Pathway to Pedagogy

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Pathway to Pedagogy

• Tracy Mendham, MFA
• Keene State College
• CELT Presentation
• March 28, 2008

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A Technology-Infused Curriculum

• Social computing as means of facilitating
  academic discourse and developing writing skills
• My top three picks of social computing for
  general use in different courses
• How to use them and why

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So many websites, so littledignity
By Stabilo Boss, on Flickr
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Qualities I miss from my undergraduate days

• Academic culture in my day
• Academic discourse
• Testing ideas in face-to-face discussions to
  develop critical thinking
• Face time where when argues for an idea in a
  seminar or other semi-formal group discussion
  encourages identifying oneself with some
• Writing as a multi-stage process and a social
  process

• Academic culture today
• Dancing bear syndrome
• Grades primary motivationcollege as a hurdle
• Classroom discussion either performance to meet
  requirements or to win a contest
• Writing alone and for the teacher in one draft

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Tools to extend the learning environment

• Top Three Picks
• Blogs
• Instant messaging
• Online social networks

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Blogs

• Model continuous, ongoing discussions
• Links to other blogs and comments allow
  conversation and awareness of oneself as a member
  of a community of scholars
• Build audience awarenessthe reader becomes a
  fact, not a theory

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IM

• Instant Messaging ss the new phone deal with it
• Not as troublesome as you might think
• It shows that you to be the caring, available,
  teacher that you are, and what long hours you
  work

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Online Social Networks

• Most students already understand them better than
  you do
• Discussion forums with assigned questions
  encourage students to identify with what they say
  and compose thoughts before voicing them
• Helps you learn students names and faces

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What software needs to be for me

• Free (for me and the students, if not for the
  school)
• Something I can learn and teach without more than
  two formal training sessions
• Students and other users dont have to download
  anything
• Cross-platform (Mac or PC)
• Advances specific course goals

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Keeneweb Pilot Program

• Uses WordPress
• Two hours or more to learn
• Powerful
• Allows multiple pages
• Feeds are easy
• No ads
• Choice of lots of template designs
• Supported by KSC instructional technology folks
• How
• Go to http//keeneweb.org and click Sign me up!

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Simple as pie with a keene.edu or
ksc.mailcruiser.com address
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Sign in and pick a new username
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If you want a huge project you can have students
create individual blogs
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Or start out smaller Have one blog, post
questions for students to comment on
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Or have use it for a project or to present your
work
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Meebo
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Free, sign on to multiple accounts on one web page
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Meebo Me Widgets
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(Meebo-me widget in action)
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Ning Online Social Network

• Free (if you can tolerate Google ads in sidebar)
• Not Facebook or MySpace--Less distracting, new
  environment

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Keene-Ning
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Students can ask questions of a member (like my
gracious speaker Laura Clawson)
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And they have assigned discussions to take part in
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My Advice

• Stop worrying and learn to love the Web
• Go to instructional technology brown-bag
  luncheons and instruction sessions even for tools
  you dont know about or need yet
• Have meetings with instructional technology
  liaisons and library liaisons (and listen to what
  they say)
• Make teaching a learning experience for yourself
  as well as your students

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More Information

• Web 2.0 The Machine is Us/ing Us , a short video
  by cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch, and A
  Vision of Students Today
• Workers Playtime (Jenny Darrows blog)
• http//keeneweb.org/workersplaytime/
• Mike Caulfield
• http//mikecaulfield.com/
• Web 2.0 Teaching Tools
• http//web20teach.blogspot.com/

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You Know Where to Find Me

• http//academics.keene.edu/tmendham (academic
  website)
• http//keeneweb.org/tmendham (T Blog)
• tmendham_at_keene.edu
• mendhamt on Meebo (instant messenger)
• http//keenening.ning.com (Keene-Ning online
  social network)
• http//del.icio.us/mendhamt/socialnetworking
  (explore my bookmarks on social computing)
• http//del.icio.us/mendhamt/cool (explore my
  bookmarks of all things cool)