I was intrigued by the podcast by Liz Kolb, author of blog From Toy to Took: Cellphones in Learning. One of the most intriguing things was how the teacher Katie, admitted how she would do things differently to make the incorporation of the technology into an assignment more thoughtful by having students script the comments out beforehand such as in a podcast.
I have this issue now in our classroom that we often post assignments on our wiki for the kids to respond to. We usually post guidelines and guiding questions to answer ie such as make 2 comments where one is your own and one is a reply to a classmate; we always state that they should be attending to grammar, punctuation, etc. But I can honestly say, that they are challenged, most of them to form sentences, thoughts, even online in a 6th grade classroom. I had one student, that I worked w/one to one this past week where I spent 1 hour with her posting 2 responses to the wiki and finishing her google doc entry to a math reference guide and posting 2 responses to other classmates entries. These assignments should have taken about 1/2 hr or less.
I have also seen the student whose computer doesn't work, or couldn't do the downloads due to speed limitations and some say that they posted it but only posting one comment not the required 2-3 comments. Sometimes kids think because it is technology based response, they take it less seriously than a written response or oral presentation.
I did enjoy Katie's description of a type of curriculum drama with the Romeo & Juliet unit via cellphones, as Shakespeare can be difficult to comprehend, relate to, etc. for kids and making an oral advice letter to Romeo via cellphone puts a modern day spin on the play which might help children engage with the story more effectively. I also think we need to mix it up in ELA for kids that are challenged in writing and feel overwhelmed by that process at times. These kids may have better oral expression skills that can help them engage with literature.
As a parent to a 5th grader who is one of the last holdouts in owning/having a cellphone, I do have concerns about having an assignment like this as mandatory. My daughter gets picked on enough about not having a cellphone of her own and economically, thinking around the US, we can't expect that kids owning cellphones is typical in every community.
Here is a copy of a typical wiki assignment for a read aloud unit that I recently completed.
Sorry, some of the formatting got lost and the kids comments don't come through!
bankstreet405: Bird Assignment 5a
In Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, there were two songs that are mentioned in the book. Obey the Spirit of the Lord is the song the True Vine Baptist Church sings for Easter at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans.
There is a more simplistic clip to the song below and a U-tube video of a choir singing it that is more in Hibernia's words "deep fried and jazzified".
Harlem Congo is the song she will sing for the Brown Bomber Box Campaign. It is also the song she cleans and dances to in the chapter we read aloud today. The instrumental version of the Harlem Congo below is by Chic Webb and has no vocals.
Listen to the songs and view the U-tube videos. Post at least 2 comments (1 for the Harlem Congo & 1 for Obey the Spirit of the Lord) reflecting on the songs below. Reflect upon how the songs are different and/or similar to each other and what you imagined in the story.
DUE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20th
Harlem Congo Clip:
http://www.last.fm/music/Chick+Webb/_/Harlem+Congo (30secs - just click the preview this track button)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc1oJsRjTgQ (3mins)
Obey the Spirit of the Lord:
http://listeninglab.stantons.com/title/obey-the-spirit-of-the-lord/356256/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSPwssKZ 75Q
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