One of the problems with the “writing process” in schools now is that the publishing aspect of technology allows for very “poor work” to look like an A+. Some nice fonts here, a few video clips, hyperlinks and eye catching graphics go a long way into fooling people into thinking the work is "good writing". What we are going to look at in this session is how to use technology to ensure that the fundamentals of good writing process/literacy are in place, instead of just giving an "A+" for the “media presentation”. We will use a basic word processor and good teaching strategies, cooperative learning etc. to help make our students better writers - In all areas from science and social studies to language arts.
Spelling and Grammar checking?
It is the pedagogy - HOW WE TEACH - NOT THE TECHNOLOGY that is IMPORTANT
All the technology in the world will not help poor pedagogical practices; in fact the technology amplifies the problem. Ask a high school student who is forced to copy page after page of notes from a SMART board what they think of "the technology".
So lets start ……….write something..............
1. Brief Outline of the Writing Process and Technology -
2. The writing needs to be real. Letters to parents for field trips etc. should all be done by the students. WHO IS DOING THE WORK AND WHO IS DOING THE LEARNING???
3.We have to ensure that the digital material we are using is:
A) Authentic and verifiable - knowing what's what and what's not - The 5 W's and 1 H of Cyberspace
B) We can use it without copyright infringement
C) Google as a research tool???
D) Can use it to find material to use and share.
E) Use Google to search for plagiarism
F) Appropriate for our students - safer searches
G) Canadian Encyclopedia
One of the problems with the “writing process” in schools now is that the publishing aspect of technology allows for very “poor work” to look like an A+. Some nice fonts here, a few video clips, hyperlinks and eye catching graphics go a long way into fooling people into thinking the work is "good writing". What we are going to look at in this session is how to use technology to ensure that the fundamentals of good writing process/literacy are in place, instead of just giving an "A+" for the “media presentation”. We will use a basic word processor and good teaching strategies, cooperative learning etc. to help make our students better writers - In all areas from science and social studies to language arts.
Spelling and Grammar checking?
It is the pedagogy - HOW WE TEACH - NOT THE TECHNOLOGY that is IMPORTANT
All the technology in the world will not help poor pedagogical practices; in fact the technology amplifies the problem. Ask a high school student who is forced to copy page after page of notes from a SMART board what they think of "the technology".
So lets start ……….write something..............1. Brief Outline of the Writing Process and Technology -
2. The writing needs to be real. Letters to parents for field trips etc. should all be done by the students. WHO IS DOING THE WORK AND WHO IS DOING THE LEARNING???
3.We have to ensure that the digital material we are using is:
A) Authentic and verifiable - knowing what's what and what's not - The 5 W's and 1 H of Cyberspace
B) We can use it without copyright infringement
C) Google as a research tool???
D) Can use it to find material to use and share.
E) Use Google to search for plagiarism
F) Appropriate for our students - safer searches
G) Canadian Encyclopedia
3. Tools to help put ides together like Wordle - A word cloud generator
4. Tools to help with vocabulary - Visuwords an Online graphical dictionary