Final Exam: The Agony and the.... Stuff I Liked

Well, I don't think I have a lot to say here that I haven't already said, but I'll try to sum it up.

Things I liked about the class.....

I'd say three things.....

* One was being forced/helped to actually try out some of this stuff -- the RSS feeds, Del.icio.us, the wikis, blogging, etc. Even though I didn't like all of them, it was good that I was finally made to sit down and go through the steps to try them. So I guess the hands-on part of it is what I'm saying.

* Secondly, it was good (though overwhelming at times) to see all the tools that were available out there, to play around with some of them, and to bookmark them for further exploration.

* And finally, though I already knew about wikis and was sold on the idea in a vague sort of way, it was great to discover, especially on that one site I found, some excellent, specific ideas for how to use them.

The part I didn't like was the 2.0 hype in most of those videos and articles, and the snarky put-downs of any sort of older, pre-2.0 styles of teaching. I think you turn off a whole lot of teachers (especially older veterans like myself) if you imply -- don't just imply but outright say -- that the way they've always taught is crap. There is no one good way to teach. There are many ways to do it well (or badly), and the key, I think, is for teachers to find the way that works best with their personality, while still being effective. For some that will continue be a lecture with a chalkboard, and if that works, then it needs to be okay. Some of the best classes I ever had simply involved teachers talking -- whether because of their erudition, their humor, their passion for the subject, their personality.... even within that one style there were many variations and the reasons they were good were never the same. I would never have wanted to replace those classes with wiki-making and blogging. But I'm sure many other teachers will make wikis and blogs into wonderful, revelatory experiences for their kids -- and I'm sure others will use them in dull or irritating or confusing ways that will not work at all. There is no magic bullet for teaching! It always comes down to the subtle interactions between a teacher and his/her class and between the class members themselves, and that is always going to be true, regardless of whether computers and websites are involved. Yes, we should be learning about what we can do with this new technology, and sure, the kids need to learn to use these tools skillfully and intelligently. But I was really annoyed by the hype, and sometimes personally insulted by the portrayal of other, more "primitive" kinds of teaching.

Least favorite task was probably the RSS feeds, just because I was so frustrated by the way they're organized. But I've griped about that enough already.

Will all this change my teaching? In some ways, yes, if I manage to follow up on it as I hope to do. I don't buy the idea that it's a brand new paradigm which must now supersede everything else I've ever done, and that everything that happens in my class must now be web-based, collaborative, and decentralized. But it certainly gives me some new tools and tricks with which to shake things up a bit.

As for what, specifically, I think I'll do with this next year, I imagine it'll include at least two or three (three or four??) things on this list.....

1. Continuing to work on our class wiki in general, expanding what's on there, and making it a central organizing tool for the class (like Martha and Brian's seems to be).

2. More specifically, continuing to use it for history study guides and such -- doing more with things like Flashcard Friends, Quizlet, etc., and trying out TimeGlider as, possibly, a central frame of reference for the history course, or at least as a tool for kids to use in some individual projects.

3. Also, using the class wiki for all the stuff the kids do for indies -- book and movie reviews, writing about things they've done for community service or things they've built or created -- and as a place for my indies suggestions, links to relevant websites, etc. This feels like a huge undertaking and it's a bit intimidating. I'll probably need a lot of help from Amy and company. But the results could be great. I love doing the indies, but it's always been a huge, disjointed, fragmented part of the class, and kids have never been as aware as I'd like of what other kids are writing about and doing. This could be a way to make it more of a shared experience.

4. Trying out one or more of those wiki ideas that I listed in Task 7 -- the wiki debate, perhaps, or the collections of various things, or the oral history projects.

Overall, despite my frequent frustration and constant whining, I have to admit that I'm glad I did this, and I really hope I can make myself follow up on it in the months to come. Thanks Amy!