Web Awareness: A Word Web

Below, you'll find my word web exploring the issues that arise with internet use in the classroom, along with teacher strategies for addressing these issues. There are four key issues identified below (inappropriate sites, commercials and advertising, copyright/plagiarism issues, and inaccurate information) that need to be addressed in any classroom with internet access and usage. Obviously, there are several different ideas that can be used to prevent any of these issues from taking root in a classroom, but there are two key principles to follow as a foundational pro-active strategy to promote positive web awareness: 1) Make students aware, and 2) Model proper behaviour. Ultimately, teachers need to educate their students about the issues and behave in the way they want their students to behave.

Standard English vs. Slang

Reference Section:

musicalcherries. (2009, June 22). Re:We Can't Call People Withowt Wings Angels, So We Call Them Friends Instead xx
[Web log message]. Retrieved October 6, 2009, from http://www.last.fm/user/musicalcherries/journal/2009/06/22/2tepky_we_can%27t_call_people_withowt_wings_angels,_so_we_call_them_friends_instead_xx

SaxPlayer2. (2008, May 28). Re: IDK, My BFF Jill? How Text Messaging is Destroying Our Language [Web log message]. Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.progressiveu.org/153233-idk-my-bff-jill-how-text-messaging-destroying-our-language.

Transl8it. (2006). Accessed October 4, 2009, at http://transl8it.com/cgi-win/index.pl.

Grade Level: 7

Subject: English Language Arts

Brief Description of Activity:
Students will visit and read two blog entries. One entry is written using text messaging slang to solicit assistance for learning text message slang. The other entry takes a critical viewpoint of text message slang, and it is written in standard English. Students will then use an online translator to translate excerpts from each blog entry to and from text message slang or standard English.

General Learner Outcome:

• Studenst will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to enhance the clarity and artistry of communication.

Specific Learner Outcome:

• Expand knowledge of language.

ICT Outcomes:
C.2.3.1 access diverse viewpoints on particular topics by using appropriate technologies
C.3.1.1 compare and contrast information from similar types of electronic sources
F.4.4.1 discriminate between style and content in a presentation
P.5.1.2 access hyperlinked sites on an intranet or the Internet

Rationale for Computer Integration:
Many teenagers use text message lingo on a regular basis, and there are many opinions published online from people who either support or hate this new form of slang. While students read different opinions on the matter, they will be exposed to blogs as a method of online discussion. By using the translator, students will use a valuable online tool, and it will help them to see that the same message can be said in either standard or slang English, and evaluate the validity of both means of communication.

Slideshare Link

For those of you interested in looking at my powerpoint slides for the Crowsnest Fires assignment (I'm looking at you, Maurice), here's the link.

Crowsnest Fires Powerpoint

Enjoy!

Cam

Powerpoint Presentation

The original Crowsnest Fires powerpoint was in obvious need of improvement. The instant I opened the file, I knew that it could never be used in an actual presentation. Many improvements needed to made, ranging from aesthetic changes to significant editorial decisions. Here are some of the improvements I made:

1. Make it look nicer. My first impression upon trying to read the original slides was that it was nearly impossible to read the content. The color of the text on the backgrounds in slides 2 and 3 did not make for a pleasant reading experience. To remedy this, I selected a basic template with writing that is easy to read.
   
2. Trim the information! Way too much information was put on way too many slides, so changes definitely needed to be made. I cut out a large amount of detail that was put on the original slides, knowing that the presenter would be able to talk about the more specific information. Along with this, the information that stayed on my slides needed to be written in shorter, simpler text.
   
3. Unclutter the slides. The original slides tried to say too much at once, covering a wide range of topics. I split up the original subject matter over a number of slides, so each slide focused on one area of information.
4. Add some valuable images. Students learn better when text is accompanied by pictures, so I added a few I thought were appropriate. I added a title slide to set the stage for the presentation, and a picture of a forest fire on another to create a mental image in my audience. Also, I added two pictures at the end of the presentation to show the ecological impact of a forest fire.
5. Say something worth saying. I decided that one key point of the original presentation, aside from the information about the fire, was the fact that while forest fires can be destructive, they can also have a positive impact on the ecology of the area. I created one slide to explain how this is the case, and I added two more slides to show what that means in the real world. The aftermath of a forest fire may look scarred and dead, but it eventually gives way to new, green, vibrant plant life.

While the original powerpoint was only three slides long, it ultimately needed to be simplified. By subtracting details the presenter can tell the audience, and by focusing on one topic per slide, I tried to break up the information into easily digested points that will stand out more in the minds of my audience. I also tried to emphasize what I saw as the final message of the presentation a bit more by illustrating the ecological impact with pictures.

Blogs in Education??!!

What's a blog, you may ask, as I once did myself? At it's core, a blog is an online journal that can be used for any number of things, from posting your critique of yesterday's cafeteria food to detailing your thoughts on today's current events, to offering your opinion on where our world will end up tomorrow. It's an easy way of sharing your thoughts with the world.

At another level, however, a blog is a useful tool for education. Blogs can provide an easily accessible means for a teacher to stay in communication with his or her students, regardless of whether or not they made it to class that day, and to provide any information the students may need to understand what they've been taught or what they have to do for homework tomorrow. The possibilities are endless. Even though blogs have only recently exploded into online relevance, they are also a great tool that can be used in a classroom to meet the General Outcomes of the Information and Communications Technology Program of Study. Students can achieve GO C3 by viewing a variety of blogs and analyzing which ones contain valid information. They can achieve GO F2 simply by working with a blog of their own. Blogs are becoming more and more prominent, and they represent just one of the ways that computers and the internet can be part of a person's everyday life. GO P5 would easily be achieved by having a student create hyperlinks within their next blog post. And the list goes on.

There's no question that blogs can be a great tool in the classroom, and that students would have their learning enriched by exploring blogs and creating blogs of their own, and as more and more teachers catch on to this idea, I'm sure we'll witness increasingly creative ways of combining this online resource in the classroom.

Introducing...me.

Well, I may not own a cell phone, but (apparently) I'm blogger. Imagine that. And it only took me 28 years and a Bachelor of Arts degree to do it. Who would've thunk that all that time spent on those tennis and basketball courts, or sitting in front of the TV watching Survivor (which is on every Thursday night, by the way), or typing out stories into the long hours of the night would have brought me to this point? Not me. Probably not even my wife. I bet that on that beautiful day when we tied the proverbial knot, she had never dreamed that one day I would be a blogger. But here I am. The day nobody saw coming has finally arrived.

By the way, I'm Cam. Consider yourself introduced.

And for all my classmates in Ed 3508, section GHI, let me remind you that all assignments must be completed by the last day of classes, November 2nd. That's right. Not November 5th, not November 4th, and not even November 3rd. November 2nd. Although, I suppose November 1st would probably be acceptable. And October 31st is probably okay, too.

Consider yourself reminded.