[Teaching_Composition] Facebook, Social Software, and Valuing Technology
Tim Gustafson
teaching_composition@mailman.eppg.com
Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:16:55 -0600
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I think I'll make one more attempt at this thread, but broaden it a
bit. A wiki is a form of "social software." Although our students
may be getting acquainted with the Wikipedia, it seems more likely
that they're better acquainted with another form of social software:
Social networking via facebook.com
The Jan. 27th issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education contains an
article entitled "Facing the Facebook." The Chronicle has provided
the following link for password-free access to Teaching-Composition
list members:
http://chronicle.com/jobs/2006/01/2006012301c.htm
I'll summarize a couple of points.
The article suggests that many of the students in our classes use
Facebook regularly, and that Facebook ranks ninth in overall Internet
traffic.
A couple of initial questions:
Has anyone polled their students to find out how many use Facebook?
How many of us know much about it? (I had known of its existence, but
I've never "faced it")
Another point of the piece is that students tend to value new
technologies for their entertainment and communication value, rather
than their educational value. That's fairly obvious, but we might
easily forget its implications for our adoption of educational
technologies.
So, some final questions: What might it mean for our use of
technologies (wiki or otherwise) if we foreground the fact that we're
trying to alter not only how student writers use computer
technologies, but how they value them? On the other hand, can
writing teachers gain from recognizing (and enlisting) the
entertainment value of technology? Should we be (more) playful?
Tim
--
Tim Gustafson
Associate Director, Composition Program
Department of English
University of Minnesota
227 Lind Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-625-0731 FAX 612-626-2294
http://composition.cla.umn.edu/
"How can I know what I think until I see what I say?"
E. M. Forster
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<div>I think I'll make one more attempt at this thread, but broaden it
a bit. A wiki is a form of "social software." Although
our students may be getting acquainted with the Wikipedia, it seems
more likely that they're better acquainted with another form of social
software: Social networking via facebook.com</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Jan. 27th issue of the<i> Chronicle of Higher Education</i>
contains an article entitled "Facing the Facebook." The
Chronicle has provided the following link for password-free access to
Teaching-Composition list members:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> http://chronicle.com/jobs/2006/01/2006012301c.htm</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I'll summarize a couple of points.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The article suggests that many of the students in our classes use
Facebook regularly, and that Facebook ranks ninth in overall Internet
traffic.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A couple of initial questions:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Has anyone polled their students to find out how many use
Facebook? How many of us know much about it? (I had known of its
existence, but I've never "faced it")</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Another point of the piece is that students tend to value new
technologies for their entertainment and communication value, rather
than their educational value. That's fairly obvious, but we
might easily forget its implications for our adoption of educational
technologies.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>So, some final questions: What might it mean for our use of
technologies (wiki or otherwise) if we foreground the fact that we're
trying to alter not only how student writers use computer
technologies, but how they value them? On the other hand, can
writing teachers gain from recognizing (and enlisting) the
entertainment value of technology? Should we be (more)
playful?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Tim</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>--<br>
Tim Gustafson<x-tab>
</x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab><br>
Associate Director, Composition Program<br>
Department of English<br>
University of Minnesota<br>
227 Lind Hall, Minneapolis, MN 55455<br>
612-625-0731 FAX 612-626-2294<br>
<br>
http://composition.cla.umn.edu/<br>
<br>
"How can I know what I think until I see what I say?"<br>
E. M. Forster<br>
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