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Read in Mirror!
The professor's blog for English 4304, the Writing and Culture Capstone Course for English Majors, Spring 2008. The topic for this capstone course is "Rhetoric(s) of Information, Reading, and Writing in a Digital World."
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5 comments:
The main thought going through my head during the video is that I wish I had their class schedules! I cannot imagine sitting on my laptop "facebooking" during the majority of English classes. I had a class last semester that did not even allow laptop use in class. BUT I do agree that students have to pick and choose what assignments take priority over others. Some professors, I am convinced, assume that their students have nothing else to do besides that classes work. College is not just about learning educational material, it should be the transition from school to work, and it should prepare students to be well-rounded citizens. With the overload of course assignments and lack of dialectic interactions SOME professors are not doing their jobs.
I have witnessed fellow English majors in upper-level courses facebooking and web-diving during a class lecture and/or discussion. I find it rude and if I was the professor I would not allow it. As a fellow student I just give my best glare, ie. "What are you thinking, the Poet Laureate is speaking and you are being extremely rude!" But, I have never really said anything because it is not my place, but I do feel bad for the teacher, and a responsibility as a student of my generation. Considering the video and freshman/sophmore-300-student-general education courses, anyone with a laptop can attend class, get their credit, and retain half of the material due to multitasking. The questions to consider are the intentions of the teachers and the students. The students who come to be engaged will pay attention to the teachers who strive to be engaging. The responsibility lies on every side-the student, the professors, the system. Everyone and everything has to evolve, especially according to the fast-moving evolution of technology.
The simplicity of the video captured how the blessing of technology can leave many learning environments ineffective. The silencing of the students worked wonderful with the statistics that reveal deep concerns that go unspoken. I liked that the silence gave glory to the power of technology along with the struggle that occurs when technology converges with the collegiate education system. I read many of the responses left by the worldwide videos and it is interesting to analyze where blame is placed.
After viewing the video, I had one question: Will my education fully prepare me for my future career and life after school? While the video highlights issues such as an abundance of course work, lack of time, accruing large sums of debt, etc., I must consider what will this benefit me outside of the university. Other than a slip of paper, what am I gaining from my experience at the university? I understand that I will have an education, but will this education be something I use in my future endeavors. This thought process mainly stems from the knowledge that most of my peers who have graduated did not pursue a career in their field of study. So the use of technology in the classroom, whether focused on course work or other areas, may be more beneficial to students. Most jobs now incorporate some form of technology so exposure to technology in any form should aid better equip students to use this technology inside or outside of the classroom.
Interesting posts. If technology can give us easy access to information we need in our heads, as well as to volumes of information that we can't possibly store but know where to find; and if we can then learn better by engaging with this material in all the ways (or analogous ways) proposed by Jenkins and others, then we will be using technology to prepare students (and me--as a lifelong learner) for what comes next. I also believe in face-to-face interactions between students and faculty (since the time of Socrates, this has been a privilege the wealthy insured they would have, for a reason). Finally, a lecture, when well done, can model a pattern of thinking about material that may not be embedded directly in the material. I have learned a create deal from lecture, over the years, but I always engaged interactively by notetaking. Today, I often take my laptop instead of a notebook. I multitask by opening a Word file and open tracking down material on the Internet while the speaker is speaking. I don't consider this rude when others do it to me. I don't read Facebook when I'm trying to learn something new. Its for social-networking. Do others have similar strategies? --Dr. L
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