Sunday, June 28, 2009
From the Shallow End of the Pool
Having searched the length and breadth of a minute fraction of the blogosphere, I am still in the process of trying to put blogging into a context to help my students learn. The vastness cyberpspace is daunting.
At least in this preliminary investigative phase, I can see using blogs as another mode of interaction with students. My concern there is that I would have to put a cap on the amount of time devoted to this endeavor. I could easily see that one could fill up an entire day simply blogging. Surely no one does that…….
I would sooner spend actual time with students after school engaging them in face-to-face interaction, but at the same time I do realize that the potential of the web to provide additional channels of communication and instruction, but then I worry about the fact that there are only so many hours in the day and if I devote more time to virtual interactions that means that there is less time for actual in-person interactions which means either less sleep for me (no way..) or fewer actual person interactions….oh …..what a conundrum the web hath wrought.
The questions of “Will they support student learning?” and “How could you use a blog or a wiki to support student learning?” for me at least are still undecided. I believe that blogs can absolutely support student learning. The issue for me is the answer to the second question. I want to find the most effective and efficient way to use blogging ( and Web2.0) to maximal benefit for the students, while at the same time keeping Web2.0 in the context of a tool for knowledge, rather than the end in and of itself.
Marshall McLuhan (wikipedia THIS guy) once said of television, “The medium is the message”. He examined the influence of media independent of its content, and while TV brings us many wonderful things, it by and large is a passive medium. So is a feeding tube. Whatever comes through the tube may keep you alive, but there’s no taste at all and you better be happy with what is shoved through the tube. Sometimes it’s great, mostly it’s junk. The thing that gives me pause about the same aphorism being applied to Web2.0 is that the new incarnation of the web is interactive, and people who might not otherwise ever interact can now do so limitlessly. Now, if only I could harness that great power for good…..
Friday, June 26, 2009
It's All About The Carbon..
A "must listen" for all carbon-based life.
A great series of podcasts for all sciences. Plus the second link has the podcasts in a 5 part cartoon series. Awesome.
The Life of Carbon
The Life of Carbon Cartoon Series
A great series of podcasts for all sciences. Plus the second link has the podcasts in a 5 part cartoon series. Awesome.
The Life of Carbon
The Life of Carbon Cartoon Series
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)