Journals and Technology

Today's inquiry mapping brought me back to my original thoughts on the question of technology. Is technology a positive or negative social force in our society? As I started my inquiry and prepared for my demo, I tended to lean a bit on the side of technology devastating our social structure. Yet, as I recounted some of my experiences in SI, I hopped back on that fence of indecision.

Technology has contributed to much of my positive learning in SI. For example, the collaboration with my writing project via twitter and google docs helped me to discover new articles to include in my group folders for the demo! This made me reconsider how social media can be used positively with the right purpose. Our blogs and google docs provide a unique opportunity for us to receive positive, documented feedback that we can immediately reference. But this discovery also led me to another question: Would these social media tools have been as effective if the course was only online?

The physical daily meetings allowed us to work within a small group frequently. We learned one another's strengths and personalities so the online media seemed to be an extension of this collaboration. But what about more isolated collaboration?

During our group discussion after my demo, many people explored the idea of social media connecting the disadvantaged. Lil pointed out that her mother, who is in her 90s, would not normally be able to go outside of the house and see her friends. However, because both she and her friends are connected through social media they can still keep up with each other in their own homes! This example made my perspective shift a little because I had not considered that social media could be helping to link the elderly, sick, or geographically isolated. So much of the focus is placed on the negative aspects of social media that we forget about the positive interactions that come as a result of technology!

As I plan a unit to use in my classroom with this idea of technology in mind, I'm amazed at how many questions I still have about this topic. I think that rather than be the final word on the positive and negative nature of technology, I'm going to let my students know that the questions I ask them are questions I don't have an answer for. One powerful way to initiate this discussion would be using Tiffany's lesson on journaling.

As I started my preparation for my demo, I had a list of probably ten unanswered questions that I had about my topic. I found that the more I inquire into this topic, the more people's opinions generate new questions for me! My list is growing and not shrinking! Tiffany's idea of allowing students to journal all day on powerful prompts seems like the perfect way to start the unit. I want students to reflect on their own thoughts before they start that groupthink mentality on technology. I believe that if I present these provocative questions about technology and give them a whole day to write about this concept and then share, that it will begin the conceptual thinking that I want to see in my classroom. I found that a lot times when students learn that they will have some sort of formal topic to investigate, they just shut down. I think that if I make students feel like they already bring ideas to the table, it will encourage them to ask their own questions about the role of technology in our society. I would like to switch my teaching to a more inquiry-based approach that the typical argumentative writing stance. And I believe that journals would give students a voice in the classroom and help them realize that it is ok to explore and wonder and that I do value their opinions.