Elizabeth's English 3241 Blog

PicLits, Scratch, and Voki all have educational potential. They’re very different from one another, but all could be used in the classroom to enhance material.

For instance, PicLits definitely sparks creativity. It hands you the picture and you can choose from a list of words or type in your own. You can be as specific or generic as you want. All of the pictures are clearly chosen to spark thought. I think this would be a great to tie in with a book or a vocabulary assignment.

Scratch was probably my least favorite. The games and everything were slightly confusing because they didn’t exactly have instructions. It is defintely broad and could be used for either personal enjoyment or educational gain. Students would probably enjoy this site more just because it’s really interactive and doesn’t really feel like your typical educational website.

Voki was cool because it immediately reminded me of all the things we’re warned against in school. Online teaching personas are just as important in today’s classroom as your physical self. I could see Voki being used in place of a picture. It’s far less personal. You do get to choose what the avatar looks like as well as record your own voice, so there is a little bit of room for creativity.

Today in class Dr. Crovitz gave us some links to explore different programs online that we could use in our classroom. We were asked to explore them as well as decide on their usability for class.

My personal favorite was the site that featured word clouds. Ashley suggested that we could use them for vocabulary assignments. I loved the idea, but I also think that presenting the assignment in a visually pleasing way would be a great way to present it. Getting beyond the ordinary is something that I really want to do for my class.

The museum boxes were pretty cool and I can see their usage for things like an alternative book report or maybe a presentation on the history of a novel. I’m really glad I found about these two sites just because I see a clear way to incorporate them into my lesson plans.

As far as the other sites were concerned, they were interesting and have their uses, but the two previously discussed seemed a little easier to use.

In Dr. Crovitz’s article, an in depth look was taken upon both Slim Jim and Doritos in order to explore the relevancy between their websites and appealing to teens. I loved how the article encouraged us to think about how nothing is there by accident and to what lengths advertising campaigns will go to appeal to target audience. Both products addressed are products that I personally eat, and yet have never taken the time to visit their website. In a much more technology advanced world, however, marketers would sincerely have to address the internet just as much as television and radio ads. The attempted connection between the companies and teens in not necessarily an accurate one.  These sites use “hip” lingo as well as images that they believe will appeal to a teenager as “cool”. While both “hip” and “cool” vary depending on what teenager you are talking to, the attempt is still clear and probably successful considering these are billion dollar industries.

Sarah, Ashley and I created a blog for this project. Check it out here.

I chose to visit Barbie’s website because the doll has been a staple in young girl’s lives for generations. Mothers buy them for their daughters, much like their mothers did for them. The website, however, clearly is aimed for young girls and not towards their parents. The site is completely pink with various links to other games and products, all designed for young girls. Their is a section designed for adults who still choose to collect the iconic doll. Little girls see the site as a place to create. Parents probably view this site as safe, with interactive games to hold the child’s interest. You can shop for the dolls, yet the prices are not clearly displayed. Barbie holds many jobs and has material things that many people don’t, such as mansions and convertibles. It’s as if regardless of a child’s social status she can achieve a  higher class by owning all the things that make Barbie so “successful”.

Wikipedia is an interesting resource because as “wiki” implies, it’s quick. Wikipedia has a ton of information at your fingertips and it’s very easy to look something up on such a well known website.

I appreciate that the falsities of Wikipedia are acknowledged in this chapter. According to the texts, truth is strived for, although it cannot always be accomplished. Let’s face it, there’s always going to be someone who decides they will alter information. It’s a fact of life. Sidenote: Has anyone seen the episode of Colbert Report where he changes Wikipedia? It’s actually quite relevant. In fact, I’m going to put it on here.

Wikipedia is interesting in the realm of classroom use because it’s people interacting with one another. It’s not a group of experts editing every single entry but rather every day people supplying what they know.

I don’t think I would suggest Wikipedia as a resource for a research paper in my class, but as far as looking up needed-to-know information quickly, it’s definitely a useful resource.

I decided to alter Wikipedia’s page on Ringgold, Georgia. This is my hometown, so it seemed fitting. I altered a few comma splices as well as some misspellings.

Sarah and I basically just flipped open the Encyclopedia Americana and discovered Guy de Maupassant. According to the text, he is famous for “revolutionizing” the short-story, so you would think as English majors we would have heard of him. Yeah, not so much.

To take our studies further, we looked him up on Wikipedia. While most of the general information is the same, under discussions we discovered that apparently Maupassant had a taste for sexual encounters and enjoyed a rather large appendage. Yeah, not so appropriate for the classroom, but I’m merely reporting my findings here. Also, he was interested in Syphilis and sought after women who had the disease. Flaubert, his mentor, apparently didn’t believe Maupassant’s sexual conquests so Maupassant hired someone to follow him around and detail his encounters to send back to Flaubert as proof. My, how times have changed.

According to Britannica, Maupassant knew Flaubert through his mother. This information isn’t really presented anywhere else. If you can manage your way through the extremely obnoxious pop-ups, I’m sure there’s more for us to learn.

Wikipedia’s entry was certainly the most entertaining, but also most likely the more incorrect source of information on the topic.

In light of Courtney’s impending nuptuials, I decided to post this very strange proposal on here. My boyfriend showed it to me and I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

It is amazing how much the world has changed as a result of the Internet. From being able to correct newspapers to blogging about occurrences in all areas of the world, the Internet has allowed people to truly become a part of media. We can create our own videos, post our own thoughts, and respond to people across the world.

Richardson is correct in his belief that with such a powerful tool on our hands, it naturally needs to become a part of our curriculum. Students today spend a great deal of time on the Internet and it is only natural to use this as a tool. Finding ways to incorporate the Internet into our classrooms is something that today’s teachers are certainly faced with.

Dealing with Chapter 2 and the discussion of Web logs, I feel that it is a wonderful tool that if used responsibly can enhance a student’s learning experience. For instance, teachers could post assignments on line, thus using less paper as well as giving students access to the homework with the click of a mouse. Most colleges today use the Internet extensively. Incorporating it into our high school curriculum is a good way to begin to prepare students for their college experience.