Internal links/ tech in the classroom, ect...

Well, I finally figured out how to include links in the post. For my future posts, I will include both the direct links to any page I mention and the actual address. I also plan to go back and edit my old posts to include links.

I have a tiny bit of web knowledge, but after spending too much time trying to figure out the simple stuff, I find myself feeling sorry for educators and parents that have little or no knowledge of the internet/ technology/ computers. (Being able to turn it on or find a file just doesn't count.) As a society we are being told that a "good" education for our children will come with all this extra stuff. But how much education are our educators getting? How can a teacher help her students understand and use technology if she doesn't really understand or feel comfortable using it herself?

Also, though I get excited at some of the neat stuff out there and the applications I see that it could have in the classroom, I have to go back to my original question. Do computers or technology really help students become better writers? The assumption that throwing a few more computers in a classroom of poor students is a "fix" is out there. I remember when schools were obsessed with the ratio of students to teachers. When looking at their web sites, you still find that, but now you also see the number of students to each computer. It's as if the computer is expected actually act as a teacher. How does this work? Can we really believe that this plastic box can replace or compensate for the lack of good teaching?

weblogg-ed

I found a blog that is all about technology in the classroom. weblogg-ed is run by Will Richardson, a self described "blogvangelist" and the Supervisor of Instructional Technology and Communications at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, NJ. This blog contains a huge amount of information about new technologies and their uses in the classroom, pod-casts, and a very long link list to actual classroom blogs.

I am finding educators and technology working together in ways I would never have believed before I started this project. Richardson is running a pilot program at his school with a pc tablet that I plan to learn more on. Check out his page for a description of a Spanish teacher's use of the tablet in the classroom ( Saturday, September 17, 2005).

However, as amazing as everything described by Richardson is, it doesn't escape my attention that many schools are not going to have the opportunity to provide "smart classrooms" and pc tablets anytime soon. What does this mean to our students as a group? How can a student who is lucky to get a couple hours a week on on a computer in the school lab going to compete with students who have smart classrooms and teachers armed with tablets and i-pods? Richardson himself says, "if you're not willing or able to get literate in the ways of the Read/Write Web, you will either become irrelevant or left behind." (Thursday, September 22, 2005)

*****Again, please visit weblogg-ed at: http://www.weblogg-ed.com/ to see what else Will Richardson has to say and show.****

Saving vs. Posting and Other Blogging Issues

Well, I've had my first couple of problems with this new technology. I thought I'd put my last post up on my blog page on Tuesday when I saved it. However, when I checked it today (Sunday), it wasn't posted yet. But, I've fixed this problem and it is now posted for all to read. I know that I need to double check my blogs from now on. Also, I've figured out that the preview button is not my friend. This is the third time I've typed this because when I go to preview, I keep hitting the wrong button to get back and I lose everything. I think I've got it figured out now, but we'll see if I actually get it posted.

NAEP and Our Student Writers

I've been researching our nations schools and what kind of writing students they produce. So far, I'm fairly alarmed.

According to a study done in 2002 (National Assessment of Educational Progress) by the government and reported by the National Center of Education Statistics, writers tested "in 2002, between 24 and 31 percent of the students in each of the three grades performed at or above the Proficient level."

Let me try to explain this a bit. A lot of work went into deciding just what, exactly, could be expected of a writer in the fourth, eighth, or twelth grade, based on responses from a large number of educators and concerned citizens. The NAEP and NCES both back these scales. Based on a 300 point scale, there are 4 levels: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. A writer who scores in the Proficient range is believed to be writing at the expected and hoped for level for his/her grade level.

Based on that, knowing that only 24 to 31 percent of students managed to write at the level expected for their grade, I'm alarmed. If this study is to be believed, only a quarter to one third of our students are writing proficiently. What does this say about the writers we're producing? What does this say about our educational system? More than that, I am worried about the future for these students.

Of course, the authors of this study point out that nearly all scores are higher than those in 1998. Apparently, we're improving. But, it would seem that a small improvement is just not enough.

Also, this study reported expected (for me) results for other areas:

*White and Asian Pacific/Islanders performed better than other races in all grades.
*Fringe urban (suburban) schools performed better than inner urban or rural schools.
*Students that were eligible for free or reduced lunches did not perform as well as those that were not eligible.

One other note. Female students scored better than their male counterparts in all grades. On average, females scored 17 points higher in fourth grade, 21 points higher in eighth grade, and 25 points higher in twelth grade. As an English student, I've noticed that there have always been more women than men in my classes. Is there a connection?

*****All of this data was pulled from theNational Center of Education Statistics. You can check my facts or find out more here: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/writing/results2002. ******

ENG 553 Project

In any educational system, there will be students who succeed and students who, for whatever reason, do not. Recently, national attention has focused on what educators have known for years; our society is producing a large number of students that fail to achieve success in school.

As a graduate student in English Composition and Rhetoric who hopes to one day teach college composition, I am concerned about why so many students are leaving high school without a basic knowledge of writing. As a student in ENG 553 Writing Technology, I am interested in the relationship between writing education and technology, especially the assumptions about, and our uses of, technology in the classroom.

Within this blog, I hope to do several things:

1. Research the relationship between writing education and technology. In preliminary research, I've found several assumptions and over simplifications of this issue that I believe may lead to incorrect or over simplified answers. I plan to start with several basic questions and go where the answers lead me. For example: What types of technology are being used in the classroom? How are they being used? Are they successful? What are the differences between successful writers and unsuccessful writers? Who decides? In what ways are we using technology to address the failures of writing education?

2. Experiment with a "new" (to me) writing technology. Research is always a sort of intellectual journey. I'm hoping that the framework of the blog will allow me not only to recieve feedback and advice from others, but to follow the questions where they lead without the roadblocks of preconcieved notions - tangents, wrong turns, and all.