Comments for The Front Porch Swing

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by hendricg

hendricg — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:53:13 +0000

This use of technology in the classroom has significant potential but it seems to me that it needs serious refinement. When I was a freshman, one of my lecture classes required us to purchase a remote control that was used in the class for quizzes and attendance. Most students did not like them because of their tendency to malfunction and the difficulty we had selecting our intended answers using them. However, using cell phones for this purpose seems like a much more effective way of going about things, particularly if teachers are able to institute a good system for receiving the texts and effectively monitor student usage. Like every tech-related idea, good teachers will find ways to use this well to encourage and motivate students and bad teachers will find ways to further detract from their already poor teaching (albeit unintentionally).

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by flylikepaper25

flylikepaper25 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:49:16 +0000

I have to say that I agree with you on that one. I think that technology that can actually get kids interacting around information that they’re being taught is a great idea. But I think that the cost would outweigh the benefits. Most schools are having trouble providing kids with computers in general; I don’t know how this would play out for urban areas nationwide.
Another concern is to what extent will this alter the classroom experience? Classes at the college level call for much more structured forms of education than the usage of “texting-in” answers at the high school level.
On the other hand, it does take a lot of energy to educate kids on certain subjects that can seem repetitive or less interesting. Perhaps something that is interactive like this that also incorporates what we are trying to teach could be a huge help in the classroom. I think that at the same time, kids could be learning about technology in general. In high school, I had a similar kind of experience with a “techy” teacher who made a video game for Test Review Trivia. It was very engaging and it was also a good way to let the students know what specific things they needed to review and study.

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by rakowick

rakowick — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:03:14 +0000

Interesting article. I agree with you though, there are some problems with this. It would probably be expensive to provide all students with the proper software. I can also imagine that lots of the students would find it very easy to sit there texting their friends while looking like they were participating with the rest of the class. It’s easy enough for students to use cell phones in class now, imagine how much easier it would be if students were allowed to have their phones out.
At my sister’s high school, they’re not allowed to even have their cell phones on them while in school and yet she still managed to call me while she was in her math class and her teacher was giving a lesson.
An alternative option to having them use cell phones would be something that my geology professor used last year. We were each given a remote to keep for the semester that functioned in the same way the cell phone software does. We would key in our answers to the questions our professor asked and a graph would appear on the screen in front of us. It was very cool, I liked it, so I think that the idea is good. I just think the method they are using to accomplish it needs a little tweaking.

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by laurensibula

laurensibula — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:39:48 +0000

This raises several interesting ideas with technology in the classroom. I agree that it might be fun for students to get involved in class, but I am a firm believer in getting students to socialize. I hate that things are becoming much more involved on the computer…where has the human element gone?

I was talking to my friend’s mom recently who was reflecting on her college days. She was telling me that she would walk into her friend’s dorm and sit all day talking…to which I laughed at. I would never walk to someone’s place without calling them first to make sure they were there! From there we would probably text and decide a time we could meet. One example of the human element being lost.

I agree with you that it would be expensive to get students involved, too.

I also really connect with what Blayne had to say. I don’t think it is up to the teacher to entertain students. Engage and entertain are two very different words.

I think the problem lies in the instant gratification we pump today’s kids with, and their entertainment expectations. They are used to flashy TV shows, so when they get in the monochromatic classrooms, they are obviously going to be bored.

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by Comments « Hope Is Never Wasted

Comments « Hope Is Never Wasted — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:31:17 +0000

[...] Comment 8 [...]

Comment on Texting in the Classroom by blaine62

blaine62 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:10:34 +0000

This comment could be in response to almost any of your posts, Liz, but I chose this one because of the popularity of texting among students.

Recently I met a teacher friend for breakfast, and one of the topics that came up was whether it is necessary, valuable, or desirable to “entertain” students. Since this is an area that non-teachers seem to scoff at, I found it an interesting topic.

There is no doubt that we must engage the students if we are to teach them. In many cases there is no better way to do that than to entertain. However, it must be a means to an end; entertainment for its own sake would surely be a waste of time. Think of the most energetic, dynamic professor you’ve had. She was likely engaging, interesting, and yes, a little bit entertaining, right? No harm in that. If it takes juggling flaming chainsaws to get the students’ attention, then perhaps there is a greater problem, but in general entertainment in the service of engaging students is a worthy endeavor.

Here’s how I connect it to technology in the classroom. If it makes it more accessible, enjoyable, interesting, or just plain fun, I say go for it. It is bound to add something to the student’s learning experience that would be missing without it. But if technology is used solely for the novelty, for the sake of technology alone, I would let it be. Students don’t need me to introduce them to technology, but if I can harness it to reach them more effectively I’m all for it.

Comment on Wikis and Writing by Troy Hicks

Troy Hicks — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:36:50 +0000

Thanks for referencing my blog. I wish you the best of luck as you invite your students to compose with wikis and other digital writing tools.

Troy

Comment on Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater by lizlongcore

lizlongcore — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:35:35 +0000

To the people at Chillibreeze and Contentwriter.in,
I would just like to clarify that when I wrote this post I did not intend to imply that you are companies that offer to do work for students. I wrote about this just because I had never heard of outsourcing writing to India and I thought that it was interesting to read about. As my blog focuses on writing and technology in education, I thought that this would be something that would be fun to write about. I also saw the potential there for this to be something that a student might try taking advantage of, and that it could be used for cheating on an assignment. In an attempt to make sure that I portrayed companies like yours more fairly, I did some editing to the blog post. My post is not meant to say that your companies offer to help students cheat on assignments, just that a student could potentially use something like this to do so. Thank you for your responses.

Comment on Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater by Chief Content Writer

Chief Content Writer — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:03:10 +0000

We recently came across your blog post regarding “Column shows outsourcing is easy, cheap” and were surprised to see just how the entire process of outsourcing was turned around into something that it really wasn’t. You have mentioned that “While technology can bring a lot of benefits to the classroom, it can also open up a lot of new doors to more creative ways of cheating.”

We would like to clarify that this project was not based on any kind of cheating.

Ryan, in his first article has mentioned exactly what he wrote to all the outsourcing Companies he contacted – “This is a one-time task. I need someone to write a brief column of about 400 words about a topic of interest to college students. The writer can pick the specific topic. This column will appear in a student newspaper. Please do not spend more than two hours on this task. Please give me a price quote before beginning this task.”

Based on this mail, we responded to him. During our further correspondences, Ryan mentioned that the article can carry the writer’s name and that he will be including his own comments about the article itself and the process of getting it since his readers will be interested in knowing how it happened.

So you see this wasn’t Ghost Writing at all and is in no way cheating!

The writer shared her experiences of college life in India and I don’t see how this can be anything but interesting and informational for students in the U.S.

Moreover, there is a slight misrepresentation in the first article since we do not offer Ghost Writing Services at all – see our list of Content Writing Services: http://www.contentwriter.in/content-services.htm

The only mention of Ghost Writing on our website is to the extent of mentioning it as a form of writing and the job profile of a Ghost Writer.

http://www.contentwriter.in DOES NOT WRITE TERM PAPERS FOR STUDENTS.

Chief Content Writer
http://www.contentwriter.in

Comment on Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater by Joanna

Joanna — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:27:13 +0000

Dear Cheater, Cheater…

I am one of the directors of Chillibreeze, but with a focus on the design services of Chillibreeze. I noticed that your blog mentioned the content writing services of http://www.chillibreeze.com. I had to point out that as a company we have a strict policy of NOT doing any term papers, school work for anyone. When a customer allows us to put the writers name on an article, we do! Otherwise the customer is buying content from our company and once delivered, the customer owns the copyright of the material.

You can see on our site that we feature sample articles with a byline of all Chillibreeze writers! We also created The website for Indian Writers at: http://www.chillifreeze.com – this site allows Indian writers to contact global customers directly! Do visit our site.

Joanna Budelman
Director, Chillibreeze Solutions Pvt Ltd