I was really inspired by Selfe's article for two reasons: the first being that it was written in the early 90's and how it so easily transfers to today's culture, and the ideas she puts forth for technology use and integration.
I am drawn to Selfe's comment about linguistic utopias (Pratt), and how "students [can] speak without interruption, and marginalized students can acquire more central voice" when using technology (2). This reminds me of our blogs for this class, and the forum section in blackboard that I use for Research Methods. This is a place where I can hide behind my computer screen and ultimately write whatever I want to without fear of being interrupted, where I can edit and revise my words to make them come across exactly how I want them to, a place where I can write and think freely without the judgmental looks and comments from my peers. Now, obviously, I'm still aware that what I say here is attached to my name, my face, my body; but in other spheres of the Internet, it doesn't have to be. I can create an entirely new persona on Twitter and say whatever I want to, where no one knows it's Meghan Self. The only way it could be traced to me is through my IP address on my computer.
I think the awareness of the speaker and the anonymity of the speaker and vital, especially in a classroom full of young FYC students. I remember in some of my undergrad courses where I would have these great ideas that I really wanted to add to the discussion, but would sit silently instead and not share my thoughts and ideas for fear of rejection by my peers. Even now, I somewhat censor what I say on this blog, you don't see me dropping F words every third word as I sometimes do when I'm speaking out loud to my friends (it's just diction mom; some ladies do have the mouth of a sailor and I use it for rhetorical purposes. :) )
I am going to integrate the use of Blackboard forums in my syllabus. I like the way Blackboard is one place where all the students come together to write and respond. While I think blogs are a great idea because this is my "personal space" that reflects only ME, I have to go to a separate webpage if I want to go look at everyone elses blogs, as opposed to Blackboard where everyone elses comments are unavoidable.
So I would like to follow in the footsteps on Dr. Couch for this. I will have several different forum threads available. For example: I will have a "general questions, comments, concerns" section where students can post questions about the course that are not specific to any week's reading or assignment. I will have another thread for each week that will cover the week's reading and assignment. This is where students will post specific questions about that week's reading or assignment (perhaps I will require students to be weekly leaders and post questions about the reading for their classmates to respond to). Then I will have an "Ideas" thread. This is where students can continue conversations from class discussions, can post new ideas or questions, or look for clarification on theories, ideologies, etc. Sure it can pertain to a specific week, but it is designed more for "general ideas" in the sense of "I have to write a research paper and I'm struggling to formulate an idea for the "so what factor," so they will post it there and their peers can respond accordingly.
I find great value in this, particularly the "general ideas" thread because it allows students who are maybe too shy or too nervous to speak in class to have a voice. It also allows students the opportunity to think about, edit/revise their ideas. There's been plenty of times when I leave class still thinking about an idea that was discussed and while I didn't have an answer in class, I finally found one after class and I don't want to waste it, so this is where I could post it to the "general ideas" thread.
Having forum abilities creates this "linguistic utopia," a place where I can hide behind my computer screen to write and think freely, a place where "gender, race, and socioeconomic status are minimized" (2).
Meghan, I like your evaluation -- especially the mention of the marginalized students gaining voice through technology. Do you think it's also possible for those marginalized students to avoid gaining the social interactions they might otherwise have gotten in class were they to push themselves outside of the realm of anonymity? While I don't disagree that the technological aspect as a component of education is necessary, it would definitely be easy for some of us introverts to hide online. I'm speaking from experience in that I was a very quiet child -- Imagine there were years where I just didn't talk or contribute to class discussion. At a young age, I realized the goals of the institution were not my goals in education. It was quite easy to become invisible among the crowds of students who needed the vocal stage. "Utopia" seems like such an idealistic and non-realistic likelihood.
ReplyDeleteMeghan, I also love what you have to say about students who can't always find a voice in the classroom finding one through technology. I have not been working with Blackboard this semester (only RaiderWriter) and look forward to exploring it as an instructor next year because it sounds like the set-up is much more user-friendly and student-centric. I am also curious, though, about how you might hope to draw out students who are just generally struggling with communication. What about those who are uncomfortable in class and online? Are there assignments that can draw out the quietest or most disengaged student within the ideals of a "linguistic utopia"? I have a few students that sometimes feel unreachable and I'm always wondering what I could do to give them more, better, safer space.
ReplyDeleteMeghan, I think you make some great points about blog posts vs. blackboard. Your assertion that blog posts really create a personal space is fascinating--I hadn't thought of this before! You're right, it can be easy to neglect the conversations going on outside your own discussion, and putting students in a forum that makes them face other comments forces them to listen to the WHOLE discussion rather than just their own. Interesting thoughts--I'll be thinking about this when I begin teaching my own classes!
ReplyDeleteRaiderWriter feels a bit more limiting to me than Blackboard, since Blackboard has more of an access to forums and other such discussions where students can actually express themselves. I may be sounding a bit heretical because we have more of a generalized writing process than a post-process line of thinking, but I think that even first year writing students can at least benefit from both developing blogs and contributing to Blackboard or Moodle (do people still use that site?) forums in ways that create personal spaces while opening students' eyes to other types of arguments. A discussion group on Facebook devoted to one class could also have the same type of experience, come to think of it.
ReplyDeleteHave you had a chance to review others' syllabi yet? I'm going to make them available through our class site soon. I wonder if reviewing what your peers have to say about syllabi might be useful for your own thinking, too.
ReplyDelete