Facilitators: Yancy Unger, Amy Schultz (1) and Margaret Manuzzi (2)
Recorder: Deb Storey

Discussions 1 & 2 - download in print-friendly format

What is happening currently with the use of technology in writing?

• What are we doing?
• How are we doing it?
• Why are we doing it this way?
• How might this be viewed at different levels? Preschool – college
• How might different community or group perspectives vary?

Discussion notes

Recurring big ideas from the discussion

• Possibility for collaboration, going into it with attitude of “no fear”
• Student
• Collaboration with teaching
• Learning
• Writing
• Perfect opportunity for extending the classroom outside the walls of the classroom
• How do we structure this model of teaching and learning?
• Shorter schedule doesn’t work as well, block scheduling works better
• Comfortable to experiment and give more of it over to the students
• Not being afraid to change – takes awhile

Transcript (Combined session 1 & 2)

• What is going on in the world of digital writing?
• Educators are digital immigrants –we know what it is to type on carbon paper
• Digital divide – slow educator divide
• Text messaging now – some students consider email passé
• Teachers sometimes still struggle with sending an attachment
• Wiki – Hawaiian word means quick– way for people to quickly make a web page
• Blogs – journalist using them
• Huge differences in technology use by teachers
• What technology are you using in writing?
• Writely – Google’s online word processor
  • Would like to try this with collaborative projects
  • Document share stored online all the time
  • Don’t have to worry about what computer I’m using
  • Could have real possibilities in education
  • For more formal instruction/writing, rather than blogs
• Scribus – more for desktop publishing
  • May be an application for students with special needs (LD in particular)
• Criterion – online writing site by ETS
  • Original schedule, not block
  • Things that benefit is the outside coaching
  • Criticism was that the more the students wrote, the better they scored.
  • Benefit: immediate feedback
  • Teachers could go in and find out how what students are doing
  • Likes idea of discussion the project as they are doing it
  • Sometimes teachers will have difficulty with Criterion, but those that want to learn can talk thought it
• MSN - they have a file share – can share this with co-workers
  • Sets it upon each machine and syncs the files
• Discourse by ETS – interact with kids who don’t like to raise their hand
  • More classroom interaction among students
  • Reaches the student who doesn’t typically respond in class
  • Alternative way of teaching, not necessarily all the time
  • Would like to see it used more across the board
  • If people felt more comfortable with it, they would use it
  • It is teacher’s responsibility to make technology part of their teaching
  • Is it only veteran teachers who are reluctant?
• Concerns and Issues:
  • Myspace.com sites students have, but students aren’t allowed to use email, etc
  • Student motivation is an issue –Teachers are not in sync with students and their use of technology (is that possibly why students lack motivation in writing?)
  • Students use this all the time, but they are not allowed to do any of this in school
    • Moodle maybe an alternative.
    • Chat room on Moodle – protected environment on Moodle
    • inAccess
      • Can do things with the students because it is a safe environment
      • inAccess helped to limit his class size– only 26 stations
      • Can watch students do meaningful revision with Criterion - element of coaching with it
      • Logistics can be tricky with the workstations – large computers
      • Has impacted the English classroom at his school
      • Students write more and they are writing better
      • It does eat up classroom time, but have a 90 minute block of time, so it works well
    • If teachers aren’t going to use technology, it is a disservice to the students.
    • Students think this is ridiculous and rather work at home on their own tools, better tools, etc.
    • Still teachers out there in lecture mode
    • When teachers use technology, the teachers’ role changes, students become part of the teaching/learning process
    • Is it time to understand the communication of text messaging?
      • Didn’t you ever intercept a love letter? Same thing
    • Heard that multitasking was better, have heard since then it is not
    • Maybe we shouldn’t get so up tight about text messaging, they are communicating, writing
      • Ana gave her students a choice of giving them an essay that they can put it in the form of text messaging.
      • Discussion about why this would not be appropriate to be on ISTEP.
      • Student can be multi-lingual, can text message, as well as correct grammar
      • Issues with instant messaging:
        • Mood, tone – students are able to do this
        • Kids would rather text message than call– why?
          • Because it is quick and too the point, doesn’t want to have a lengthy conversation
          • More efficient communication
          • Say what you want with fewest letters
          • Can respond at your leisure – don’t have to answer immediately, may not know the answer immediately
          • Why not use text messaging or other tools for dialog?
          • There are places and times when it is appropriate – other times it is not
    • Chat for tech support – communicate in a little window
    • Voice chat
    • Skype – could be used as a collaborative environment – free till year’s end.
    • Is there a way to create blogs for classrooms?
  • Used to be my way is the only way –best way
  • Accountability is key!
    • Create usernames and passwords, to cover this
  • How can we bring this form of learning in the classroom?
    • We have to teach them to read and write
    • Critically examine an Internet page and redesign it to better communicate its goal–after have a discussion about web design – paragraphing, bold, etc.
    • Writing in the digital age
  • Teacher’s response to make tech a part of class (not students), it’s not about “age”
    • Good teachers keep learning
    • Students rebel against “old” tools,
    • Will do assignment @ home instead of “turning off.”
• Apparent Direction of Movement
• Seems we’re going to a big push to collaboration
  • Collaborative tools – students are already using them
  • Many students wait until they get home to be more efficient and use their own collaborative tools
  • MS 2007 heading towards collaborative
  • Home learning/collaborative learning is behind
    • This does create bigger haves and have nots
      • If they don’t have it at home, they don’t have it at schools either
• Reach masses with the tech tools for relatively same funds (podcasting vs. attending conference – face to face)
• Students starting it younger
  • Niece at 6 sends email everyday –so she is writing everyday
• Students come in so advanced in using the technology
• Having digital materials rather than other types, allows a person to search it, comment on it, highlight texts
  • Look at music on the ipod vs. cd –on an ipod you can search, can put in alpha order vs. on a cd you can touch/look at cover, insert disk to cd player
• Students teaching teachers “how-to” do technology
• Teachers still need to learn
• Natural peer teaching
• Students use trial and error
• They belong to learning communities much of the time
• On their own time, not in school
• They discuss the “how-to” and learn from each other

• What might be done in Indiana?
• Use web as a training/teaching tool (IDoE)
  • Move from non-technology to more efficient use of technology
  • Bring information to the practitioner in a friendlier, more efficient way
  • Make things more accessible
• Use tools like Smartboards (interactive white boards) and Elmos (digital projection of documents)
• Challenge: mesh the standards with the digital age and writing
• Protocol for email – lots of miscommunication in writing an email
• Find ways to bring up writing
• Help teachers understand that writing doesn’t and shouldn’t always look the same
• Use traditional models in non-traditional situations
• Embracing the business world –sharing their experience
• Accept that
  • Writing involves PowerPoint presentation with graphs
  • Writing includes email communication
  • Long writing documents are not as prevalent in the workplace now – being replaced by PowerPoint presentations, graphs and other more concise methods
  • Text messaging is writing
• Teach
  • Need to communicate differently based on the purpose of the writing – a text message has a different purpose and style than other types of communicating
  • Focus on changing of types of writing
  • When it is appropriate and inappropriate to use a specific medium for your communication
  • Text message needs to be quick, other writing needs to be rich
  • Identifying an audience is key in how you communicate
  • Blogging
    • Can be more current than web pages
    • Can be collaboratively posted by many
    • Provides instant access for parents
    • Teachers to overcome the idea that it was very intimidating
  • The teaching of communication is changing
    • Teacher lecture and control fading as teachers increasingly empower students
    • There is so much to learn – need to be more savvy
    • Can’t run from it, even though it is scary
    • Students already have these tools and are using it
    • Students do this at home more efficiently at home with their tools
    • Job of the teacher is to teach when it is appropriate
    • Teaching to write with images, too
    • Teaching with a technology mindset an appreciation of art, books, etc
• How do we instruct and address writing curriculum with the assistance of technology tools?
• Provide instant access for students and parents
• Virtual learning opportunities
• Digital Learning Communities

• Quandaries
• I have the computers in my classroom and can use them everyday. Now what?
• How do we guide them in their work?
  • We aren’t teaching how to use the tools well
  • Students are learning how to use these tools on their own anyway
• Student issues: file lost, computer crashed, daily management, someone deleted their folder
• Text message may be new technology, but students have always written notes, does it increase cheating – don’t think so, always ways to cheat
• We want to encourage collaboration, but we want to remove the tools to do it.
• Teachers complain about being isolated, but can’t text message or sometimes not email.
• Address the issues: have and have-nots (poverty)
  • Let students check out tools to take home
• We still want to present lessons in linear fashion and students aren’t doing this in their life – they think randomly
• Some teachers, parents (and students)rather have the book to read to be able to touch it and feel it –tangible vs. virtual
• It is difficult to keep up with the changing technology, but the students are using all the technology now.
  • How are we going to prepare our students for the “real world” when they have more and are better at using these technology tools now?
• Students are developing their own online learning communities, they are part of the larger technology world – we (schools) aren’t adapting to it as easily
• How do we empower students to learn with technology while maintaining a safe environment?
  

• Resources
• U.S. dept. of education has a forum on virtual learning
  • Online learning- attendance virtually, can count attendance of students learning virtually
• Benefits of Using Technology
• One of the benefit in the classroom is reciprocity - learning from students –learning from each other

• What do students need to know in technology before getting into HS?
• Are we teaching our students to work collaboratively?
• Need to make school meaningful to students’ life
• That digital technology has opened up the world to our students (all of us)

FIRST SESSION SIGNIFICANT ISSUES - PRESENTED

• How do we structure a technological model of teaching and learning?
• How to we bring strong collaboration with these technologies?

SECOND SESSION SIGNIFICANT ISSUES - PRESENTED

• How do we empower students to learn with technology while maintaining a safe environment?
• How do we instruct and address writing curriculum and standards with the assistance of technology tools?

Indiana Writing Summit was sponsored by:
Purdue University and the Corporation for Educational Technology