Mini Multimodal Project

For my mini multimodal project, I decided to experiment a bit with Dipity – a website that allows users to create their own interactive timelines. I chose to do mine on one of my favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. For the timeline, I didn't feel as though the images were that important. They simply create an aesthetically pleasing visual to accompany the text and make each point stand out on the timeline. That being said, I really enjoyed making my interactive timeline although mine is only half-complete as it is right now. Searching for information, condensing that information, and placing it in the timeline was an engaging activity. I like the visual aspect of the timeline as well. Users just click and drag and it is useful to see when each event takes place in relation to other events. I can see these timelines being extremely helpful to students especially if they are used as review or as study guides because the way they are setup is very clean, simplistic, and easy to navigate. There are very few distracting, unnecessary details added to these timelines – just the relevant facts in sequential order. This is because the person setting up the timeline is forced to restrict what they write in order to stay relevant to the timeframe and heading that they create. The creator is specifically writing about the most important, noteworthy points in the subject's life. I can see myself using interactive timelines in my own teachings for this very reason. They are a wonderful way to ensure the student is staying on track and focusing on the bigger, most important points. One of my criticisms though with the site is that the citing aspect of it isn't too great. You only provide a link to where you found your information; Dipity doesn't ask for authors, dates, or any other important citation information. That being said, having students provide a link to their source is a step in the right direction (assuming that they don't have any experience with sourcing). 

When I think about the alternative, that is, just typing out a biography of Kurt Vonnegut Jr's life, the interactive timeline's appeal becomes all the more apparent. In order for students to learn, they need to be engaged; their interest must be piqued. Multimodal projects like the interactive timeline give students that extra level of engagement. Even if they are not creating their own timeline, simply viewing them is more engaging than, say, reading over one's notes or reading a biography. 

Here is a link to my own timeline: http://www.dipity.com/rosie1/The-Life-of-Kurt-Vonnegut-Jr/

The first half is a bit more complete in terms of information given. If I were to further edit this, I would write synopses for each novel that Kurt Vonnegut Jr. wrote as well as write a bit more about his later life and what sort of jobs and happenings occupied his time.  That being said,

I found a blog by Dr. Charles Forceville. He writes about multimodality and provides examples and ideas as to how we can present the idea of multimodality to students. 

Multimodal Composition

As far as multimodal composition goes, my experience is limited. During my first semester at UW-Milwaukee, one of my classes required students to use VoiceThread to create a final project about the importance of culture in America. At the time, the project was incredibly frustrating for me because my exposure to digital storytelling was nonexistent and the class was left to their own devices, given no guidance, as to how to compose their project. That being said, I definitely see the benefits of using such technologies in the classroom. In his textbook “The Digital Writing Workshop” Troy Hicks writes, “Writing multimedia texts both honors our traditional understanding of what good writing is while at the same time offers us new definitions of what makes. . . a compelling lead, effective characterizations, and successful use of repetition for rhetorical effect” (54). Multimodal composition exposes students to new ways of thinking and presenting one's understanding on a topic. While the traditional printed essay is still important in the classroom, multimodal composition allows for more student creativity and in turn, strengthens student engagement as they are being asked to dabble in new literacies. As Hicks writes about, multimodal composition requires students to think very carefully about words, pictures, and presentation. Most multimodal compositions are not as dense as, say, a 5-page essay would be; there is less room for fluff and more emphasis on being very selective and calculating with the many choices that need to be made when composing a piece.

In my future teaching, I like the idea of using multimodal composition for assignments that diverge from the traditional 5-paragraph essays, like with assignments that perhaps ask for students to retell a personal experience or vocalize their personal opinions on a subject. I feel as though assignments that have a personal element to them may inspire a bit more creativity in students, and multimodal composition would be the perfect outlet for that. I would also argue it is easier for students to get carried away with assignments that are a bit more subjective, so asking them to frame their story using different media might help them cut down on unnecessary details as they would have to think critically about what matters most in their story. Multimodal composition requires creativity, but it also requires students to think deeply about what is most important in their presentation as they are given limited time and space.

Andrea Lunsford wrote aninteresting post on multimodal composition that I think many of you might like to check out. She looks at something calling mapping andhow it operates in the classroom.

Response to Online Roleplaying Activity

      For the online roleplaying activity, I chose the role of a journalist. My character was named Ezra Lobsterman. Before we started, I had a lot of different ideas as to how I would approach taking the role of this character but once I got to down to actually typing and responding to others that were posting on Schoology, I had a very difficult time setting up Ezra's character. I felt like this was because of the topic -- Should cursive be taught in school? It is one of those topics that has a very lackluster debate to follow because it is not something that people feel particularly passionate about. People are either indifferent or leaning slightly in one direction, but as far as debates go, it is going to be one of the less passionate ones.  So because of my less than enthusiastic feelings on the topic, I took on a neutral stance (as all journalists supposedly do).  In doing so, I kept a professional voice and tried to provide readers with additional research on the topic as a way to bring into question the validity of previously posted sources. My responses varied -- some were in favor of cursive, others not so much.  I wasn't able to really give Ezra a personality; the topic and role I took were very limiting and I couldn't figure out how to give him a memorable personality with what I had to work with. If I had to do it again with the same role and same topic I would have probably been more imaginative and liberal with how I interacted with others (for example, add new elements in the discussion through "investigation" and dredging up past events that may have influenced the positions of other roleplayers, questioning their motivation).

The Digital Sphere

While reading Chapter 3 of “The Digital Writing Workshop” by Troy Hicks, what caught my eye was the emphasis on the reflection and collaboration opportunities that digital writing tools can bring to the classroom. He focuses on three different platforms that are viable in the classroom: Blogs, wikis, and collaborative word processors (like googledocs). These tools encourage students to interact with one another – whether that be through commenting on blog posts, participating in online discussions, or offering one another advice through the editing and commenting features that are present in tools like googledocs. While all of these things are available to be done in person (albeit through different strategies), I feel as though in a digital sphere, the information that is transmitted during these activities is much more likely to stick in a student's mind. It is so easy to become distracted in a physical classroom setting when having a discussion – a student might be thinking about lunch, a school dance, a test in the next period – and they aren't participating to the fullest during a classroom discussion or peer review session. What the online element does is provide students with the opportunity to revisit, reflect, and ponder what they're reading and writing. They can come to the digital classroom whenever it best suits them and contribute when they feel motivated to do so.

When applying the Hicks' chapter to my own goals as an educator, I think these digital platforms will be beneficial to my teaching. Not only do these platforms give students another realm to explore and interact with, they give students the opportunity to really think and reflect on what they are going to say and how they are going to say it. The key part, in my opinion, is time. Students have a substantial amount of time when it comes to posting and responding, while in a physical classroom, many comments in a discussion or during peer review are done right on the spot with little time to formulate an adequate response. Similarly, these platforms give students practice with online etiquette which is more important now than it has ever been in the past. It's very important for students to be exposed to the digital sphere in a productive, collaborative, and accepting way early on so they develop good habits while online.

When thinking about hindrances that online writing can bring, my biggest concern is that some students might not have the resources to partake in an online sphere, although I would hope the school I am working at can accommodate for that. It is important to remember that not all students come from the same economic background and what we as teachers take for granted may not be available to them at home. Another issue I can see coming from online instruction is students simply forgetting to actively participate. I too am guilty of this with online courses – it is so easy to forget that they even exist. I suppose the reason for this is because many of us aren't actively thinking about them throughout the day; really, our only interactions with online coursework comes when we sit down at our computer and (hopefully) remember that we have work to do, while with the physical classroom, you must be physically present everyday which is very essential when it comes to remembering.

This blogger was actually mentioned in the Hicks' chapter. Her name is Vicki Davis and she runs the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. I found her post entitled “Does Everyone Need toUnderstand Technology? You be the Judge” interesting.  

Reflection on Online Tutoring

Thinking about my experiences so far with helping students revise their work in relation to the two texts assigned this week, I feel like there is a lot of room for important. The first text, “The Tutoring Process” by Gillespie and Lerner, brings up the issue of prioritizing what the tutor focuses on. They write, “Being patient and listening to the entire paper [is important], since it's easy to get hung up on an early section when the real challenge might come later” (24). My biggest issue is forgetting to read through the entire paper. I'll start reading and stop to comment while in actuality, I should be reading it through the paper once or twice and then addressing the biggest concerns I have. By stopping to nitpick, I kind of prevent myself from getting a general feel for the essay and I think my comments really accumulate which may be overwhelming for the student. That being said, a lot of my comments are simply questions to get the student thinking which is what Gillespie and Lerner recommend. They write, “You need to respect writers' need to discover – with your help – the information they need to clarify a point or expand an argument” (25). That is definitely something I think I'm doing well – asking questions, asking students to clarify what they mean at certain points, and asking students to expand on certain thoughts in their essays that I feel would benefit the overall argument. That being said, this article was more so directed at face-to-face tutoring while we are restricted to an online classroom. Tutoring online seems much more difficult than it is in real life as the back and forth is kind of stilted due to time constraints/availability.

I found myself agreeing with Racine and Breuch's article “Developing Sound Tutor Training for Online Writing Centers: Creating Productive Peer Reviewers." One point that really stuck out to me was the idea that online tutoring requires both the writer and the tutor to perfect their writing, which is something I never thought about before. Thinking about my own experience, I did spend a lot of time on my own word choice and I was careful when articulating my thoughts which I probably wouldn't have put much thought into if it was face-to-face since my words would have been paired with other social cues; I wouldn't have to worry about the student taking what I’m saying the wrong way. The struggle between being too professional and coming off as cold and being too relaxed and not being taken seriously is something I am struggling with. While writing feedback, I do take on a very technical and professional tone and I realize that may be dull and condescending for a student to read. I try to balance it out by praising them when they write an excellent passage or perfectly place a quote, but it is something I need to continue to work on. Like Racine and Breuch suggest, I made end comments on all of the papers which is where I took the opportunity to further praise and emphasize the strong points, as well as go over the high concern areas. My other comments were placed off to the side; they weren't front comments or intertextual because I feel like that would be distracting. It is definitely a personal preference but using googledocs, I like to just use the comment feature so I don't feel like I'm barging into a students work and imposing my revisions and suggestions onto them.

An interesting blog I found this week entitled Artichoke posted a thought-provoking article called Pedagogical Promiscuity and "Assessment for Learning." It made me think about my own assessment of students and their writing -- it's worth taking a look at. 

My experience with using online social media and digital composition is very limited. I have never taken an interest in sites like Facebook and Pinterest, let alone personal blogging, so this is all very new to me. The extent of my internet presence is limited to online gaming which is a bit unfortunate because I realize certain online practices like digital composition can be very beneficial to one's personal growth (as a writer and as a person). When one takes into consideration that our identities are formed by our environments which includes our interactions with other people, the internet then plays a huge role in the development of our identities. The internet allows for us to connect with people that we would otherwise never get the opportunity to speak and collaborate with. One can reach an entirely new audience, a new demographic through the internet and I see that as a positive aspect of using social media. Along with a broadened audience, the internet also allows users a bigger pool of knowledge to draw from. The resources available are diverse, convenient, and accessible which allows users opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them. On the flip-side, I think such technology can prove to be disadvantageous to users as well if they are not educated in how to use the resources the internet provides. For instance, one needs to know how to determine if a piece of work is legitimate – is the information factual and accurate, or is it entirely made up? Misinformation is easy to come by on the internet and if users don't understand how to find sources, they may be incorporating false information into their own work. Another way in which the internet may prove to be harmful rather than beneficial to users looking to improve their writing is with online criticism. Criticism can become bullying very quickly online especially with the added element of anonymity. That being said, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The cons can be avoided quite easily if one knows how to use the resources at hand (this includes finding mature company that will give constructive criticism rather than resorting to bullying in regards to one's work).

As a future educator, I see online social media and digital composition as a positive in the classroom. Our students will of course be very interested and well-versed in such things and one of the best ways to reach our students is by incorporating their interests with the lesson plan! By bringing in a digital element to the course, I think we can effectively capture the interest of students, all the while we would be encouraging them to take their internet usage beyond the social aspect with academics. By applying academic content to a relevant setting (the internet) for students, I think they will feel more motivated and involved in their learning.

On his blog, Professor Ray Schroederwrites writes briefly about blended learning and links to a very interestingarticle on the subject. He seems to share the same concerns I have about using technology to learn and stresses that it is important to remember that online learning does not mean one lets their students run wild; rather, the teacher must continue to engage the students in regards to the content and keep communication open.