I am Matthew Williams and You are Not

So I have committed the cardinal sin of blogging: I have not updated as often as I would like. As anyone who does this blogging thing knows, once you stop having regular updates...people stop coming. Kind of like website design..if it doesn't work once, most people are not going to give you a second chance. It's tough out there.

But I promise I have a good excuse. School is starting (very) soon, and I have been knee deep preparing for that. But in the midst of all that, thinking about my inability to update every 2-3 days (my goal that I'm sure I won't be able to keep) has led to some ides about blogs and their role in the classroom. I know that many others in the 'blogosphere' are very interested in this, and some very interesting ideas have been floated around. Even on the U of MN host that this blog is brought to you from, there are numerous classes and other instructors who talk about assignments on blogs and so forth. But, once again, a lot of times technology is being used in the wrong place under the wrong circumstances. For instance, yeah it is great to have students post assignments on a blog. But by doing this, you really aren't "blogging." It is no different than a student posting something on WebCT, or...in all honesty, just handing it to you. The only difference is everyone has to go through the hassle of doing all of this online. Really…and I mean this sincerely…why bother?

Continue reading "Blogs in the classroom" »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did you know that in 1901 President Abraham Lincoln was exhumed at the request of his son to prevent would be criminals from digging up the body and holding it for ransom? Further, did you know that on this occasion 20 something people looked into Lincoln's coffin and saw his body, 36 years after John Wilkes Booth shot the 16th president in the back of the head while Lincoln was watching a play? (interestingly, his body was so well embalmed that people claimed he was still "recognizable")

If you're anything like me and learning is not just something you do for a living, but something you live for, Wikipedia is like purified caffeine that you directly inject into your bloodstream. Personally, I can't get enough. One subject will link to another and all of the sudden you've gone from reading about cheese making processes to salt domes and energy policy over the years. There have been more than one occasion where much "important" work was set aside as I pulled one of my all night Wiki binges. (what can I say, some people do drugs and booze...I just look up obscure facts)

As with most things I encounter in life, one of my first reactions is always, "neat! now how do I use this in the classroom?" But instructors beware: Wikis are a wily beast that will truly turn a mirror to your own known or unknown beliefs about education. Wikis can be a powerful learning tool in the classroom, but only if you're prepared to spend the time to really understand what is going on.

Continue reading "Theory into Practice: Wikis as collaborative learning tools" »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ahh, fall time in Minnesota. Fall is truly one of those times where I really get dreamy. The cool breezes in the morning that lift orange and yellow leaves off the ground for short distances while others wait to fall beneath stunningly crisp blue skies. The afternoons where you can lay in soft green grass under partly cloudy skies feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin. The evenings and the inevitable smell of burning leaves mixed with roasted coffee, pumpkin pies, and an occasional whiff of impending rain. And the nights where the sounds of gentle rain fall on soggy leaves creep through cracked windows and somewhere in the distance is an error message that reads something like "WebCT is currently experiencing technical difficulty, please try again" that is followed by an anguished scream.

If you, or someone you love, has used or will be using WebCT, the above scenario is one that you are probably familiar with (in particular, the last part). If the statistics at the U of MN are correct, somewhere around 2,000 classes use WebCT in some form or another. That's a lot of classes. And, I should mention this to you now, for the last two years my own classes have been a part of that number. For my part, I have exposed at least 100+ students to that thing we all call WebCT. Yep. I had students take quizzes over WebCT, submit papers, engage in discussion. And, not to brag, but I'd say my ventures in WebCT-land were moderately successful. There are things I wished had gone better, but for the most part, WebCT did what it was designed to do. And that is why I am never using it again.

Continue reading "The case against WebCT" »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(in the most random presentation possible!)

* Technology should never be used for the sake of using technology.

* There is a philosophy behind every piece of technology. Understand this and make sure it is identical to your preexisting teaching philosophy.

* You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. Similarly, you can build message boards, but you cannot make students participate. In both cases, you have to make them thirsty for the satisfaction of engaging in the activity.

* Never expect that students are digitally literate. It is a skill that must be acquired like anything else.

* Don't expect that students will get this training somewhere else.

* Being able to surf the web and correspond via email does not mean a student is digitally literate (even though even these small tasks are difficult for some faculty)

Continue reading "Manifesto concerning technology in the classroom." »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While eating dinner with a good friend of mine, the discussion turned to RSS feeds and what not. And I got to thinking of how all this relates to the classroom...blogs, podcasts, etc etc etc.

I think right now, this whole blog thing has become the darling of the technoheads. The people that I have seen use these for classes have, more times than not, used them just for the sake of using technology. This is, obviously, a dead end road to some sort of sustainable research development in education.

Its too early (or late...does that make it earlate?) in the morning to really think about this. I had better thoughts earlier. Maybe more will follow on this later.

For now..questions in my mind:

* What relationship should there be between technology usage and teaching philosophy? How can this best be articulated?
* Are there seperate goals and objectives we should be considering when implementing technology in the classroom?
* If so, what are those goals and to what ends are they being met?
* How does all of this relate to the position Universities now occupy in contemporary culture?

More later, tomorrow I'm off to Denver!

Posted by Matthew Williams at 2:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. There is a need to explain why specific things are being taught (e.g., certain commands, functions, operations, etc.)

2. Instruction should be task-oriented instead of memorization -- learning activities should be in the context of common tasks to be performed.

3. Instruction should take into account the wide range of different backgrounds of learners; learning materials and activities should allow for different levels/types of previous experience with computers.

4. Since adults are self-directed, instruction should allow learners to discover things for themselves, providing guidance and help when mistakes are made.

More thoughts...

1. Adults need to be involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.

2. Experience (including mistakes) provides the basis for learning activities.

3. Adults are most interested in learning subjects that have immediate relevance to their job or personal life.

4. Adult learning is problem-centered rather than content-oriented.

From:TIP: Theories

Here's the million dollar question though...at what point are undergrads considered "adults?"

Continue reading "Principles of Andragogy" »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 12:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

(from Mind and Society, p. 57)

"An interpersonal process is transformed into an intrapersonal one. Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applied equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relations between human individuals."

It seems to me that if we are to grant one purpose of creative writing classes to unlock higher order thinking in students, then traditionally we have been going about it completely backwards. The effort in the workshop always goes in at the front end, and the comments we recieve afterward are looked at amusingly but with little weight. The point, traditionally, has been to protect the "autonomy" of the individual creativity.

Continue reading "L.S. Vygotskii and Higher Psychological Functions" »

Posted by Matthew Williams at 2:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The question of "can writing be taught," and "should writing be taught" used to be the two biggest questions in my mind.

But now, as I think more and more about Freire...I wonder...are these questions valid questions to begin with?

The idea that writing will be "taught" to someone implies some sort of transfer of knowledge, not a creation of knowledge.

And the transfer of knowledge involves a power dynamic...a power dynamic that is oppressive in nature. Oppressive because it is built upon the idea that instructors hold the correct, or true version of knowledge and it is their task to implant it into the minds of the students. But this is not asking the students to think for themselves. It is forcing them to rely on the information of others...a learned helplessness if you will. All too often I have heard the phrase "i want to learn what to do when I write..." even from graduate students. What about students thinking for themselves.

and I wonder...

Is that what we really wish to do to our artists?

Perhaps this means the question goes back to the idea that writing cannot be taught, but must be learned. But how?

Posted by Matthew Williams at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Quotes I have found to be poignant in Dewey's Democracy and Education.

p5.

"Individuals do not even compose a social group because they all work for a common end. The parts of a machine work with a maximum of cooperativeness for a common result, but they do not form a community. If, however, they were all cognizant of the common end and all interested in it so that they regulated their specific activity in view of it, then they would form a community."

p6 (cooperative learning vs collaborative)

"It may fairly be said, therefore, that any social arrangement that remains vitally social, or vitally shared, is educative to those who participate in it. Only when it becomes cast in a mold and runs in a routine way does it lose its educative power."

p6 (on the need for collaborative learning)

"In final account, then, not only does social life demand teaching and learning for its own permanence, but the very process of living together educates."

Thought…

Society is defined by education, and not vice versa…especially if education is taken to mean both formal and informal modes of education. However, the goal of formal education is to help inform informal education when and where it happens.

Marx…The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

Me....The educators have only perpetuated the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.

I used to have a professor at UNI when I was there...David Morgan...what a swell guy. Anyway, he was a former member of the communist party, and offered the only marxism class in the philosophy department. I remember really vividly talking about Marx's theses on Freuebach...and David mentioning that whenever he got to the 11th one...chills would run down his spine.

I know what he means now.

The idea that teaching is not political, or is apolitical is naive and shameful. Everything is political. To not bring politics in it is as much as a political decision as to bring politics into it. Just like deciding to not decide is a decision as well.

So let's get on with it. Instead of a passive system of pedagogy, lets activate it.

Posted by Matthew Williams at 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)