Entry #4

After letting the Hicks readings (Chapters 2, 3 and 7 )sink in over the past few days, I have really started to notice connections to RSS and blogging that I never had before. Just through my daily internet browsing I have been noticing links at the bottoms of pages that connect to an RSS. It is always kind of fun to see connections to new things that you learn, especially because I never knew what an RSS was before so I probably would have just ignored it if I saw a site linking me to one. Now that I have one I have been playing around with it a little and I plan on continuing to experiment with how to use it. My observation above made me realize that a lot of times teachers just do not know what technology is available out there. It is not because they are incapable of using it, but that they just are unaware. This really makes me see the importance of keeping myself updated with new technology, especially when I am no longer a student.

Some other features of RSS and social bookmarking that I found interesting and useful are having one "go to" spot where everything is located rather than checking individual sites constantly. I think this would be very helpful for students who are keeping track of multiple sources for a project. I like how teachers can tag articles and websites for students to access immediately at the beginning of class or just because they are interested in them. This really makes us realize how our world is becoming more closed in because of the availability of a vast amount of sources at the drop of a hat. RSS would also be a great tool to use for collaborative projects so students can easily access the sources their peers are viewing and sort through sources more quickly. It is so convenient that these technologies create what Hicks (2009) calls "a digital trail." I wish I had known about some of these tools when I was in high school!

I am more familiar with blogs and wikis, but I see how beneficial they are for the writing process now. I like how they make comments and feedback more permanent so they can be referred to at a later time. This also allows for more thought to be put into follow up comments/feedback, whether it is from the teacher or peers. Hunt also points out that "There's nothing new about making text to text connections, but there's sure something powerful in the representation of those links as semi-tangible things" (as cited in Hicks, 2009, p. 35). Posting a link on a blog makes information way more accessible than before because all we have to do is click a link. On that link there is not only text, but images, videos, audio and sometimes other links. This allows us to become more multimodal than ever before, which helps us to deepen our understanding further. I also think that by leaving public comments, even if it is just public to a class, is similar to sharing time. By leaving a comment you are sharing your views with your classmates and eventually this brings the class closer together and allows everyone to participate equally.

Hicks (2009) makes a valuable point about how technology changes the prewriting and revision processes, which are often the hardest phases to get through. The struggles of prewriting are eased by the availability of information based on students interests. It is now much easier to discover interests and learn more about them through the use of an RSS. Revision is also made much easier by technological features like highlighting and the ease of moving text around. Collaborative word processors (like Google Docs) make it possible to keep records of every revision so you don't have to worry about losing it if you want to refer back to a certain portion of your writing. In addition, files can be viewed using any computer with the internet, which makes writing a lot more convenient.

I found it intriguing that Hicks (2009) mentions using audio recordings instead of written feedback on students' writing. At first, I was not sure how I felt about this. From the teacher's standpoint, I can see how it would save time, but the teacher would have to be very careful not to offend their students. I think it might be a little strange to give or receive an audio comment, but after a couple of times I think we could get used to it, just like we can get used to anything else. As long as the comment is permanent for the student to refer back to, then I say why not use this technology! I have used Audacity before to create a podcast and it is really easy once you do it once or twice.

A theme that I have been noticing in Hicks as well as other texts that we have read is that the idea of new literacies is actually not so new. We have also talked about this in class, but I think I had a hard time wrapping my brain around it. Hicks (2009) says "it is simply using a traditional pedagogy (teacher-led discussion) with a new technology" (p. 16). At first, I thought Hicks was implying that the technology was not new, but I am now beginning to see how he means the technology is what is new, but the instructional practices are the same ones that good teachers have used for years. The technology just presents instruction in a new format, which can be extremely beneficial during the writing process. We saw this when we watched Mrs. Cassidy's classroom video to a teacher in Australia, which was similar to the genre of letter writing just presented in a different way than the traditional pen and paper format. We need to utilize these new technologies if we want our students to become well-equipped to enter today's globalized world.