Digital Activities

While reading To Kill a Mockingbird's trial scene (Ch. 17-18) students could enact the persona of a modern-day political blogger reporting on the day-to-day of the trial. We would look at existing blogs and what kinds of things the students view. It would easily dovetail into our required bias instruction and then students would also become bloggers themselves, taking on a biased persona of their own. This would help students identify pieces of text that support their interpretation, developing a voice, etc. within an environment that seems more authentic than an essay or in-class assignment. Blogs could also be used instead of in-class journaling. While reading our texts, it could help students create a digital conversation between each other and how they read and identify with the text. I also have students read outside of class--a class blog could help students bring all their texts together in conversation with each other...

Search Methods

What I use for research varies depending on my purpose and audience. Typically for academic research I will use the online U of M databases or actually go to the library and read the journals and books. For most research, I will use books, since most information is simply not on the Internet, and I do not typically trust its accuracy. I usually will use academic search premier, lexis-nexis, OED online, ERIC , etc. If I need current event news I would consult the New York Times or Star Tribune. I mostly use the Internet for sports news and getting quick facts, usually wikipedia does a good enough job.

Validity is a concern of mine on the Internet--I simply will distrust all of it unless I know where it is published and who published it. I prefer to read things from their primary documents and make my own opinion or read an author's interpretation. What I enjoy most is reading about history, in which case I love reading how an author interprets events, how they synthesize, and what they choose to bring together. I typically will listen to MPR or search their website to begin the bibliography trail and then continue as long as my interest takes me . I enjoy searching think tank cites and Congressional commissions--CATO, Heritage, Heartland, RAND, etc. I guess that I typically only use the Internet for entertainment or listening to radio online or watching shows and movies--I can't say that I have ever taken the Internet seriously for any sort of research.

My students are mostly aware of wikipedia and general searching, but what they don't know are the government and think tanks and commercial websites like Amazon that can be helpful in doing research. MostlyProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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Using My Blog

I have never used a blog before and I am not someone who journals often, so maintaining this blog for me is going to be a difficult task, but I am up to anything new if it can help me become a better teacher and person.
I don't really know yet how I will or could use a blog as part of my teaching--it may be easier to keep track of student journaling and other writing than through hard copies which I do now, however, in my district the digital divide is prevalent and demanding that every student have a blog or post online is difficult at best. We are currently using some online editing and paper submission tools and it has been a train wreck for some and extra headaches for teachers, however, when it works, it can be very powerful.
Blogs allow asynchronous conversation like e-mail, except it is accessible by many more people. It can be written anonymously, which can allow students to write with other voices and without the pressure of their peers and maintaining a certain identity.
I hope that communication over a blog would be better, but I still question whether all students can access the blog equally and whether asynchronous discussions are healthy for understanding how to converse with others. Without the nonverbals, often times it is difficult to pick up on the nuances. Also, not knowing your audience, it may be difficult to craft your posts for your audiences to understand the jist and nuances of your posts. However, this may force bloggers to use adjectives and descriptors in a more accurate manner. I fear at times that blogs only escalate polarity in argumentation, since agreement is never necessary since bloggers never actually have to work together or even meet each other.
I also fear, as I see in my own writing that I tend to loose thoughts and ramble more while typing as opposed to writing by hand. But despite my many fears and apprehensions, I think that I will be able to figure out how to use a blog or webspace in my classroom.
I worry about the amount of time it takes to set up all my class stuff online and setting up and maintaining blogs or wikis or a/synchronous discussions when no students will access it. My homepage now doesn't get my hits even though the students know about it and I have e-mailed parents and sent letters home explaining the website.
I don't even know what I want to learn about digital writing, since I don't know what is so different about digital writing from regular writing.