The freeform writing style of social networks like Twitter and Facebook is changing the way people communicate, and causing students to fail English. That’s the claim of a piece out this afternoon from the Canadian Press. According to the article “(at) Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, one in 10 new students are not qualified to take the mandatory writing courses required for graduation.”
Research such as this always leads me back to questions about Information Literacy and student preparedness. As technology continues to become more powerful, available and easy to use, the importance of guidance for navigating the digital world becomes elevated.
Since it is unlikely that students will simply decide not to participate in online communities moving forward, are any steps being taken to change the way writing courses are taught?
Click through this fascinating presentation on technology and education by Rodd Lucier. (@thecleversheep) Thanks to @courosa for bringing it to my attention.
With the current structure of education, there are significant hurdles preventing educators and students from capitalizing on the convergence technology is capable of providing. How students learn is evolving to include new media, while teaching methodologies are slow to adjust.
This presentation calls for change, but not for change’s sake, rather, because the possibilities of impacting millions of learners around the world are limitless.
Google argues that its new Google Wave system could replace e-mail by blending instant messaging, wikis, and image and document sharing into one seamless communication interface. But some college professors and administrators are more excited about Wave’s potential to be a course-management-system killer.
“Just from the initial look I think it will have all the features (and then some) for an all-in-one software platform for the classroom and beyond,” wrote Steve Bragaw, a professor of American politics at Sweet Briar College, on his blog last week.
Mr. Bragaw admits he hasn’t used Google Wave himself — so far the company has only granted about 100,000 beta testers access to the system. Each of those users is allowed to invite about eight friends (who can each invite eight more), so the party is slowly growing louder while many are left outside waiting behind a virtual velvet rope. But Google has posted an hour-long video demonstration of the system that drew quite a buzz when it was unveiled in May. That has sparked speculation of how Wave might be used.
More hype for a product that hasn’t been made publicly available yet. It amazes me that conjecture on the potential of how a product might be used, theroretically, is enough to promote it as a game changer.
I’m not arguing that Google Wave doesn’t have that potential, it very well may. I have yet to receive an invitation, and as a result, I am in no position to make claims about its potential.
From my experience working with Faculty on online course development, as well as with technology for its purposeful uses in the classroom and for hybrid and online learning, it seems to me that this is a few years off. Strategies for best practices, management, support, training and then managing the culture shift for faculty and students alike will need to be planned, piloted and investigated before we dub Google Wave a “Course Management System” killer.
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Taoist Thought
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
