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Monday, September 29, 2008

Call Me Old-Fashioned

Call me old-fashioned. When I read the first sentence "The Internet will change the way teachers teach and students learn," I was irritated. Personally, I was all about the real library with real books, encyclopedias, and sources rather than the "virtual library." HOWEVER, this chapter helped me expand my views.

I never realized how wide-scale the Internet is. Yes, I know that it is huge and you can find just about anything you want on it, but for teaching purposes, it can help a student's work grow. They are still getting the same skills (critical thinking, problem-solving, written communication, and the ability to work collaboratively). It also helps the students write effectively for an audience other than the teacher. Maybe, this would motivate the student to write more towards that audience and enjoy writing, rather than writing for the sole purpose of an assignment for the teacher. The fact that a student can correspond to a student in a different country with a possibly different view or opinion is amazing! What struck me the most was Ted Nellen's story saying "but my classes have the special-ed kids, the bilingual learners, and the visual learners...and what the Web does is provide access to the world so that my kids can fly." Considering that I hope to work with students who are not your typical AP English students.

The other thing I took from this chapter was the different templates to make a website off of. It is no longer a chore or a hard task to make a website. Fill in a couple of lines, pick an organizational type, and you can have a website. Now that they are so readily available, anyone can do it, even a teacher without and experience or a student using it for the first time.

Overall about the class, I am finding it challenging but overall a great experience. Many things that we are learning are things that I would have never even had time to experience or learn. I see so much possibility it creating these different documents for future teaching and see so many more possibilities in making a website for our next project.

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