In light of our discussion about digital literacy last class I thought you’d all find this blog post by Alex Juhasz (she’s a Critical Internet Studies scholar, the chair the Brooklyn College Film Program, and will co-teach, with Luke Waltzer, the
Core 2 class next semester) of interest: http://daily.jstor.org/four-hard-truths-about-fake-news/ .
I regret having been so sick last night during our class and hope that I didn’t infect any of you with my miserable cold. Hoping you have a good Thanksgiving holiday and get a much needed break from GC. See you next Monday. Best, Steve
Hi, all. I’ve posted the final paper assignment under a new top menu item entitled “Assignments”. To save space I eliminated the First Paper Assignment menu item and combined it under a general “Assignments” tab at the top of this screen. Hope that’s clear. Let me know if you have any problems opening this.
Critical commentary on the theory and practice of Wikipedia
(the three volunteers will write a blog entry for the Nov. 21 class)
Explore the following three areas of Wikipedia dedicated to supporting instructors using Wikipedia in the classroom, then write a provocation based on w what you think about what you discovered.
1. Training: https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/training
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Below from Jane McGonigal, one of the chief proponents of gamification, in an email message to MoveOn.org members. I like the cause; not so sure about the means. What do you think?
Dear MoveOn member,
I’m Jane McGonigal, a futurist and game designer. (You might have seen my TED Talks about how gaming can make the world better.)
| | | Next → |As I started to read the Introduction of the article, I asked myself when was Errors and expectations written? I was taken by surprise when I saw 1979 and not a year closer to 2016. Upon reading the following, in some, the numbers were token: in others, where comprehensive policies of admissions were adopted, the number threatened to ‘tip’ freshman classes in favor of the less prepared students. Four such colleges, this venture into mass education usually began abruptly, amidst the misgivings of administrators, who had to guess in the dark about the sorts of programs they ought to plan for the students they had never met, I felt that although 37 years have passed since these words were written, they are so true today. Administrators are making decisions that from a pedagogical perspective do not make sense. I would love to continue with examples, but there would be so many and we need to make short provocation points.
As I continued to read, it was totally amazing how I could relate to the problems that Mina was writing about in 1979 to problems in 2016 in the admitting process. Accept as many numbers possible and we will try to fix them later so that they can catch up philosophy. It reminded me of a comment I heard at a Departmental meeting once, basically, “just make it work.” I was taken back because I had not met my student’s yet, and was concerned as the type of student I would be having in my classroom and that I would have to make adjustments because I had to make the situation work without question.
Mina spoke about the importance the teacher’s for the success or failure of these young adults whom arrive to their Freshman year of college with many errors and it is teacher who is confronted by what appears to be a hopeless tangle of errors and inadequacies, must learn to see below the surface of these failures the intelligence and linguistic aptitudes of his students. And in doing so, he will himself become a critic of his profession and begin to search for wiser, more efficient ways of teaching young men and women to write.
| | | Next → |I have posted as a new pull-down menu at the top of this screen, the first paper assignment, which is due November 7th. We can discuss this in class next week if folks have any questions.
Thanks to Alexander I noted that several of you were registered on the blog with “Subscriber” rather than “Author” status, which is what allows you to offer blog posts. There should be no further problem for anyone to blog or comment.
Alexander: can I ask you please to repost your comment on Wendy’s post as a standalone blog post so that I know it is working properly? Thanks.
The GC’s new Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), headed by ITP faculty member Luke Waltzer, has posted a wonderful set of online resources, “Ed Tech for N00bies,” which will be of benefit to all of you who are new the uses of technology in teaching. You can find the post here.
