StepAside

In one of the passages, Moran is concerned that not enough attention is given to the fact that access is not just limited to those impeded by race and social class, but it is also limited to those who can afford it. Let's take a look at this for a moment. What Moran is really attempting to get at is that we all have problems using technology regardless of our socioeconomic status.

He also looks at technology from the angle that teachers are also limited in their knowledge and use of technology in the classroom. What I suggest is that we perform a task analysis to find out exactly what tasks are being performed when students and teachers (regardless of position), and then we take that information and define it according to where the tasks should be taught in the classroom, and not just any classroom. We should really apply the tasks appropriately. For example, we should separate from the list of tasks, what should be taught in FYC, in the 2nd year required writing course, and every other writing course. Hope you get my drift.

like, for example, the subtext that i haven't recorded of this session, wherein our postings about everything else have been interrupted frequently by asking each other questions and sharing irritated commiserations about the limitations of, workings of, error-messages in, & physical & logistical STRANGENESS (not just problems) of this interaction style.

for example, it's driving ME crazy that this isn't set up more like a discussion board (or like wonderful beautiful lj!) so i can respond directly to threads instead of all comments no matter what they're to being dumped in the same box.

A, are you thinking that more specificity should be brought to bear on the technology-related learning outcomes for WRT 105? (These are outcomes #2 and 6 at http://wrt.syr.edu/pub/handbook/105outcomes.html).

And a question for everybody who's teaching this semester: how have you used or taught technology in your classes? Are you satisfied with what's you've done? Are your students?

i don't teach technology overtly unless i HAVE to. we've had one computer lab session of practicing playing around w/databases & different kinds of google searches, but it was a frustrating experience, really--i couldn't see what they were all doing, i was always missing somebody's angst by looking at someone else's screen, and i think at the end the same access problems as ever came through--the students already comfortable w/the technology learned a little more about it, and the students not very comfortable already learned very little. (and the ones who had the least experience w/the stuff SKIPPED that day, which brings up a whole other nest of potential implication).

i do post things to blackboard & occasionally have asked students to post to discussion forums or exchange papers via uploading to inboxes, but it... costs us as much time and agony fixing malfunctions as it saves me time & paper resources just handing out copies of things. i like it better because I'M more comfortable with the online technology than w/the photocopier, but i don't know that i can justify that pedagogically at all.

OMG, you all, we're approaching the end of our allotted time. Class dismissed, and thank you for playing. Whatever the aggravations you've experienced with the genre, from my perspective this has been a great success. In fact, here on my blog I'll start a thread that reflects on my experience today, and I hope you all will post to it, if you're interested.
And you can stay today and keep "talking" as much as you wish, of course!
And because these threads will stay online, you can return to them and continue to post to them. That would be extremely interesting, I think. Because I'm sure we'll all have more to say after today's conversations, and after some cogitation may want to make more entries. Eventually today's threads will drop into the blog archives, but you can return to them easily, by clicking today's date in the calendar that's on the main page of this blog.
Thanks for a great morning!
Becky

I missed this discussion completely. Perhaps talking about electronic technology in the classroom will be more interesting next Tuesday when we have the additional benefit of being able to reflect on this experience;o)