Response to Chapter 7

The very first sentence of this chapter notes that today’s generation of students is “not only technologically sophisticated but also fundamentally different than previous generations in their approaches to, use of, and relationship with media” (140). I completely agree with this statement. Although I feel that I grew up with heavier exposure to technology than my brother and parents, I still feel like I heavily lack the understanding and relationship with various technological medias that today’s students possess. With that being said, like I have stated before in accordance with the text and other sources, it is imperative for the teachers of today to catch up with the students of today. With student’s emphasis and focus on technology and media, we need to at least be equals. In reality, teachers should be more advanced than students so that we can continually enhance their understanding, but with students learning to engage in technological tools practically out of the womb, it is a challenge. But this is the challenge that we as professional educators should be willing to undertake.

The first section of the text deals with asynchronous discussion boards. This basically means that the discussion is always available but takes place at different times for various people. It is different from synchronous messaging which we will get to later. Just to define the term, synchronous just means in real time, so all parties would be communicating at the same time. Looking back to discussion boards, I agree with the text in that online forums do not offer the same depth that face-to-face conversations have. However, I also feel that online discussion boards offer a great deal more options. For example, people have the opportunity to hear from and have the input from people that they may have never even met, never mind had the opportunity to have a conversation with. Also, being online adds the opportunity to do research while discussing. People can be surfing the web for information while adding to a discussion. Also, online discussion boards give many more people access and the ability to participate than a face-to-face conversation. Looking at online discussion boards within a classroom context uses many of the same benefits. In addition to the benefits already listed, students could pose questions on a discussion board, such as homework questions, and other students could see the question and realize that they didn’t have to ask it, eliminating the teacher from having to answer the same question five times. These discussion boards also allow students to reflect on their work while responding. Finally, another really helpful tools deals with the fact that students can respond to their peers within the discussion. Although the discussion may not be happening in a face-to-face context, great discussion that can further students thinking and challenge them can occur. Something interesting that the chapter noted deals with the assistance discussion boards offer to second language learners. With this kind of discussion, students could take the time they needed to process and respond whether than rush through and miss much of the meaning and understanding. I have some experience with discussion boards in an academic setting, but when I began to think about it, discussion boards are all over the web. I have used discussion boards when looking for lesson plan ideas, recipes, craft ideas, you name it. However, I have also used discussion boards within my classes. For example, on e-learning there is a discussion board feature which I have used. Also, with the college of education online site, also known as moodle, there is a helpful discussion board site there. In my experiences, I have found these educational discussion boards very helpful. I have used them to search and see if someone has already asked a question I have or to pose my own questions. Also, I have used them to bounce ideas off of my virtual classmates and them off me. Using these adds a collaborative effect that even small group face-to-face conversations may not have. In addition to the sites listed in the text, I found two sites that teachers could use to set up class discussion boards. One is through the ever faithful Google! Through the Google page the teacher could set up a classroom group and customize it as she see fit and create online discussion boards there. Students could also use this to create their own discussion boards either for group projects and other educational purposes or just for fun! Another site that I found allows for students or teachers to create a community around their forums. Both sites give the creator free range, allowing them to meet the needs of their students. I really enjoyed exploring both of these sites. Discussion boards are a great idea in my opinion and I hope to employ them in my future classroom!

The sites that I found:

http://groups.google.com/?utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us_ca-google&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=free%20discussion%20boards

http://www.socialgo.com/for-forum.htm?gclid=CNa0tJPLqJ0CFVhJ2godMxy6rw

Moving on to synchronous interactive chats. As stated above synchronous just means happening in real time. This more resembles face-to-face interaction however; it also has many of the same benefits as the asynchronous discussion boards. The internet relay chat resembles a synchronous discussion chat because it allows many people to chat interactively. It also logs the conversation, allowing the parties involved to see what has been said throughout the conversation. It reminds me a lot of the chatrooms that I used to be a part of when I was in elementary and middle school. I believe that this could be very useful within the classroom. The teacher could set aside time where students could ask questions from home, they would just have to log in a certain time. This could also be used as a form of collaborative assessment where students could work together interactively to figure out problems. Also, it could just be a place where students could chat with each other about school, life, and other things that are important and relevant to them. I also think it would be very helpful to teachers to have a school wide or even county wide chatroom where teachers could discuss problems, concerns, give advice, or get ideas. Communication amongst teachers is imperative and does not always happen face-to-face within the actual building. Having this mode of communication allows teachers a break. I think it will be very useful and even fun for students as well as teachers to use this within the classroom. With all this considered, I will be hugely important for teachers to express the safety concerns and manners of using these kinds of chat rooms. Also, they will need to reiterate time and time again how important it is to keep their information private when in public and not school associated chat rooms. Overall though, chatrooms can be very helpful and beneficial within the classroom.

Some examples:

Chatzy- http://www.chatzy.com/
Chatzy is a free and easy site for teachers to establish and admit students to. It is safe, with no pop-ups and people have to be admitted by an administrator in order to enter the chatroom. It can also be added to websites!

Meebo- http://www.meebo.com/rooms/
Meebo is also free and very straight-forward to use. You can make it public or private and the creator acts as the moderator of the site to keep the students safe from online predators. This site could also be very useful.

Students will also be familiar with chatrooms found on sites such as AOL Instant messenger, YAHOO messenger, and MSN messenger. These are going to need to be monitored more heavily due to online predation.

Videoconferencing in my mind is a thing of the future. I am still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that it is possible within classrooms, or even to take the place of classrooms. When I picture videoconferencing, I picture executives in skyscrapers videoconferencing with people in other countries, doing business. I think that this is a very expensive option and personally do not see much of the benefit in using it. There are programs such as Skype which are free but I feel like it is easy to forget the cost of web cams and microphones. Using asynchronous video lecturing may be cheaper and more realistic. However, the book makes a good point. Using videoconferencing for things such as communicating with astronauts in space or other schools will make learning interactive and more interesting for students. I personally think that the expenses outweigh the positives of using this. It would be a nice treat every once in a while but I think it is unreasonable to expect this within classrooms on a daily or even weekly basis.

Podcasting is something that I do not know much about but I am excited to learn more about in this class. I am still unsure of how exactly I want to use them in my future classroom. I think that they can definitely be used in classrooms at stations and centers. Teachers, for example, in lower classrooms could create a listening station where they record certain phonological activities. I think that using podcasting as a lecturing tool is just as bad as standing in class and lecturing. I think that podcasts should be used as a supplement and not just as a lecturing or information providing tool. However, using them as a resource is helpful. The fact that as the days go on, more and more podcasts about thousands of different topics are becoming more available, would allow students to use them to further their thinking and research. I think that podcasts have the possibility to be very helpful but I am also excited to learn more about them throughout the rest of the course. I am most excited to create my own.

Overall I really enjoyed this chapter. I felt like I learned a great deal more about various technologies and understand it all much more. I think that some of the tools suggested in this chapter are slightly out of budget for most schools today, but with technology advancing at the rate it is, who knows how cheap it could be for schools to access in the future. I am looking most forward to learning more about the uses and how to create a podcast!