Author: abendelow
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Final reflection of EDT 6020: At last, a technology class that lets you use the tools!
My experience in EDT 6020 was extremely gratifying: it introduced me to a multitude of new tools and ways of thinking about those tools. It challenged me to learn web-based applications like Skype, Prezi, and Diigo that I had previously only read about, showed me a wealth of professional development and network memberships that are…
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So, how online is the USA today?
Well, it depends on your income and education, really. Check the chart below. It also has something to do with your age and your race as well. The new FCC report, released last week, showcases the “digital divide” that persists in America. With unemployment undoubtedly having gone up since the FCC’s report was written, I…
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EDT 6020 Field Test: Prezi, visual search, and google doc forms
The Assignment: Choose one technology tool (proprietary or non-proprietary) that you are not yet familiar with. Using this technology, create a lesson in which the tool will be integrated into the classroom environment. Implement this technology, using at least 10 individuals. Write a short paper (you may use an APA format, a chart or table,…
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Look at TimeLine's new show through tech-lenses
I had the good opportunity last night to see a performance of Arthol Fugard‘s “‘Master Harold’… and his boys” at the TimeLine Theatre in Chicago, and was impressed by a non-verbal technological touch pregnant with import. The play is very well acted, portraying the twisted human relationships that “master” whites and “free” but “servant” black…
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Signs of life in public education: a way forward through peer observation
Despite all of the dreary pronouncements of American schools failing too many kids, and the endless stories of “deadbeat” teachers who don’t care and won’t leave their comfort zone despite contractual inducements and the best data-driven reasons (like this one), I am not overly discouraged. Why not? Because in my own school, a colleague, all…
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What exactly is a computer "nerd"?
review of: Kendall, L. (2000). “‘Oh No! I’m A Nerd!’ Hegemonic Masculinity on an Online Forum.” Gender & Society, Vol. 14 No. 2, April 2000 256-274. Kendall conducted a two-year study as participant-observer of a “Mud” (“Multi-user dungeon,” an “online forum” or text-based chat room that also operated “primarily as a social meeting space” [257]).…
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How Computer Sciences became a male "clubhouse"
review of Chapters 1-3 of Margolis, J. and Fisher, A. (2002) Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002. The authors undertake to find out the reasons for the “gendering” of computer sciences. They use interviews with the undergraduates of Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Sciences (CS) programs to learn what made CS…
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What MMOG's have to teach in the way of "new literacies"
One of the great articles my CUC course in Ed. Technology had me reading last week was one by MMOG champion Constance Steinkuehler (2007). “Massively Mulitplayer Online Gaming as a Constellation of Literacy Practices.” E-Learning, vol. 4, no. 3, 2007. http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ELEA Though it wasn’t her main focus, I found the exposition of “new literacies” I…
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I'm- I'm- I'm impressed with IM'ing
review of: Lewis, C., & Fabos, B. (2005). “Instant messaging, literacies, and social identities.” Reading Research Quarterly, 40(4), 470–501. The authors look at Instant Messaging (IM) as a distinct literary form with implications on the literacy and social development of its users. They conducted a study of actual IM-ers, exploring their composition strategies, their use of…
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"Network Literacy," according to Meg Ormiston
The following are notes from Ms. Ormiston’s workshop at the 34th Annual Reading Conference at Concordia University Chicago. She opens up with a provocative statement: “Every single day, I grow professionally.” To the attendee, most likely a public school teacher or librarian doing officially-sanctioned professional growth, this sounds rather suspicious, if not profligate. But then…
The Wikiness 