This is awesome! A great idea to take to the classroom…have students write their own ABCs from their idea of lyrics as poetic composition.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20010

…some poets are recorded.  The brief bios are wonderful with photos (James Wright below).  I certainly want to share these with my students.

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/73

Stumbled onto this site, and thought I would share with you…even provides “valentines” to print/cut out. Just another idea to spread the “love of poetry” with students…help spark ideas and make connections with students.

blessings, my friends…

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16944

Another tool for the box, friends!

I checked out the “What should John do? comic and the literature and poetry section.  Definitely could use this to launch some class discussion.  May be a good place to have students select poems for larger projects–good starting point for student research!

I like this idea…that making options “fun” for people can change behaviors.  How can this “concept” be applied to our ideas for learning, our classrooms, our communities, and lives?  Any ideas out there?

From Mark Poster, “Postmodern virtualities.” In Mike Featherstone and Roger Burrows (eds.), Cyberspace/Cyberbodies/Cyberpunk, PP. 79 – 95. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995.

In reading through the Mark Poster article “Postmodern Virtualities” I had to stop and check the publishing date. 1995! And ye olde prediction of virtualities becoming realities is true! Poster says, “One can imagine that virtual reality devices will become as compelling as the dream videos in Wenders’ film [Until the End of the World, (1991)]. Virtual reality machines should be able to allow the participant to enter imagined worlds with convincing verisimilitude, releasing immense postentials for fantasy, self-discovery and self-construction. When groups of individuals are able to interact in the same virtual space the possiblilities are even more difficult to conceive. …there is every reason to think virtual reality technologies will develop rapidly and will eventually enable participation through the Internet.” (p. 546) Good times!

“Shaping Electronic Communication: The Metastructuring of Technology in the Context of Use,” Wanda J. Orlikowski, JoAnne Yates, Kazuo Okamura and Masayo Fujimoto, Organization Science, Vol. 6, No. 4 (Jul. – Aug., 1995), pp. 423-444, Published by: INFORMS

Out and about I ran across this beauty.  I wish I had more time now to delve deeper into the phychology of technology, reading a series of articles penned by the same author.  On JSTOR this article had many links to others by same authors–of which two are from Cambridge and the other two, Japan.   Traditionally, HOW would I approach my reading and knowledge intake (especially from a non-fictional vantage)?  I investigate the writer–at least read the book cover–absorb the work, reflect, and–especially if I enjoyed my reading–try to put my hands on another work by the same author.  A digital non-native, I am accustomed to gazing spines for my next read.  However, this is a new day.  There is a new way–and by the doing–this treacherous surf!–the scales are falling from my eyes.  Why not apply MY ”investigate the writer” techniques to explore this digital realm?  (why can’t my old-fashioned ways–tried and true–be considered just as worthy?  is it time to abandon my excuses and invest in the process?)

A successful parallel, my discovery, to what Dr. Osborne has modeled in our Media and Digital Literacy class.  By getting friendly with this technology, I am able to apply these new tricks–merge them into my old-dog ways–so they become my own.  In owning the process–discovering the value of these processes–I am vested, interested, and wanting more.  This is education.  What further proof could I require?  I learned something today–and am grateful for the gift.

The article–ok, I will finally get to the article!–intriques me from a phychological standpoint.  Listen to this!  “Various studies have looked at the influence of actors who intervene in some aspects of users’ use of technologies.  For example, some organizational and information systems researchers have suggested that a technological innovation is more likely to success when it is vigorously promoted and endorsed by an influential individual, the technology champion.” (p. 424)  Recognizing the technology experts in our class, Dr. Osborne has paralleled this method of integration into our class.  With the supportive attitudes of experts sitting next to me, I have gained enough confidence to climb over the walls of inexperience and actually feel success by this new-fangled trial and error way of doing things.

One more thought.  Something eery is felt now that I have uncovered for myself what researchers are wisely doing.  Just like historical research through time–actors are used to test human psychology.  Obviously, this is nothing new.  However, this discovery is new to me.  This is an important link in my understanding and application of technology.  And when the a-ha hits you, who won’t agree “it’s all about me?”

Corinne Mantle-Bromley and Ann M. Foster, The English Journal, Vol. 94, No. 5 (May, 2005), pp. 70-74, Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

I agree with the authors on the importance of educating for democracy.  “It may sound dramatic to state so simply, but he future of our nation depends at least in part on the committment of our current language arts teachers toward democracy and social justice.  We must take seriously the responsiblity to educate our nation’s children for their public responsibilities.”  (p. 70)  This article further asserts that “As a society, we fall short of connecting literacy competency with the larger public purpose of schools, with how students will apply their learning to day-to-day habits that support the public good.” (p. 71)

As we find ourselves in this technological era, I believe this concept of connecting literacy competancy to support the public good is extremely critical to exemplify and discuss in the classroom.  It is not only important for students to learn how to communicate appropriately and effectively within our cultures, but to morally consider our roles on the internet and how they can shape our future.

On the Cope and Kalantzis “New Media, New Learning” article–I was struck by the assertion, “If education is to be relevant to the contemporary social needs and personal dispositions, it has to do something different.  Education has to conceive schools as knowledge-producing communities, and create in learners a sense that they themselves are knowledge producers.”  I believe this forward thinking is empowering.  To embrace the new social climate and find purpose as an educator to guide students as responsible “knowledge producers” is a charge to raise awareness of being a responsible citizen.  Here in America, especially among this unpresendented rate of change, I believe it is vital for students to understand the duties and responsibilities of our current role in history.  How the new generation of knowledge producers manage this task–with awareness of opportunity rather than burden–parallels the spirit of our United States.  It is within the high American ideals, freedoms, and belief in the goodness of our democracy that education can draw strength and voice to teach the moral foundations that must be considered.

I am still thinking about the film we viewed in class today.  I could sympathize with all of the characters in some way or another–as if each character was justified for their choices/behaviors.  That may be why I am so bothered by the film–and can’t get it out of my head.  (…considering the many sides to the human story…)