The first order of business is to discuss the idea of Wikipedia in the classroom. I know that I have shied away from allowing students to cite Wikipedia during the research process, but have suggested students use the site as a starting point. According to Richardson, this is a popular approach for many teachers. After having a chance to really investigate Wikipedia, I might be changing my stance concerning students citing this source during the research process. As Richardson states, and I loosely paraphrase, we together can do more than any individual alone. Many of the topics in Wikipedia have extensive research from multiple resources. The culture of Wikipedia seems to police itself and seems to strive for accuracy. What I have found with Wikipedia is that for general topics it is a great resource. As we look at very specific topics, the success rate seems to wane, but that doesn't mean that Wikipedia isn't useful. It is still a great starting point for research, and I think it has become a source worthy to be cited in research.
For my purposes, asking what is microblogging could easily be changed to why microblog. I might be too old fashioned to handle the idea of Twitter and Plurk, but hopefully I will be able to find some value in these services. As a tool to have students connect with each other and give quick responses concerning ideas in the classroom sounds good to me. I could have students use either Twitter or Plurk to share ideas related to topics discussed in the classroom. So I have reluctantly joined both sites in order to fulfill the requirement of this class, and to hopefully open my eyes as to the value for my classroom. But if I am supposed to be interested in following the random musings of people that I don't really know (or even people that I do know) I think that I am the wrong person for the job. People who use both services claim that they are wonderful, but I am solitary by nature, and don't feel the need to spend more time that I don't have following people that I don't know talk about things that don't matter to me. That sounds really brutal of me to say, and I don't mean to bash anyone who loves microblogging, but for me, the idea doesn't blow my hair back.
My positive vibes concerning blogging are increasing the more we study the variety of uses for blogs. As I have said in previous posts, my biggest concern would be student safety. But I like the fact that students would be able to learn from others that I teach. I think the discussions could be much more valuable between 140 students than simply 25 students in a class. Whether I ever move towards having students contribute to a worldwide audience is something that will need to be addressed down the road. I also like the fact that blogging can help students deal with conflict. I am sure that many students will simply say things that won't hurt any feelings, but I think that being honest with each other will encourage further discussions about specific issues. But to do this, we have to move beyond a comment being construed as a personal attack. By keeping control of what is allowed to be posted, I think that I can help with conflict resolution and keep the fragile world of personal feelings a bit more stable.
I have to say that at this point in time, I'm siding with you on the microblogging. I think your ideas for students sharing resources and knowledge is a good one, but personally, I think the students get enough of the microblogging through their phone texting. I'd much rather they share their ideas in a more thoughtful manner by blogging or developing a wiki. I am plently social and enjoy yapping just as much as the next person. Hell, I even have to admit to being a big fan of texting; however, "tweeting" throughout the day is not my style, and in order for students to take full advantage of it, wouldn't it mean that they'd have to have access of either a computer or their phone the whole day as well? I created a Facebook page for myself which allows for microblogging on its wall space, but I can't even manage to keep up with that. At this time, I don't see my keeping up with Twitter as well. On the other hand, who knows? I have more than once been pleasantly surprised during our courses and have had to eat a morsel of crow for my blunderings and proclamations. Perhaps I'll eventually have to do the same with Twitter.
ReplyDeleteYou win the award for the longest blogs ever man. I am a windy person but man can you write. The big difference, however, between your blogs and mine are that your's are actually coherent. You are always fun to read and very well thought out. Now that I've kissed your ass, I must say that I totally agree with you on the microblogging. I did not have a twitter account before this class and would not have one if it wasn't required of us. I have so little time in the day to do all the things that I need to do, that wasting extra time telling people I don't care about how I'm feeling or what I'm doing seems stupid to me. I don't get the appeal. I don't care what Chad OchoCinco had for breakfast this morning, or about what any of my friends are doing at this second for that matter. If I wanted to know what a friend was doing right now I'd call them. I, unlike you, am a facebook member and see some benefit in it but not for the updating part but rather the communication part. It's nice to see occasionally what my family and friends did over the weeekend without having to call them and that's about it. I would, however, be really curious to know how your test of the blogging goes. I think you'll like it and find it beneficial so I'd love to know what you think.
ReplyDelete