Social Media in the Classroom

Hicks (2013) blames our culture's negative aspects of social media for why teachers are unable to use social media fluently.  I also agree that I am leery of using social media in my classroom. I have recently created Kidblog accounts for my students. Although I know it is a private site, I am still nervous about the content of what students post.  It is like a time bomb for drama waiting to go off. However, I also know that it is necessary that we as teachers begin to give students opportunities to communicate digitally in an age-appropriate, safe environment. 

If we intend to model for students how to craft writing for the purpose of posting to social media, it only makes sense that we are involved in these types of online communities ourselves.  Sharing our own online discussions with students and focusing on the purpose of these discussions will bring to light how communicating using social media can help us learn and share ideas with others.

Below you will see a conversation that took place between myself and my coworkers on a social media site.

Hicks (2013) uses the MAPS heuristic (mode, media, audience, purpose, and situation) to analyze texts.  Edmodo is a great media for teachers to use to participate in closed discussion with particular groups of professionals.  I am part of several online communities through Edmodo.  The discussion above took place under my school community.  Teachers are able to join and have discussions related to topics under review from our staff.  For example, the conversation above was prompted from a chapter of a book we were reading for a book study.  We knew that we, the teachers at my school, would be the only audience we would have.  This enabled us to discuss things in the context of our classroom and our school in more open and candid manner than we normally would.  Because students will more than likely also be participating professionally through social media, I think it is key that we incorporate this kind of interaction into our classrooms on a consistent basis.

References:

Hicks, Troy (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Audio and Video Texts

            
         After reading Chapters 5 and 6 from the book Crafting Digital Writing, it became clear to me that my original introductory video could be enhanced greatly in order to appeal to my audience in a more effective manner.  I will specifically address the elements of the two videos I created using the MAPS acrostic Hicks (2013) mentions in his book.  MAPS stands for mode/media, audience, purpose, and situation.  When I originally created the video, I did not consider these details.  However, when creating the second video, I did.  The mode or the genre of my video stayed the same as both videos are introductory videos.  However, the media changed drastically.  The original video was simply recorded from my iPhone and shows me speaking and giving information about myself.  The second video includes pictures, music, and several video clips.  These forms of media were combined to create a video from the website www.wevideo.com.  The audience of my video stayed the same. However, because I considered my audience before creating the second video, I was able to provide text and photos that would add to the audience’s understanding of who I am and feel a deeper connection with me as a person.  The purpose of both videos is to introduce me, Anna Theros.  The purpose of the second video is also intended to entertain the audience. The situation changed somewhat because the original assignment was to simply video myself introducing myself to the class (Hicks, 2013).  The second assignment required me to enhance my current video with 2 or more of the following elements Hicks (2013) included in his book: narration, panning and zooming, repetition, time effects, film effects, transitions, sound effects and music, and captions and text.

            I chose to redo my video instead of editing it because I wanted to use wevideo.com to complete the assignment.  I was able to incorporate repetition at the beginning of my video by having members of my family and my Sunday school class say “our ________” to show what relation they had to me.  Wevideo.com also allows you to create transitions throughout your video.  By a click of a button I was able to add music to the background of my video.  Captions and text were also added to the video to support the narration.  

  
Click on the picture below to view my second introductory video: 

References:

Hicks, Troy (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

The Digitial Writing Process

In the age we are living, it is vital that we equip students with the tools to present information via digital media.  The focus of chapter 4 in the book Crafting Digital Writing by Troy Hicks, focuses on crafting presentations.   Much of the focus is on the presentation rather than the content of the presentation.  As a 4th grade teacher, it seems as if many students struggle with basic grammar skills.  I would say 80% of the students in my class came to me this year without the skills to put a capital letter at the beginning of their sentences and the correct end mark at the end. 

 Questions I am asking myself:

-How can I move on to teaching students how to craft digital writing when they cannot even craft hand written writing? 

-How can I expose them to digital presentation programs when they are unable to come up with quality content?

-Is allowing students the opportunity to create digital writing the key to unlocking their desire to write?

While I agree that we should be modeling how to create digital texts in the classroom, I am struggling with the logistics of how to do this.  It seems as if there are so many resources online…..so many programs from which to choose.  If I were to choose a presentation program to introduce to students, which one would be the best? When would I find the time in my schedule to introduce this to students considering taking students to the computer lab would be the only way all students could access a computer at the same time? What is a good balance between hand-written assignments and digital writing assignments?

Hicks (2013) outlines the digital writing process the same as the writing process with prewriting consisting of visualizing and imagining your presentation.  He suggests when drafting to start with pencil and paper and to focus on colors and fonts.  Revising and editing includes not only checking for grammatical errors but also focusing on appeal.  When publishing your content, his opinion is that you should include a handout to your audience.  Please click on the link below to see a short presentation I created outing the digital writing process Hicks(2013) proposes. 

The Digital Writing Process 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Hicks, Troy (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

 



 

 

Technology and Writing

When is the last time you sat down and wrote something out using a pen and a piece of paper? Was it a list, a letter, a long paper of sorts? Aside from a handwritten card and a to-do list, I cannot think of anything.  Most of my communication is done verbally or through text messaging or email.  When I am required to write out a lot of information, I use a word processor.  The days of handwritten reports and long, handwritten letters are gone.  This means that solely teaching students to write with pencil and paper should be long gone as well.  Hicks (2013) states in his book Crafting Digital Writers, “The question is no longer whether we should use technology to teach writing; instead we must focus on the many ways that we must use technology to teach writing.” 

What I have observed with my students is that the main roadblock most students have when they are writing is motivation.  Many think, “Why am I writing this? The teacher is just going to grade it and then throw it away.”  I think incorporating technology into writing is a great way to give students an audience for their writing.  Also, allowing students to create digital pieces means students could save their documents and keep them forever.  This would also allow student to track their progress over time.  They could look back at past writings and see how they have improved. 

Many websites are available free that can assist teachers in giving their students an audience for their writing, but one site we use at my school is Kidblog.com.  Kidblog allows students to create their own blog.  Other students and the teacher can view and comment on their posts.  Also, teachers can set up class discussions.  This web tool is a great resource for providing motivation in writing and also giving students a chance to learn how to craft digital writing and receive constructive feedback from teachers and peers.  The great thing about this tool is that it is free!

Kidblog is not the only resource to motivate students and give them an audience for writing.  Hicks (2013) recommends a site that provides several technology resources called cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com. What tools do you recommend?

References    

Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting Digital Writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

"Common Core Writing Standard 6: Technology in Writing." YouTube. YouTube, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 20 Sept. 2014.