Sunday, May 19, 2002
Another long post to follow. I'm generating a lot of ideas, but having a little trouble giving this course some shape. Help appreciated. And maybe we don't need the details so much as the big picture. We do need a reading list: was that on my list of thing to do?
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Problem One: How should we write in a digital era? Or, what writing/reading/research skills are needed to survive in the 21st century?
Product: "MySurvivalKit" or "MyToolbox" (why is everything "my-X"?)
1. Blogging rather than journaling--brainstorming in public.
Readings: Blood; Blog, blog, blah.; students choose blogs to read. Find some readings on the value of journaling, brainstorming, collaborating, etc.
Writing: set up blog and journal; respond to readings, keeping notes.
summarize a reading(s). Should we bring summaries into blogging, or use "summary" as an example of print-based writing? Or, put summaries in the "done" bin--the electronic portfolio?
Freewrite on a regular basis in class--first ten minutes. After 2 weeks--what's the difference/advantage/disadvantage of blogging and freewriting?
or, maybe a more general assignment--what do you see as the potential of blogs (can range from none to considerable)? Refer to secondary materials and blogs you have reviewed. (due second or 3rd week?), as well as draw on personal experience. Introduce differences between voice, style, content, conventions of this academic paper and blogging.
2. Writing as research.
Find readings on information literacy; on search engines; on libraries!! Boolean searches. What have they learned in University Studies 189?
Things to do:
Blog teams--test a variety of search engines on a few terms related to "writing" and "research." Get students to generate some search terms--I think they have trouble with this. Dayna did some research into searching--let's check with her. Have a course blog where the group can summarize their findings and link to the team's blog. This summary could be a graded assignment (along the lines of a review).
How to read a web page. Let's compile a list of these, and then work with students to determine how we would determine which is a good "how to read a web page" page. Use this exercise as a model for the following:
What are the good "tip" sites for writing? Distinguish academic writing and professional writing (and maybe other kinds of writing--creative, grant writing, resume writing). Compile a list that you think will get you through college and into a career. Why are they good? Groups can work on these. Let's be sure to mix in the resources available in our library, in the tri-college, etc. Can include Smarthinking.com and sites where students can buy papers!
What are the good resource pages for the major you are interested in? Or good resources for a hobby/interest? Why are they good? Individuals might need to work on these. Could also work on library resources. [save for later? do databases next? transition into this one from databases?]
Maybe we could do these two things in the context of "listmania." Everybody puts together lists (amazon, David Letterman, other people)--why are lists so popular in the digital era? How are lists a form of personal expression? A primitive database? Maybe this should be saved for problem 2.
Databases and websites: what's the difference? [Anybody bored out of their tree, yet?]
Can they begin to find some answers to the question: what should they know about writing in the digital era? We might need to point them towards some specific discussion of this issue.
How else can they answer that question other than on the web, and via library? Interviews? Listservs? Surfing the course offerings of other universities--that would fit into using search engines, I suppose.
Cool writing on the web: what do students like? what can we show them that we think they might like? Here's a chance to do something with hypertext, with flash, but maybe still with databases--they can be pretty cool in their own right (the Shakespearean curse generator? the haiku generator). where can they submit writing online?
What do we do with all of this reasearch? T = Tale. Do we leave it open to them--design a web page that specifically answers the question? Write a fairly traditional academic paper / argument: "based on extensive research i/we believe that writing should be taught as it has always been taught: poorly." Write a guidebook or manual. Use flash files to illustrate concepts? Individual or collaborative? MyToolKit@school thingy.
????????????????????????????????????
Problem One: How should we write in a digital era? Or, what writing/reading/research skills are needed to survive in the 21st century?
Product: "MySurvivalKit" or "MyToolbox" (why is everything "my-X"?)
1. Blogging rather than journaling--brainstorming in public.
Readings: Blood; Blog, blog, blah.; students choose blogs to read. Find some readings on the value of journaling, brainstorming, collaborating, etc.
Writing: set up blog and journal; respond to readings, keeping notes.
summarize a reading(s). Should we bring summaries into blogging, or use "summary" as an example of print-based writing? Or, put summaries in the "done" bin--the electronic portfolio?
Freewrite on a regular basis in class--first ten minutes. After 2 weeks--what's the difference/advantage/disadvantage of blogging and freewriting?
or, maybe a more general assignment--what do you see as the potential of blogs (can range from none to considerable)? Refer to secondary materials and blogs you have reviewed. (due second or 3rd week?), as well as draw on personal experience. Introduce differences between voice, style, content, conventions of this academic paper and blogging.
2. Writing as research.
Find readings on information literacy; on search engines; on libraries!! Boolean searches. What have they learned in University Studies 189?
Things to do:
Blog teams--test a variety of search engines on a few terms related to "writing" and "research." Get students to generate some search terms--I think they have trouble with this. Dayna did some research into searching--let's check with her. Have a course blog where the group can summarize their findings and link to the team's blog. This summary could be a graded assignment (along the lines of a review).
How to read a web page. Let's compile a list of these, and then work with students to determine how we would determine which is a good "how to read a web page" page. Use this exercise as a model for the following:
What are the good "tip" sites for writing? Distinguish academic writing and professional writing (and maybe other kinds of writing--creative, grant writing, resume writing). Compile a list that you think will get you through college and into a career. Why are they good? Groups can work on these. Let's be sure to mix in the resources available in our library, in the tri-college, etc. Can include Smarthinking.com and sites where students can buy papers!
What are the good resource pages for the major you are interested in? Or good resources for a hobby/interest? Why are they good? Individuals might need to work on these. Could also work on library resources. [save for later? do databases next? transition into this one from databases?]
Maybe we could do these two things in the context of "listmania." Everybody puts together lists (amazon, David Letterman, other people)--why are lists so popular in the digital era? How are lists a form of personal expression? A primitive database? Maybe this should be saved for problem 2.
Databases and websites: what's the difference? [Anybody bored out of their tree, yet?]
Can they begin to find some answers to the question: what should they know about writing in the digital era? We might need to point them towards some specific discussion of this issue.
How else can they answer that question other than on the web, and via library? Interviews? Listservs? Surfing the course offerings of other universities--that would fit into using search engines, I suppose.
Cool writing on the web: what do students like? what can we show them that we think they might like? Here's a chance to do something with hypertext, with flash, but maybe still with databases--they can be pretty cool in their own right (the Shakespearean curse generator? the haiku generator). where can they submit writing online?
What do we do with all of this reasearch? T = Tale. Do we leave it open to them--design a web page that specifically answers the question? Write a fairly traditional academic paper / argument: "based on extensive research i/we believe that writing should be taught as it has always been taught: poorly." Write a guidebook or manual. Use flash files to illustrate concepts? Individual or collaborative? MyToolKit@school thingy.
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