabbatical in Fall 2009!
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