Most of the grad. students in English aim to be or are teachers at the secondary or post-secondary levels. This class introduces them to pedagogical theories and the associated practices, as well as taking up contemporary issues of particular concern. One of these latter has consistently been teaching with and about technology. By the end of class, students will have created a teaching portfolio that includes a statement of teaching philosophy, a sample syllabus, several sample assignments, and a technology project to be used in that class.
Here are some examples of projects my students did during fall 2008:
- Nathan Erro and Aiden Endsley website for Essay Skills for Language and Dialect — an ESL class
- Brandon Schute and Lindsay Laney video on revision
- Faye Snowden website demonstrating using “construction sites” in the creative writing classroom
Many of these students did not have so much experience with technology, or even if they did, had none trying to integrate it with teaching. In working on these projects they had to figure out how available tools might enhance teaching, and also, based on their own experience with the tools, determine how approriate it might be to have students use them as well. The above students did particularly well and also posted their projects publicly, without including student work, so that others can look at what they created. Along with what you see online, they wrote assesments of the actual tools they used and of the level of difficulty they encountered.
Another of my students, Matt Moberly, from an earlier section of the class has continued to use tech in his teaching, including a blog.
And Kathy Rowley has explored using text messaging with her class in order to offer on the spot feedback.