June 15th Assignment

• What is the role of the teacher in helping students to make meaning of primary source material?

To help students make meaning of primary source materials, teachers have a
multitude of roles. One of these roles is to help students understand the perspective of the provider(s) of the primary source material. A perfect example November (2010) gives is of Lee Ann Potter’s class searching for information on the forced migration of Cherokees from their native land. At first, the students could not find any information using “Trail of Tears” (the term used to describe this from the Cherokee perspective,) because they were accessing U.S. government archives and the government referred to it as removal of Indians. If the students had understood the perspective of the primary source provider (here the U.S. government,) they would have saved much time and energy trying to complete their search.

Teachers also must guide students in analyzing and evaluate the primary source information. To do this, they can help students brainstorm questions to ask about the information so they can take a critical eye to what they are reading. One can also access the multitude of NARA worksheets, available at http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/. These provide worksheets to help students analyze print materials, movies, sound recordings, artifacts, and visual materials (like photographs and posters.) It is especially helpful because the worksheets are not only easy to use and comprehensive, but they can be printed and shared (I wasable to post a link right to my Facebook account as a sort of “test” to see how it worked.)

Finally, teachers must also be able to help students identify source information (usually by contacting organizations that can provide further insights into the material,) help students take/track/organize data about the information (which November [2010] reminds us can be done very easily with today’s available technologies like PDA’s and SmartPhones,) and find experts and authentic audiences for students to have questions answered and/or receive feedback for the reports and research presentations they make after consulting the primary source materials.


• Explain the differences between blogs, wikis, and web-based word processors (e.g. Google Docs).? Briefly identify one classroom activity for each type of tool.

While all three help present information and harvest collaboration, the primary difference between blogs, wikis, and web-based word processors
like Google Docs is who has the authority to edit and contribute to the
document/project. With a blog, there is usually only one author or a select
few authors. While readers are usually more than welcome to comment on the content (though the blog author(s) may have the capacity to control/
limit who can comment,) they are not able to actually change the content,
even if they do disagree passionately about what the blog says. Though
feedback from comments left about the blog may prompt the author(s) to
edit content, it is only the author(s) who have the ability to make the
changes.

Wikis, however, are almost a free-for-all. Any reader can update, delete,
add to, and edit content at will. This makes wikis the ultimate public
forum to share information. A powerful example of this occurs in Richardson (2010) surrounding the immediate growth (and change) of the Wikipedia page on the 2004 earthquake/tsunami. Richardson relays to readers that within hours, the original page was up and grew exponentially as more news about the tsunami was reported. He says that the page continued to grow and change like this for about six months after that fateful event. [As an
aside, I just love how Richardson refers to managing Wikipedia as “the
job of collecting the sum of all human knowledge” (2010, p. 56). It really
brings into perspective the impact and responsibility that every user of the
Internet, particularly wikis can have.]

On the other hand, on-line word-processor programs, like Google Docs, are usually created by one or a few people, but do have the ability for the
creator(s) to invite people to make changes. What is different with these
programs than a wiki or even a blog, is that it is the author(s) who chooses
who it is that can make these changes. It is not everybody like a wiki, yet it
is more than the author(s) who are the only ones in charge of editing blog
content.

In the classroom, a great way to use blogs is to have a literary discussion.
Blogs offer the teacher or even a student/some students the opportunity
to pose a question and the readers of the blog (the students/peers,) to
answer. The opportunity for discussion with a blog is endless and comments
can beget more and more comments. This is a wonderful way to inspire critical thinking.

A wiki can be used to present research in a fun and interesting way. Students
can be the experts and post information on a subject for all the world to see
and possibly, edit. This can allow students to value the need for validating
their research and understand the need for citation. It also allows them the
opportunity to “watch” their wiki to see if anybody’s added, changed, or
deleted their information. The Wikipedia posting of our publishing online
project is a great example of this. For example, my posting was pretty much
torn apart by someone who simply disagreed with me and nearly erased
everything I posted. (You can view the Wikipedia page by clicking this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortoiseshell_cat. If you go back in the history,
you can see I created the Interesting Facts section, but a user had a few
differing ideas than me. I think the discussion page, which I haven’t yet contributed to because I’m gathering my thoughts on what to politely say to the person who changed my posting, is a great example of how not to collaborate and negotiate with other users.)

An online word-processor not only allows students a free way to produce word-processed documents if they do not have access to programs like Microsoft Word, but can also be used for teachers/peers to help students revise writing drafts prior to the final copy being submitted. I can definitely see a usage for online word-processing in Writers’ Workshop in which students work collaboratively to help each other through the writing
process.




• After completing the treasure hunt, use specific examples (web sites) to briefly discuss some of the ways the internet can enhance instruction beyond simply facts for essays and book reports.

The treasure hunt opened my eyes to the many ways that we can use the Internet to make learning “come alive” for our students. One site that I particularly liked was The Jason Project which offered a plethora of science curriculum and explorations to help students better understand topics like weather (which we cover in my grade-level by book work and a few movies, but now have the opportunity to have students interacting, and problem-solving real-life situations involving weather.) Simulation sites, like River City are wonderful ways to hook students into learning under the format of being game-like. They also promote problem-solving through real-life simulations in which students are given information (for example in River City figuring out why certain diseases are spreading in the community.) Furthermore, teachers can help students connect with others around the world with some of these simulation sites (like Teen Second Life .) They can also forge lasting friendships with their students and other children in the world through e-Pals which helps match e-mail penpals and connect children on projects, etc. all over the globe.

There are some sites, however, that show potential but may not be the best choices for students. For example, some of the sites that help students publish online such as Fan Fiction , I felt there was not enough introduction (actually on this site no introduction,) explaining
the site and how to use it, so I would shy away from it unless the teacher makes him/herself extremely familiar with it first to properly guide students with usage of the site. Plus, it should be noted that there was some pornographic content (a “zine” about Jenna Jamieson is one example,) on Scribd so I would only use this site with students at the college level.