Digital Writing Teaching Circle—Meeting #7
April 29, 2011—4:00-5:15
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber, Dianne Gregory, Laura Funke, Stephanie Laurey, Sue Taylor
Absent: Jacqueline Arnold, Steve Anderson
I. Intro/Announcements
A. Bob asked Brian to review how to post files to the wiki—we went over how to do this.
B. Brian reminded the group of all remaining due dates: Final Reflection (April 30); Final Report on Wiki (May 6); and Final ftf Meeting at Century College (May 13 from 3:30-5 pm).
II. Brian’s sites
A. Blogger (http://www.blogger.com/) --an online (free) blog for students to use. Easy to set up. Students may use this blog to do narrative/descriptive work. More advanced students may use it for argumentation—students may argue with each other on blogs that they set up.
B. A group technology project (draft) that he’s working on. The project shows the different options that students may be given in working with technology. He plans to have students present their work to the class as well and evaluate each other. This draft may be found on the wiki at http://digitalwritingtc.pbworks.com/f/4-26-2011_Bulletin.pdf.
III. Brandy’s site
Brandy shared the importance of students learning auditorily. To this end, she shared a site called A Z lyrics (http://www.azlyrics.com/). She had her creative writing students analyze songs for figurative language and use of story. Brandy was able to show the site, but there were some technical problems with the audio and we weren’t able to hear all that she said.
IV. Dianne’s site
Dianne showed us http://education.skype.com/. It’s a Skype for educators site. Professional speakers can Skype into the classroom. You can also get your students involved with certain projects with other students around the globe. Groups of students can Skype with each other.
V. Laura’s sites
A. She mentioned that D2L 9.2.0 will have audio responses in the Dropbox or Discussion posts (beginning in June). Audio recording is saved as .wav file.
B. She also talked about http://cartoonstock.com/. It’s a repository of cartoons. Can be used to illustrate difficult concepts to students, like irony. Or use it as a way of making statements about contemporary issues/college topics.
C. Finally, she talked about e-folio (http://www.efoliomn.com/). She uses it for herself and currently uses the new version. Some of us (Laurie, Sue, Brian) have used e-folio for classes as well (GPS life plan, common book, technical writing class, final portfolios, etc.). Laurie has had students present e-folio to each other.
VI. Stephanie’s site
Stephanie presented http://www.myhymphs.com/. She teaches a lot of developmental courses; this is a site to show these students what bad grammar looks like. Students can analyze grammar in the context of songs. The explanations tend to be quite humorous.
VII. Sue’s sites
A. Her first was http://www.wolframalpha.com/. A good site for students to obtain data with cited information. Can be used for the research paper for Comp 1.
B. Her second was http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/. It shows visual examples of errors from a humorous perspective.
VIII. Conclusion
A. Brian made a plug for everyone to do a Voki for Laurie—we stopped a bit early so people would have time to make one.
B. See you at the last meeting on May 13!
Meeting adjourned about 5:08. Posted on WebEx
Brian
Friday, April 29, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
A thought, after returning from CCCC
Last week I returned from CCCC in Atlanta. As usual, after coming back from the C's, my mind was chock full of ideas, and this time was no exception. For me, going to the C's is like going to church: it refreshes me and invigorates my thinking about teaching. It makes me question why I do what I do.
The more I go to C's, the more I'm beginning to view the five-paragraph essay as a thing of the past for first-year composition students. But if it is a thing of the past, why is it so stressed in textbooks? And even, to some extent, in my own evaluation rubrics? I really need to think about answers to these questions.
In the meantime, what I decided to do is to change my major individual writing assignments for my English 0090 and 1021 students--my individual "Writing Tasks"--to incorporate more digital options. Instead of just having the assignments be fairly open-ended, what I'm going to do is give the class about 6 or so options for each Writing Task, and many (but not all) of these options will have some sort of digital writing emphasis. The purpose behind this is to remind the students that most writing these days is done digitally and/or for Internet purposes. Furthermore, the specific assignments will remind them that writing has specific purposes and specific audiences. It has to be more than just "write a narrative essay." Why? For whom?
I still will keep the "Group Technology project" (the custom books are done, so it's too late to change that now, anyway). Besides, I want to make sure that the students do something with collaboration and technology--at least one assignment like this. I'd also like to mention that the assignments for the 0090 students will be a bit more formalized than for the 1021 students: 0090 students need to learn to move from paragraphs to short essays, which (in my view) is more of a dramatic move than moving from short essays to research-based writing (which is what 1021 students do). So there's more flexibility and sophistication in terms of what 1021 students may accomplish.
I am mentioning this here because my CTL work has been so focused on assignment creation. When I return, I want to ensure that the assignment I give are creative and innovative for students, while ALSO fulfilling course objectives, and I think the changes that I'm making will fulfill that goal.
The more I go to C's, the more I'm beginning to view the five-paragraph essay as a thing of the past for first-year composition students. But if it is a thing of the past, why is it so stressed in textbooks? And even, to some extent, in my own evaluation rubrics? I really need to think about answers to these questions.
In the meantime, what I decided to do is to change my major individual writing assignments for my English 0090 and 1021 students--my individual "Writing Tasks"--to incorporate more digital options. Instead of just having the assignments be fairly open-ended, what I'm going to do is give the class about 6 or so options for each Writing Task, and many (but not all) of these options will have some sort of digital writing emphasis. The purpose behind this is to remind the students that most writing these days is done digitally and/or for Internet purposes. Furthermore, the specific assignments will remind them that writing has specific purposes and specific audiences. It has to be more than just "write a narrative essay." Why? For whom?
I still will keep the "Group Technology project" (the custom books are done, so it's too late to change that now, anyway). Besides, I want to make sure that the students do something with collaboration and technology--at least one assignment like this. I'd also like to mention that the assignments for the 0090 students will be a bit more formalized than for the 1021 students: 0090 students need to learn to move from paragraphs to short essays, which (in my view) is more of a dramatic move than moving from short essays to research-based writing (which is what 1021 students do). So there's more flexibility and sophistication in terms of what 1021 students may accomplish.
I am mentioning this here because my CTL work has been so focused on assignment creation. When I return, I want to ensure that the assignment I give are creative and innovative for students, while ALSO fulfilling course objectives, and I think the changes that I'm making will fulfill that goal.
Digital Writing Teaching Circle--Meeting #6
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #6
FRIDAY, APRIL 22--4-5:15 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: none
1. Announcements/Questions and Answers
a. Brian reminded everyone of the upcoming circle due dates: April 29--next (and last) online meeting; April 30--Last Reflection paper due; May 6--post report on wiki (on your page); and May 13--ftf Teaching Circle meeting at Century College from 3:30-5 pm.
b. Steve asked if it was a problem to miss a meeting. Brian replied that it wouldn't as long as the entire group contributed 60 sources total to the Technology Tables; he will try his best to make sure that each person gets the stipend deserved.
c. Brandy wanted to review how to add to the Technology Tables, and Brian walked the group through the process.
2. Sue’s Presentations
a. Sue first presented Turnitin (www.turnitin.com). She has her students use it for an exercise on paraphrasing that she has her students do. Students submit their paraphrase to Turnitin, which evaluates their work for them. Turnitin's primary function, however, is to detect student plagiarism. This assists students in producing accurately cited research.
b. Next, Sue presented some aspects of Softchalk (www.softchalk.com). She showed us an HTML page that had been linked to text pop-ups that she created. She also showed us how to insert quiz pop-ups in Softchalk and pointed out that instructors could also use it to create games, etc. She’d only begun to learn about its potential. It’s a free software with a 30-day license (ask your Faculty IT people).
3. Steve’s Presentations
a. Steve began by mentioning three articles (which he e-mailed to us) about technologies and classroom use.
b. He then talked about the Center for Digital Storytelling (http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html), a site to inspire students to do visual analysis, think of old stories in new ways, and possibly even create their own stories.
c. Next, he showed us Connect from McGraw Hill (http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com), a site where students could work on exercises as needed.
d. Lastly, he talked about the need to create more visually-based handouts for developmental students. This could be done through the use of the Print Screen function on the keyboard (to capture images), and then inserting arrows as “Symbols” in Windows 7.
4. Bob’s Presentations
a. Bob pointed out a site connected with a textbook that he uses with his students called *America Now* (8th edition). This site has additional articles to provide student context for their readings. It also contains links to Diana Hacker exercises and Exercise Central (Bedford).
b. Bob then discussed the US Dept. of Labor website (www.dol.gov) and how he uses it as the basis of a student research paper: he wants them to study the site and ask them to (re)evaluate their views on their chosen career—do they still wish to pursue it? This makes for an interesting research-based writing assignment.
c. The last part of Bob’s presentation was a book recommendation: Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson. Bob has his students read this book as well and they seem to enjoy it.
5. Conclusion
Brian asked everyone to continue their wiki contributions and to work on their final reports. The next meeting will be NEXT WEEK at 4 pm, and we’ll continue to discuss what we’ve added to (or plan to add) to the wiki “Technology Tables.”
Meeting adjourned about 5:17.
Brian
FRIDAY, APRIL 22--4-5:15 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: none
1. Announcements/Questions and Answers
a. Brian reminded everyone of the upcoming circle due dates: April 29--next (and last) online meeting; April 30--Last Reflection paper due; May 6--post report on wiki (on your page); and May 13--ftf Teaching Circle meeting at Century College from 3:30-5 pm.
b. Steve asked if it was a problem to miss a meeting. Brian replied that it wouldn't as long as the entire group contributed 60 sources total to the Technology Tables; he will try his best to make sure that each person gets the stipend deserved.
c. Brandy wanted to review how to add to the Technology Tables, and Brian walked the group through the process.
2. Sue’s Presentations
a. Sue first presented Turnitin (www.turnitin.com). She has her students use it for an exercise on paraphrasing that she has her students do. Students submit their paraphrase to Turnitin, which evaluates their work for them. Turnitin's primary function, however, is to detect student plagiarism. This assists students in producing accurately cited research.
b. Next, Sue presented some aspects of Softchalk (www.softchalk.com). She showed us an HTML page that had been linked to text pop-ups that she created. She also showed us how to insert quiz pop-ups in Softchalk and pointed out that instructors could also use it to create games, etc. She’d only begun to learn about its potential. It’s a free software with a 30-day license (ask your Faculty IT people).
3. Steve’s Presentations
a. Steve began by mentioning three articles (which he e-mailed to us) about technologies and classroom use.
b. He then talked about the Center for Digital Storytelling (http://www.storycenter.org/index1.html), a site to inspire students to do visual analysis, think of old stories in new ways, and possibly even create their own stories.
c. Next, he showed us Connect from McGraw Hill (http://connect.mcgraw-hill.com), a site where students could work on exercises as needed.
d. Lastly, he talked about the need to create more visually-based handouts for developmental students. This could be done through the use of the Print Screen function on the keyboard (to capture images), and then inserting arrows as “Symbols” in Windows 7.
4. Bob’s Presentations
a. Bob pointed out a site connected with a textbook that he uses with his students called *America Now* (8th edition). This site has additional articles to provide student context for their readings. It also contains links to Diana Hacker exercises and Exercise Central (Bedford).
b. Bob then discussed the US Dept. of Labor website (www.dol.gov) and how he uses it as the basis of a student research paper: he wants them to study the site and ask them to (re)evaluate their views on their chosen career—do they still wish to pursue it? This makes for an interesting research-based writing assignment.
c. The last part of Bob’s presentation was a book recommendation: Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnson. Bob has his students read this book as well and they seem to enjoy it.
5. Conclusion
Brian asked everyone to continue their wiki contributions and to work on their final reports. The next meeting will be NEXT WEEK at 4 pm, and we’ll continue to discuss what we’ve added to (or plan to add) to the wiki “Technology Tables.”
Meeting adjourned about 5:17.
Brian
Friday, April 1, 2011
Digital Writing Teaching Circle--Meeting #5
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #5
FRIDAY, APRIL 1--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber
Absent: Sue Taylor
1. Announcements
4. Brian introduced two collaborative programs
5. Closing remarks
6. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:
Meeting ended at about 5:03 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
FRIDAY, APRIL 1--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber
Absent: Sue Taylor
1. Announcements
a. Brian reminded everyone to hand in their Individual Reflection #1 who has not done so.
b. Brian reminded everyone to sign up for Individual Conference #2 on the wiki.
c. Brian reminded everyone that we don’t meet again until April 22 after today’s meeting. That meeting will be from 4-5:15.
d. Laurie asked everyone to create a Voki on the wiki, in order to help her with her individual technology project. She provided directions for everyone and asked us to fill out a survey as well.
2. Jacque presented some information. First, she pointed out that her school website at U of Mn-Mankato has several links to many different software programs that educators can use. This site is located at http://www.mnsu.edu/its/academic/tools/. She then went on to discuss Jing, www.techsmith.com/jing, and she showed us a video about it. We learned about some of its key features:a. It makes screen captures of photos.
b. It allows you to make brief five-minute videos.
c. These things may be shared in online spaces (e-mail, Twitter, blogs).
d. Jing is free.
3. Stephanie introduced us to an online game that her students have begun using, Salubrious Nation (www.salubriousnation.com). She demonstrated the game for us; it has eight levels that can be played. Students make guesses regarding various questions about the state of the health of our nation on the basis of demographic information provided for them. They then earn points for accurate guesses. This game can teach such skills as cause-effect relationships, correlations, argument, research, and correlation to students. It can also make students more aware of the condition of our country and sometimes shatter social myths as well (e.g., obesity only being prevalent in poor areas of the country). 4. Brian introduced two collaborative programs
a. The first was called Vyew, www.vyew.com, a collaboration platform very similar to AdobeConnect. It has a whiteboard, video communication capabilities, and chat. Students can be invited to participate. It should work well for online group communication. It is also free and requires no installations. Continuous rooms are always saved and on.
online peer review. Students simply need to click a button to go into a room. They can chat with other students and share their written work with each other. Color-coding indicates which students are contributing what to the peer review conversation. They can also save their work. Students can either be invited to join the room or be given a link to show up at.
5. Closing remarks
a. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, APRIL 22, FROM 4-5:15 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING.
b. Steve and Sue will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom.
c. April 29 meeting is pretty open—what do you want to do for it? Send me ideas.
d. Reminder: last meeting is ftf at Century College. Those who complete all TC requirements will be given a book on digital writing.
e. Technology table on wiki needs some organizing—how should we organize it? Send me ideas.
6. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:
a. Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.
b. Your Individual Reflection #2 is due to Brian via e-mail ASAP, if you haven’t already submitted it. (Please use the form provided for you.)
c. Please sign up for your Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki if you haven't done so already.
d. Please do a Voki (at Laurie’s request, for her individual project) and try to complete an activity with Jing as well (post your results on the wiki).
e. Work on your own individual projects.
f. Share your ideas with Brian about what you want to do with (a) the wiki technology table and (b) our April 29 meeting.
Meeting ended at about 5:03 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Conversation with Lynda and TC Update, Mtgs. 3 and 4
Today I had a productive TC meeting with Lynda. One of the things we talked about that really stuck with me, though, was about my own classes. I've been debating changing my handouts to some extent to make things a bit easier for the students. I don't think this is a bad idea. Oftentimes I feel that I need to apply the "less is more" principle to my teaching, and I suppose this is true with my online handouts as well. I just need to remember to refer students to handouts that are already well-written. As Lynda put it, "You don't need to be a technical writer." This is sound advice. I need to spend some time thinking about my larger objectives: am I using the new technologies just because they're new and fun, or am I using them for sound pedagogical purposes? To what extent are the new technologies making students better writers? If I can't articulate why, Lynda suggested, maybe I shouldn't use them. Lynda also recommended an interesting link that I will another look at--http://vyew.com. Looks pretty fascinating, like Adobe Connect!
Digital Writing TC: My Impressions after Meetings 3 and 4.
Meeting 3 focused a lot on Dianne and Bob. Dianne introduced Zoho, Dropbox and Google Groups to the TC, and Bob spent quite a bit of time showing us how to use Windows MovieMaker. Soon after this meeting, I returned their goals/objectives and Reflection 1s to them. I tried to provide copious comments. Some of them needed to revise their goals/objectives, and I asked them to do so. Those who needed to revise took awhile to do so, but (with some prompting) they were able to do the revisions they needed.
Meeting 4 focused on Laurie and Laura--most of the meeting was spent on the different features of Adobe Connect, and Laura also gave a brief presentation on Wordle. Our next meeting will be April 1--and they need to hand in their Reflection 2s the day before. Some of them (about 4) have already done so, as of this writing. I also asked them to sign up for Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki, but only about half have done so thus far. I am also thinking about providing a book for them by the final meeting--it will cost about $300 for the nine of them.
I do wish, overall, that more of them would make greater use of the wiki, particularly the technology table. It is getting a bit crowded, though. Lynda suggested that we try to categorize it in some way, prior to the final meeting. This is likely a good idea.
Digital Writing TC: My Impressions after Meetings 3 and 4.
Meeting 3 focused a lot on Dianne and Bob. Dianne introduced Zoho, Dropbox and Google Groups to the TC, and Bob spent quite a bit of time showing us how to use Windows MovieMaker. Soon after this meeting, I returned their goals/objectives and Reflection 1s to them. I tried to provide copious comments. Some of them needed to revise their goals/objectives, and I asked them to do so. Those who needed to revise took awhile to do so, but (with some prompting) they were able to do the revisions they needed.
Meeting 4 focused on Laurie and Laura--most of the meeting was spent on the different features of Adobe Connect, and Laura also gave a brief presentation on Wordle. Our next meeting will be April 1--and they need to hand in their Reflection 2s the day before. Some of them (about 4) have already done so, as of this writing. I also asked them to sign up for Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki, but only about half have done so thus far. I am also thinking about providing a book for them by the final meeting--it will cost about $300 for the nine of them.
I do wish, overall, that more of them would make greater use of the wiki, particularly the technology table. It is getting a bit crowded, though. Lynda suggested that we try to categorize it in some way, prior to the final meeting. This is likely a good idea.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Digital Writing Teaching Circle Meeting Minutes--Meeting #4
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #4
FRIDAY, MARCH 18--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Sue Taylor
Absent: Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber
1. Announcements
a. Brian reminded everyone who has presented--or about to present--to contribute to the "technology table" on the wiki.
b. Brian also mentioned that those who need to refine/revise their goals and objectives should do so by today (Friday).
2. Laurie introduced us to Adobe Connect. In WebEx, she showed us how to sign up/access it (at www.metnet.edu). There we will request it and eventually get an e-mail confirmation of a username and password. After this step, we all moved to an Adobe Connect room that Laurie set up: https://umconnect.umn.edu/r14675675. In this room, Laurie showed us the following:
a. How to see presentations
b. How to chat
c. How to use the whiteboard and write on presentations (student must have "Presenter" privileges)
d. How to talk (using the microphone)
e. How to "Raise your hand" to be called on
3. Laura showed us other features of Adobe Connect. These included
a. How to use the polling feature (similar to using clickers in the classroom)
b. How to set up Discussion groups for students
4. Laura then talked (in Adobe Connect) about how to use Wordle (http://www.wordle.net). It allows students to create "word clouds" out of words that they write. Wordle may serve several pedagogical purposes, including prewriting, introductions online, analysis of political speeches, study of common words in a literary piece, and even concrete poetry.
5. Closing remarks
a. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, FROM 4-5 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING.
b. Jacque and Stephanie will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom.
6. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:
a. Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.
b. Your Individual Reflection #2 is due to Brian via e-mail on March 31. (Please use the form provided for you.)
c. Please sign up for your Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki if you haven't done so already.
Meeting ended at about 5:01 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
FRIDAY, MARCH 18--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Sue Taylor
Absent: Bob Bledsoe, Brandy Opse-Weber
1. Announcements
a. Brian reminded everyone who has presented--or about to present--to contribute to the "technology table" on the wiki.
b. Brian also mentioned that those who need to refine/revise their goals and objectives should do so by today (Friday).
2. Laurie introduced us to Adobe Connect. In WebEx, she showed us how to sign up/access it (at www.metnet.edu). There we will request it and eventually get an e-mail confirmation of a username and password. After this step, we all moved to an Adobe Connect room that Laurie set up: https://umconnect.umn.edu/r14675675. In this room, Laurie showed us the following:
a. How to see presentations
b. How to chat
c. How to use the whiteboard and write on presentations (student must have "Presenter" privileges)
d. How to talk (using the microphone)
e. How to "Raise your hand" to be called on
3. Laura showed us other features of Adobe Connect. These included
a. How to use the polling feature (similar to using clickers in the classroom)
b. How to set up Discussion groups for students
4. Laura then talked (in Adobe Connect) about how to use Wordle (http://www.wordle.net). It allows students to create "word clouds" out of words that they write. Wordle may serve several pedagogical purposes, including prewriting, introductions online, analysis of political speeches, study of common words in a literary piece, and even concrete poetry.
5. Closing remarks
a. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, FROM 4-5 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING.
b. Jacque and Stephanie will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom.
6. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:
a. Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.
b. Your Individual Reflection #2 is due to Brian via e-mail on March 31. (Please use the form provided for you.)
c. Please sign up for your Individual Meeting #2 on the wiki if you haven't done so already.
Meeting ended at about 5:01 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
Friday, March 4, 2011
Digital Writing Teaching Circle Meeting Minutes--Meeting #3
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #3
FRIDAY, MARCH 4--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Bob Bledsoe, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: None
1. Announcements
a. Brian reminded everyone to contribute to the "technology table" on the wiki.
b. Brian then mentioned that all individual goals/objectives and reflection papers were received. He will be providing comments on these papers and returning them within a week. He may ask some people to refine/revise their goals and objectives a bit.
2. Dianne presented three different websites:
a. Zoho--www.zoho.com. Zoho performs many of the functions of GoogleDocs, including writing and collaboration. It also provides a wiki and an alternative to PowerPoint presentations. So it contains many different rhetorical functions for students in one centralized place, much as GoogleDocs does. Dianne argued that, in some ways, Zoho is easier for student use. It even allows video conferencing.
b. Dropbox--www.dropbox.com. It provides a centralized place for saving documents and allows for asynchronous writing collaboration. It could be particularly useful for students using iPhones and iPads.
c. Google Groups--groups.google.com. Offers an alternative to D2L discussion. It's private--people are invited to join specific groups in Google via e-mail. It allows for online discussion on specific topics, just as the Discussion Boards in D2L do; one advantage of Google Groups is that people receive e-mails when someone posts to the "Group."
3. Bob completed his presentation on mashups. He showed us how he puts together a presentation using Windows Movie Maker. This presentation included images from Google images, audio (song), and transitions. He also showed us how to create opening and closing credits for the presentation. Students can create mashups as a kind of visual rhetoric assignment in composition classrooms.
4. Closing remarks
a. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, MARCH 18, FROM 4-5 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING.
b. Laurie and Laura will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom. Part of the meeting may be in AdobeConnect. Details on this later.
c. Sue Taylor reminded everyone that an English UFT position is now available at Saint Paul College.
5. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:--Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.
Meeting ended at about 5:06 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
FRIDAY, MARCH 4--4-5 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Bob Bledsoe, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: None
1. Announcements
a. Brian reminded everyone to contribute to the "technology table" on the wiki.
b. Brian then mentioned that all individual goals/objectives and reflection papers were received. He will be providing comments on these papers and returning them within a week. He may ask some people to refine/revise their goals and objectives a bit.
2. Dianne presented three different websites:
a. Zoho--www.zoho.com. Zoho performs many of the functions of GoogleDocs, including writing and collaboration. It also provides a wiki and an alternative to PowerPoint presentations. So it contains many different rhetorical functions for students in one centralized place, much as GoogleDocs does. Dianne argued that, in some ways, Zoho is easier for student use. It even allows video conferencing.
b. Dropbox--www.dropbox.com. It provides a centralized place for saving documents and allows for asynchronous writing collaboration. It could be particularly useful for students using iPhones and iPads.
c. Google Groups--groups.google.com. Offers an alternative to D2L discussion. It's private--people are invited to join specific groups in Google via e-mail. It allows for online discussion on specific topics, just as the Discussion Boards in D2L do; one advantage of Google Groups is that people receive e-mails when someone posts to the "Group."
3. Bob completed his presentation on mashups. He showed us how he puts together a presentation using Windows Movie Maker. This presentation included images from Google images, audio (song), and transitions. He also showed us how to create opening and closing credits for the presentation. Students can create mashups as a kind of visual rhetoric assignment in composition classrooms.
4. Closing remarks
a. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, MARCH 18, FROM 4-5 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING.
b. Laurie and Laura will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom. Part of the meeting may be in AdobeConnect. Details on this later.
c. Sue Taylor reminded everyone that an English UFT position is now available at Saint Paul College.
5. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:--Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.
Meeting ended at about 5:06 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Minutes from Digital Writing Teaching Circle #2.
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #2
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18--5-6 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Bob Bledsoe, Laura Funke, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: Dianne Gregory
5. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:--Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.--Hold individual meeting #1 with Brian if you have not yet done so.--Work on individual goal/objectives (these need to be handed in to me by 2/28).--Reflection paper #1 is due 2/28--work on it.
Meeting ended at about 6:07 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18--5-6 PM
On WebEx
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Bob Bledsoe, Laura Funke, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: Dianne Gregory
1. Brian reminded everyone about the wiki: that it's located at http://digitalwritingtc.pbworks.com, that all TC members have been invited to edit it as they wish, and that everyone should contribute to the "technology table."
2. Brandy presented her voice recognition software, called Dragon. It costs about $500; the basic version is $100. It may be used in the classroom for several reasons: for D2L, to give students feedback on their writing, and for use of Outlook.3. Bob began a presentation on mashups, but he had video problems and was not able to finish his presentation. Brian presented in his place--he talked about using Diigo as a research tool for students (www.diigo.com). It is an online bookmarking and research site that provides RSS feeds daily to his e-mail on specific subjects. Diigo also tags website so that you can do searching in your online library by subject.
4. Next meeting will be IN WEBEX, FRIDAY, MARCH 4, FROM 4-5 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING. Bob (and Dianne--added later) will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom. 5. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:--Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group if you have not yet done so.--Hold individual meeting #1 with Brian if you have not yet done so.--Work on individual goal/objectives (these need to be handed in to me by 2/28).--Reflection paper #1 is due 2/28--work on it.
Meeting ended at about 6:07 pm. A recording of the meeting was done and is on the MnSCU WebEx site.
Brian
Summary of Teaching Circle work so far
I haven't been doing much writing on this blog lately. My major excuse is that I've been busy with my teaching circle. So I think it's only natural that I blog a bit here about what I've been doing with the teaching circle. Yes, I've been copying meeting minutes here, but what are my impressions after the first two meetings? Well here they are:
Digital Writing TC: My Impressions after Meetings 1 and 2.
For our first meeting, we met at a restaurant in downtown St. Paul. Everyone seemed to like getting to know each other. I did have one person who quit the group because she didn't want to meet face to face, but this was fine--I was over-enrolled in the group anyway. Officially, as of this writing, I have nine colleagues in the group: four from Century College (including me), three from Inver Hills CC, one from St. Paul College, one from Normandale CC, and one from MNSU-Mankato. During the first meeting, we set our group goal and decided that we'd do presentations of technologies that we've found and talk about how they might be helpful to our English students. In between the first and second meetings, we talked via e-mail about the objectives that we'd need to achieve that group goal. And we decided on four, in particular. A few days before the second meeting, we had a "practice" WebEx meeting to see how the technology worked--it seemed to work pretty well. The actual meeting, unfortunately, was a bit more troublesome. Even though one colleague was able to complete her presentation on voice recognition software, one person who was supposed to present did not "show up," and the third presenter had computer problems. So I had to fill in and give an impromptu presentation on Diigo--they seemed to appreciate this. Our next meeting will be Friday, March 4, at 4 p.m.
I have also created a wiki for this group (http://digitalwritingtc.pbworks.com/) where we can share our information, esp. our technology info on the "technology table" that I created. I do wish more people were contributing to the wiki, but hopefully this will change over time.
I've also been having individual meetings with the TC members; so far, I've completed 5/9. Mostly, they want to talk about their individual goals/objectives for the circle. I've heard very few complaints or concerns thus far.
(An added bonus--I met with Lynda today, and she introduced me to a cool new link--http://join.me, which allows for collaboration/screen sharing. Thanks Lynda!!)
Digital Writing TC: My Impressions after Meetings 1 and 2.
For our first meeting, we met at a restaurant in downtown St. Paul. Everyone seemed to like getting to know each other. I did have one person who quit the group because she didn't want to meet face to face, but this was fine--I was over-enrolled in the group anyway. Officially, as of this writing, I have nine colleagues in the group: four from Century College (including me), three from Inver Hills CC, one from St. Paul College, one from Normandale CC, and one from MNSU-Mankato. During the first meeting, we set our group goal and decided that we'd do presentations of technologies that we've found and talk about how they might be helpful to our English students. In between the first and second meetings, we talked via e-mail about the objectives that we'd need to achieve that group goal. And we decided on four, in particular. A few days before the second meeting, we had a "practice" WebEx meeting to see how the technology worked--it seemed to work pretty well. The actual meeting, unfortunately, was a bit more troublesome. Even though one colleague was able to complete her presentation on voice recognition software, one person who was supposed to present did not "show up," and the third presenter had computer problems. So I had to fill in and give an impromptu presentation on Diigo--they seemed to appreciate this. Our next meeting will be Friday, March 4, at 4 p.m.
I have also created a wiki for this group (http://digitalwritingtc.pbworks.com/) where we can share our information, esp. our technology info on the "technology table" that I created. I do wish more people were contributing to the wiki, but hopefully this will change over time.
I've also been having individual meetings with the TC members; so far, I've completed 5/9. Mostly, they want to talk about their individual goals/objectives for the circle. I've heard very few complaints or concerns thus far.
(An added bonus--I met with Lynda today, and she introduced me to a cool new link--http://join.me, which allows for collaboration/screen sharing. Thanks Lynda!!)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
minutes for first teaching circle meeting--what did we do?
DIGITAL WRITING TEACHING CIRCLE--MEETING #1
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5--1:30-3:30 PM
at Great Waters Brewing Company in Saint Paul
Present: Brian Lewis (facilitator), Steve Anderson, Jacque Arnold, Bob Bledsoe, Laura Funke, Dianne Gregory, Stephanie Laurey, Laurie Lykken, Brandy Opse-Weber, Sue Taylor
Absent: Wanda Synstelien
1. First we ate--heartily.
2. After lunch, we all introduced ourselves. We explained where we were from, what we taught, and what we wanted to learn from the teaching circle.
3. Brian went over the contracts with everyone present. Everyone present handed in their signed contracts. We tentatively agreed to have our final FTF meeting on Friday 5/13 at Century College from 3:30-5:30 (to share information).
4. Everyone signed up for an individual meeting with Brian. The purpose of the individual meeting is primarily to help participants refine their individual goals and objectives and to ask questions.
Individual meetings set up so far:
Steve, 2/10, 2 pm, (but where?)
Laura, 2/15, 11 am (Skype or phone)
Brandy, 2/15, 3:45 pm, phone
Stephanie, 2/17, 9 am, phone
Sue, 2/18, (what time?), Facebook
Bob, 2/22, 2pm, Facebook
Laurie, 2/24, 1pm, Facebook
Jacque, 2/25, 10 am, D2L chat
Dianne, 2/25, 1 pm, D2L, Sykpe, AIM, FB, or Adobe Connect
5. We went over what "SMART" goals were and talked about some examples of SMART and not-so-SMART goals.
6. We decied that our group goal would be as follows:
To explore, share, and synthesize knowledge about new media teaching strategies for English classrooms in both online and non-online environments. (Changed slightly from our original discussion for the sake of clarity; in retrospect, "individual" seems a bit vague to me...)
7. Next meeting will be IN WEBX, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, FROM 5-6 PM. BRIAN WILL SEND EVERYONE THE WEBX MEETING LINK AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE THE ONLINE MEETING. Brandy, Bob, and Dianne will share digital writing/new media techniques and explain why they would work well for the English classroom.
8. HOMEWORK FOR EVERYONE BEFORE NEXT MEETING:
--By 2/18, use "Reply All" on e-mail to answer this question: What objectives do we need to accomplish to achieve our group goal? (Everyone in the group should be able to read your response.)
--Find at least ONE new media teaching technique that you think might be worth sharing with the group.
--Hold individual meeting (if you signed up for one before next group meeting)
--Work on individual goal/objectives (these need to be handed in to me by 2/28).
Meeting ended PROMPTLY at 3:30 pm.
Brian
Friday, February 4, 2011
prior to my first tc meeting.
Well, tomorrow afternoon is my first teaching circle meeting. Since I last wrote here, I've had to change the location--it will be at the Great Waters Brewing Company in downtown St. Paul. Currently, I have ten (possibly eleven?) members--if these numbers keep up, two of them will have to audit. But we'll see.
Right now, I have a set agenda for tomorrow's meeting--a lot of paperwork--but the main focus will be on both group and individual goals and objectives for the circle. Tomorrow we have to do a lot of thinking about what the main purpose of this circle is. And this is not always easy.
I will have more to report after tomorrow, once our group has made some concrete decisions.
Right now, I have a set agenda for tomorrow's meeting--a lot of paperwork--but the main focus will be on both group and individual goals and objectives for the circle. Tomorrow we have to do a lot of thinking about what the main purpose of this circle is. And this is not always easy.
I will have more to report after tomorrow, once our group has made some concrete decisions.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
What's up in Jan 2011...............
Here's what I'm working on lately:
1. Most of my work has been MEJ (Minnesota English Journal)-related. I am trying to get the entire journal edited and proofread by Jan. 24. Then I will send it to Sandy Hayes (both as a whole journal and as individual articles) so she can post it on the web.
2. I'm also working on the online teaching circle. As of this writing, I have 8/9 possible people who've expressed an interest. I have sent them an e-mail asking them to pick a meeting time during the first couple days in Feb. 1. I've also set up a meeting place for our first meeting: Trattoria Da Vinci in St. Paul (at Lynda's suggestion--it sounds great to me). At the meeting, we'll need to set group goals/objectives, talk about ind. goals/objectives, sign up for ind. meetings and sign contracts.
3. One last thing: I found a cool site on Diigo again--this is called BiblioBouts, a research/bibliography game that students can play. It's at http://www.bibliobouts.org/ (also on the link at the top of this entry). It seems like it would be fun and useful for 1021, 1022, and lit. courses.
1. Most of my work has been MEJ (Minnesota English Journal)-related. I am trying to get the entire journal edited and proofread by Jan. 24. Then I will send it to Sandy Hayes (both as a whole journal and as individual articles) so she can post it on the web.
2. I'm also working on the online teaching circle. As of this writing, I have 8/9 possible people who've expressed an interest. I have sent them an e-mail asking them to pick a meeting time during the first couple days in Feb. 1. I've also set up a meeting place for our first meeting: Trattoria Da Vinci in St. Paul (at Lynda's suggestion--it sounds great to me). At the meeting, we'll need to set group goals/objectives, talk about ind. goals/objectives, sign up for ind. meetings and sign contracts.
3. One last thing: I found a cool site on Diigo again--this is called BiblioBouts, a research/bibliography game that students can play. It's at http://www.bibliobouts.org/ (also on the link at the top of this entry). It seems like it would be fun and useful for 1021, 1022, and lit. courses.
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