Interactivity #5

Pedagogical Use of Technology

For this activity, I interviewed a 9^th grade English teacher from Parsippany High School in the Parsippany-Troy Hills District. This school has already been on its way to using technology for all aspects of education. Although the teacher was not familiar with the specific NETS Standards, when I gave him a copy to peruse, he did say that a lot of these elements are incorporated into their lessons. He informed me of the weekly meetings he has with his colleagues and supervisors and their discussions about different ways to use technology in their classrooms. These technology-filled lessons make the students’ learning experience a more beneficial one through the use of technologies such as smartboards, iPads, Wikis, and Emailing.

The teacher I interviewed gave me substantial answers as to what types of technologies they use and how it will assist their students. They use laptops in computer labs, have teacher-teacher, teacher-student, and student-student interaction through email, and they use smartboards. The smartboards are beneficial for the teachers as much as the students because they can display their already-created lesson without wasting precious class time writing it on the board. He also mentioned that next year, they will attempt to incorporate the use of iPads into the curriculum. According to the teacher, the reason why technology is so important in school is because they can give students real world information in real time. They can provide them with news articles, archive information, and YouTube clips. In fact, he gave me a specific example: the day after I interviewed him, he was planning on showing a clip of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I remember, in my high school class, we read the speech, but now technology permits the speech to be watched as if they were present during the event.

I was surprised to hear about the idea of iPads being provided for students in class. They are an expensive mode of technology; needless to say, the school would need a large budget in order to afford the amount of tablets needed for the students to use during class. Also, it surprised me to find out that he plans to explore Wikis for next year. The Wiki will have the required assignments for the students, and they will be required to submit these assignments on the Wiki instead of a hardcopy. I was shocked because of the major changes technology has had on the school system since I graduated from high school four years ago. The teacher said himself that the teachers are online this year; next year, it will be the students’ turn.

By the time I become an educator and hired by a school district, I hope that technology will already be a vast portion of the curriculum. If not, I would express to my colleagues the importance of such tools for the students’ learning and for the convenience of the teachers. Ideas I got from my interviewed teacher such as Wikis, iPads, and YouTube clips are great ideas for me to use in the future and share with my colleagues.

Interactivity #4: The Pedagogical Uses of Technology

Pedagogical Uses of Technology for English

This lesson plan caught my attention due to the unique way of understanding Shakespearean drama. Because Twelfth Night is not normally a play that is studied in school, the fact that there is such an interesting way to learn it was quite surprising to me. Also, I understand the importance of making drama and literature come to life in order to recognize the thematic plots and character relationships. Although the title of the lesson plan seemed trivial and clichéd, reading the work the students would be doing made me realize the benefits that will come out of this activity, including a better understanding of the text.
One significantly large gap in this lesson plan is the lack of pronounced standards. While the 8^th grade standards I focused on were applicable to the lesson plan, the fact that the plan itself did not have standards selected already was a little disconcerting to me. Additionally, the use of technology is very limited. As I added in my spreadsheet, there are many other forms of technology that can be used, such as DragonSpeak, a voice recorder that will help the students listen multiple times in order to decipher word meanings through their contexts.

Although there is not much technology listed in this lesson plan, what they do list is very beneficial and necessary for this project. The CD and CD player are needed for the initial project, but when they are used, it will increase the students’ understanding of the material. By using songs to determine character relationships, they will be able to analyze the reason for these emotions and encounters, and apply them to their understanding of the play.

While some aspects of this lesson plan are a bit limited, the activity itself is a great way to ensure the students’ acceptance and knowledge of the material that seems to have the consistent reputation of being incomprehensible. 

The World Shakespeare Bibliography Online

As I was researching for my Shakespeare term paper, I realized that even 16th century literature has an impact on technology. It didn't hit me until I came across several options for research materials that were in various different languages and applied to many different cultures. It would be extremely difficult to find these choices without internet and computer access. This online database is the best to use for Shakespeare studies because of its many materials and descriptions of them. The only problem is that it does not have the materials themselves; inconveniently, they just have the citation information and it is up to you to find it in your own library. This can be a challenge considering your library may not have full access to these articles or books.

In the past, when using this database, I have found information and titles that would be perfect and influential to my topic; that is, until I discovered the name of the journal where an article had come from. In other words, the journal was in a different language but the article itself was in English. Needless to say, after a couple of hours of desperate searching, I did not find the article in its entirety. Hence my many trips to Alexander Library in Rutgers-New Brunswick. There I was able to scour through the Shakespeare Quarterly journals and many volumes of the Shakespeare Survey. 

Now, don't misunderstand: I did find articles and books to use through this database as well. It was mainly an inconvenience to have to find them ourselves, especially when they may not have even been in this country or language. But alas, I did very well on my term paper from my last class, and am determined to do so again, so this is where I shall remain.

How to use this database:

Step 1: Go on to the Sprague Library Website and click "Databases"

Step 2: Scroll all the way down and find "World Shakespeare Bibliography Online"

Step 3: Once on the database, click "Advanced Search" on the top

Step 4: Type in a keyword regarding topic to search. For example:

Step 5: Click on a result that fits best with your topic and research! 

After finding a result, you need to search for it on the library website to see if they have it, and if they do, see if it is in stock. 

HAPPY SHAKESPEARE!

Interactivity #3: Generating a State of the Art Inventory

This interactivity introduced me to many forms of technology that I would not have even thought of using when becoming an educator; mostly this is due to the fact that a lot of it is new. Doing this research assignment, in addition to talking to cousins of mine still attending high school, has helped me realized the many options I will have with my students when the time comes for me to be in a classroom. In regard to my READ 411 class, there are exorbitant amounts of resources, especially for my English major, including Storybird and Book Builder.
   Both of these technologies, which are website guides, assist the students in creating their own pieces of literature. While studying other forms of literature is important, creating their own teaches them the art of creativity, and gives them an intellectual insight to the authors’ ideas and forms of writing. In my lessons, I could ask them to incorporate a form of writing that we are discussing specifically. This will help them not only learn to analyze an author's style, but it will also help them to create their own style. This idea is essential to grasp in CURR 314 because of the way assessments and standards can be regarded and brushed upon through these activities. If the students are assigned to make their own story based on published stories discussed in class, they can be assessed of their knowledge and understanding through these technologies.
This is also extremely beneficial to READ 411 because that class is all about incorporating language and literacy to lessons in all content areas (yes, including Math). By using Storybird and Book Builder, students are focusing on their reading, writing, and language skills, which they could be doing just as much in a Math class reading a word problem. These helpful websites, along with eBooks, and even smart pens for writing lessons and corrections, prove crucial to the classroom in order to enhance assessment and language and literacy.

To Read or Not to Read: The Problems with Movies and Their Effect on the Student

Ever heard of the phrase: "The book was better than the movie"? How about: "I won't read the book, I'll just watch the movie."

Well, whether you've heard or said them, at one point or another, you have experienced them.

As a student, you have probably at one point or another decided to watch the movie, or thought the movie would give you the same information as the book. Maybe you still think that now. It doesn't matter how old you are, what you're studying in school, or even if your whole life is dedicated to reading. I am a 21-year-old English Education Major who reads every day, and I STILL sometimes have an urge to just watch the movie.

It is very difficult for some English majors to admit that at one point or another they wanted to watch the movie. Whether or not they acted on it is on their own consciences (I keep telling mine to leave me alone). In any case, it is generally known to society that the movies, while most of the time displaying decent adaptations, leave out some crucial moments in the book.

Now that is exactly what people get angry about when they see a movie based on a book, right? They say, "I can't believe they left this part out! It was so important!" While I myself get a little annoyed at these things, I keep reminding myself that there is a time limit in film and television that does not exist in books. At most, moviemakers have 3 hours to make the movie attempt to measure up to the glorified entity that is the book. When reading the book, you have all the time in the world to finish it, and even re-read some parts if you wanted. To go even further, why not read the whole thing again (I mean, there's no way I read The Other Boleyn Girl 7 times, what are you talking about?)?

While I am defending the movie industry, I am also attempting to make a point that movies are not the only thing to be relied on, especially when studying a piece of literature in school. The movies will be enjoyable, I'm sure, but books hold the key to the themes and symbolism that must be absorbed in order to understand the entirety of the text. In fact, the movies can be used in the classroom, but AFTER the book is read, discussed, and throughly comprehended. For example, after completing Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (Happy Belated Anniversary!) in my British Literature class, we watched the BBC mini series in order to get the visual effect. 

Here is another side to this argument: Shakespeare. William Shakespeare wrote his plays with the intention of them being performed. While it is important and crucial to read and understand his plays in textual form, seeing them performed is just as necessary and helpful to reinforce our understanding of the text. Back in the 16th century, audiences had to watch the plays because most of them were illiterate, but those who were studied Shakespeare's plays when they appeared in print, shortly after their composition.

To close, I would like to thank you all for reading this post. As English, History, Math, Science, Health/Phys Ed., Music, Dance, and Art Teachers (if I forgot your major, my apologies!) there will come a time where you have to make the big choice: To Read or Not to Read?

P.S. Here's a funny cartoon for your enjoyment!

Interactivity #2: History of Technology in Schools

“I’ll just watch the movie”—The Future for Books Looks Grim

the eReader vs. the real thing

When I first saw the Barnes & Noble "nook" being advertised, I wanted it: bad. Reading is my passion, and I wanted to be able to read three books at the same time. However, I was conflicted. The nook was perfect for me: you can hold thousands of books, go on the Internet, and even play some games (if you had the nook color)! It was perfect. 

But then again, who doesn't love the touch, feel, and smell of a good tangible book, even if it's for a class in school. I can tell you, I love the smell of books. Don't judge, I know you all do too. There's nothing like the feel of the pages between my fingers as I turn the pages, and the satisfaction I feel when I reach the back cover. And yes, I might have smelled the pages as I was turning them--there's nothing wrong with that though...

So I weighed the pros and cons:

-I can take an eReader with me anywhere. Mind you, I could take a book as well, but I love the thought  of having options. 

-eReaders are very difficult to use textbooks on (at least for me). I like to write and highlight, and I cannot really do that on a tablet and really absorb the information. I know a lot of students also are better able to learn that way.

-eReaders are a tad more expensive than one book, I'll admit. But going back to the options, buying one eReader is equivalent to buying probably about 30 books. And you can hold so much more than that!

Needless to say, I did end up with a nook and I love it. I do read real books as well, because we all need the best of both worlds. But whether it is on an eReader or a "real" book, reading is the most essential part of any student's life, whether they like English, Math, or Science.