CLASS #1: Reflections, comments, etc. on articles and links...from Carlos...

We have been asked to give some feedback on several of the posted articles and links...here are some of my observations and comments...

==>Title: "Wikis for univ. faculty"; Author notes their usefulness for student collaboration, participants can all have the most current (class) info, however, before this can all happen, the instructor must become efficient in wiki use...drawbacks include content created on wikis and copied to a Word document lose their formatting...and...be careful about overloading students with too much technology.

==> Title: "50 ways to use wikis..."; Author suggests that not just for the math and science courses I teach, but for classes in general...potential uses include virtual field trips, study guides and test reviews, to elicit student feedback, data collection in a uniform and easy manner, student posting/linking their own creative online efforts, and helping the teacher organize and improve their course(s) regarding areas such as the syllabus, classroom policies and procedures, and collaboration with other teachers on lesson plans, etc. A link to smartteaching.org was interesting.

==> Title: "Dangerous discussions: Blogs, wikis,..."; Noted - A question our whole class might want to discuss: "How can learning be improved by the use of blogs, wikis, etc., w/o reducing the student/faculty ratio or increasing the workload for teachers and students?"

==> Title: "100 best blogs for teachers"; A collection of interesting blogs mainly aimed at K-12 education. The writer does note under "Thoughts on education policy' an interesting/novel grading strategy for papers submitted by students based on "incentivising" students to repeatedly re-submit (after instructor's review/corrections) their papers until they have achieved an A-level grade...the professor notes this grading strategy should ultimately result in better writing from the students.

==> Title: "Web Rage: Blogging and the web have fostered"; It is good to take note of what was stated here on perhaps what can best be described as some "general" or "big picture" unintended societal consequences of blogging and the web, such as,...bloggers as ideological hermits...echo chambers...people talking to other people that believe exactly what they do...and...anonymity. Also noted...1) 2005 estimate: Only 25% of the blogs visited by workers on the job were job related, and 2) 2004 estimate: 15,000 new blogs a day were being created...information overload!

==> My reflections on..."What possibilities are there for using blogs in your class? Why?"; Perhaps wikis and blogs are instructional tools that students would find appealing because they might offer 1) An opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns on class topics directly with the teacher and other students, 2) The instructor can post links to helpful videos and articles that bear directly on learning the course content, and 3) One of the course references (I forget which one) noted that "Social media can extend student discussion outside of the classroom...potentially offering teachers an opportunity to be more thoughtful on the way they teach and to improve their classroom teaching practices."

Thanks for your attention...Carlos...hope to see you in class tomorrow...

Note to class: I have to continue reflecting on some of what I noted above, and I hope the above "ruminations" are not too much for a new "blogger", or should I say, "bloviator", to post!