I also use Wiki for students to post their assignments. I will then put comments and the students will go back and edit the assignment. This also seems to be effective. The only thing is that, it is time-consuming for the teacher.
For the higher level students, I decided to let them work on the same collaborative-writing assignment that we did on SocialText. Little did I know the trouble it was going to stir up! As the students wrote their parts, some disagreements arose. It escalated to an online-argument of some sort. I monitored their conversation to be sure that it didn't get out of hand, but it got me thinking about this onine learning thing.
While I agree with Dr. Bonk that e-learning technology does make the world flat and accessible to more people, it also can be dangerous if used without guidance.
In my situation, I think the students' conflict arose from lack of understanding about each other's culture and the difference in maturity level. Of course, personality played another part in the conflict. One of the students eventually came to speak to me and asked if I would intervene. I explained to him that I was monitoring the exchanges, and I would only intervene if it was beyond something the students could handle. I also explained to this particular student about their cultural differences and hence the miscommunication. One good thing that came out of using Wiki is that the students are kept apart when their "argument" took place, instead of being face to face. They were also reacting to words without emotions, which either lessen or fuel the conflict.
So, what does this mean? There are so many cultures on tihs world, with the development of e-learning technology and open coursewares, it is inevitable that more and more people will cross paths. Will there be more conflicts or will people become more culturally awared? Will this also promote flatness of culture? Will we "westernize" and "standardize" other cultures? Is this a good thing?
You bring up quite a few of my own questions and concerns as I attempt to integrate technology into my curriculum. I am worried about the amount of time and effore I will have to put in, and while I am sure the effort would be worth it, I am not sure where I will find the time (I can barely find time to come on here!). I also worry about fighting online--you bring up some excellent points in that it was good that they weren't face to face when this took place, but would the argument have escalated had it been face to face?
ReplyDeleteIt's almost as if one should teach almost a "common courtesy" unit before launching in to technology.
Yes! "Common courtesy" is always missing. Perhaps this needs to be addressed earlier in the children's education, since the children come into contact with the computer so much earlier.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder about communicating online or through text. It seems as if there can be many misunderstandings because it is often hard to determine tone when only communicating in this way. I agree that a lot of misunderstandings can arise and I wonder how to address that.
ReplyDeleteI also am feeling overwhelmed with the amount of time it takes to monitor everything online; although I don't think it takes any more time than it does to grade essays on paper. It is just new and I am trying to manage the new medium! It is interesting and I am glad that the students seem to enjoy writing more!