Are we on the right track?
Teaching this semester has really enlightened me (and sometimes scared me) with regards to how we’re trying to implement technology to enhance the student experience. I’ve run my students through blogs, RSS, podcasts, virtual teaming, and now Second Life. I also had Cole in yesterday for a good talk on the perspective he and his organization is coming at all this stuff.
I’m working on a survey for the final day of class to allow my students to rank my assignments from most favorite to least favorite. I’m curious to see how that turns out. In the meantime, this is what I’ve found (and what really has me thinking critically about how we, in academia, are approaching this stuff).
Let’s start with blogs. Cole posted a nice figure regarding the use of the blog software here at PSU this semester:
Looks good, right? But it got me thinking…what defines an ‘active author’? How many of these are student blogs? How many of these are student blogs NOT related to a class? How many are voluntary posts vs. mandatory posts from an instructor (like I forced my kids to post)? My class probably accounts for ~300-400 posts, and I personally account for 100 posts + comments. So of the ~5,300 entries, I can account for 10%.
All forced by me as an instructor.
I asked yesterday during Cole’s talk “how many have posted something to the blog after our blog module was complete?”. Nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting on my pessimist’ hat claiming this is all BS and not worth pursuing. It’s just something that has me thinking…is this the right place to put our efforts?
Same thing with Second Life. I just finished grading 45 Second Life analysis documents where students had to explore SL and compare two organizations. What’s interesting, frustrating, cool, innovative, etc. I’m part of the SL hype machine and have given many talks about why this is an interesting and valuable tool that can enhance teaching and learning. Have a look at some my students’ reactions:
“I would like to preface this analysis with the fact that I feel that Second Life is without a doubt the buggiest interface I have ever used. The avatars fall through the floor, textures disappear (after they take 30 seconds to load) the geometries get screwed up, navigation in the world is awkward, the list goes on and on. With that being said, why any company would invest any sum of money in this stupid world, is beyond me. Second Life seems to me like nothing more than a weird little place to mess around in with your friends.”
“The reason for the space is to advertise IBM, and why would anybody voluntarily go to an ad?”
“Not enough here to hold my interest, I need goals and objectives”
“I, personally, do not enjoy flying aimlessly into a ceiling, unable to control my character for at least seven minutes, but then again, what do I know?”
“All in all, my trips to these two spaces reinforced my overall thoughts about second life: there isn’t much of a purpose for it.”
“Dell’s space, as well as SL as a whole, seems to provide something which is already available on the internet, over the phone, or through other communication tools. For instance, I found it very time consuming to find Dell’s factory, read about how to order, sit down, order/customize a computer, and then eventually be taken to their online website in a web-browser. I could have accomplished the same thing in half the time by going directly to www.dell.com.”
My class consists of primarily Information Sciences and Technology freshman. I’m trying to teach them to look critically at the ecology of people, information and technology. I think they’re doing a fantastic job so far, but they really have me thinking…are we on the right track?
I think we are, but maybe we just aren’t going about it the right way? I do have a junior and senior in my class who seem to appreciate what I’m trying to do conceptually. Even they tell me “this is interesting stuff, but I’d never use any of it”. I continue to push forward with everything, and I told my students when they are seniors or starting out in the workforce I want them to look back and say “Ah ha! Bart was right about all this stuff, I’m glad I already have the foundation so now I can jump right in.”
I had a faculty member tell me just the other day, “the problem with education is we treat students as consumers instead of students.” Perhaps, he was right in a way. I undertand wanting to know what students liked, didn’t like, etc, but is that what we should be focusing on? How were the results of the class? Did they do well?
Good post … exposes what I spend a whole lot of time worrying about — if we build it will they come? I am nervous that the blog as a blog in higher education is sort of a non-starter … they will publish, but it will be in spaces they like. What I am encouraged by are the efforts to reframe the blog as a personal content management environment. A space where students, if guided appropriately, could learn to use as a personal repository for long term reflection. I am not impressed with student blogs as class assignments, what I am hoping for is a tipping point moment when we get enough faculty talking to students about the importance of using the blog environments for tracking intellectual development. If we get there I will be happy.
BTW, I enjoyed your students quite a bit. Smart and engaged. You are obviously doing a good job with them. Thanks for having me!
Poole > the students are doing great. I’m working up another post to follow this one that kind of counters a lot of comments my students make about educational technology. The more I think about this stuff, the more interesting it is.
Cole > I see the blogs in a similar light (especially after writing here for years, this has become a kind of CMS for me). I’m uncertain when the best time would be to get the CMS/intellectual development piece into the students’ brains. I talk about CMS systems, with ANGEL as an example, a lot in class. Some kids seem to get it, some don’t. It seem to me…sometime near the middle of the sophomore year would be the ideal time to hit students hard with this stuff. From an educator’s standpoint, it’s at the freshman level, but these students have sooooo much new stuff going on around them their first year, it seems like the last thing they want to think about are blogs as portfolios, second life, etc.
Great post, Bart! Lots of thoughts provoked.
Cole, you said a blog could be “A space where students, if guided appropriately, could learn to use as a personal repository for long term reflection.”
Why does it need to be published then? I still can’t shake the idea of a blog is to communicate with others… to put an idea out there, and see what other people think…. just like Bart’s blog here.
Maybe the problem is that students are not ready to wear their education on their sleeve in a public forum. Bart and I we’re talking about how hard it is for some students to show any enthusiasm for a topic in person. What does that say for the possiblity of them feeling the need to publicly express their enthusiasm through the written word on a blog?
Could this is a generational thing, or maybe a by-product of the university system?