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October 5, 2006
Spring Teaching (Already)
I've just received the very cool news that I'll be teaching my first graduate-level course in the spring (in addition to the anticipated three sections of freshman composition), one that will present some interesting challenges for me. The course, "Technology and the Language Arts Curriculum," is designed for teachers seeking their M.Ed. in English education, and as the course catalog suggests, the class is expected to focus on emerging media technologies and their effectiveness as pedagogical tools, with one of the goals being the production of a syllabus for a "computer intensive language arts course."
So far, I'm only in the very earliest stages of brainstorming about what such a course should look like. Because I have quite a bit of experience with using blogs in the classroom, we'll certainly discuss how blogs can be used in writing classes (something that went particularly well in my Rhetoric and Democracy course a few years ago, a course that also taught me a lot about teaching in a computer classroom). I'm also thinking about setting up a course wiki, which will (hopefully) introduce them to the possibilities and challenges of using wikis in their classrooms. Finally, I'm also hoping to spend some time working with my students on how they might set up video projects for their students (and to discuss the questions that such projects raise). There are some challenges here--including the availability of equipment--but it seems like it could be a fun class to teach.
Hoping to have more to say about the course in the next several days, but I still have one last round of grading tonight and I need to stop procrastinating.
Update: Forgot to mention that I'll almost certainly discuss pedagogical uses of iPods and podcasting in general, but I don't want podcasting to be considered merely a form of (course) content delivery. Still brainstorming. Must grade.
Posted by chuck at October 5, 2006 6:38 PM
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Comments
Oooh. Very cool class :)
Posted by: profgrrrrl at October 5, 2006 9:24 PM
Grad students. That should be fun. Good for you, Chuck. And lucky for them.
Posted by: Lance Mannion at October 5, 2006 10:41 PM
Don't forget to focus on methods for using archives effectively in the classroom, and point them to some good online resources like NEH's EDSITEment project (the goal of which is to use online resources in the classroom). http://edsitement.neh.gov
Also, it probably doesn't need to be said, but also remember to give them guidance in successfully evaluating online resources - a surprising problem still with both teachers and students. Wikipedia makes a great case study for this, and would fit well in your wiki section.
I'm presuming that your students are K-12 teachers, yes?
Cool class. Congratulations!
Posted by: Jason at October 6, 2006 10:11 AM
I think they are secondary eductaion teachers (grades 9-12), which will also presnet an interesting challenge for me. But you're right about the discussion of evaluating online resources such as Wikipedia (I've even thought about showing my freshmen the Colbert clip on "wikiality," for example).
And, yes, I want to spend at least a week discussing online resources but didn't mention that earlier. I'm glad you mentioned the NEH site, which looks especially helpful, but I'll also discuss the Library of Congress' American Memory website, the National Archives, and the Internet Archive as well.
If other readers have suggestions, I'd like to hear them.
Posted by: Chuck at October 6, 2006 10:52 AM
Just overheard a conversation in the hallway and realized that it might be worthwhile to look at paper evaluation tools such as Turnitin.com. Clancy's discussion of the CCCC-IP statement on plagiarism detection services might be a good place to start.
Posted by: Chuck at October 6, 2006 12:14 PM