Interactivity #1 Feedback

Scores for Interactivity #1 are now posted within your Engrade account(s). There is an uploaded file with a score breakdown to see where you may have missed points. Note that the overall class average was very high (84%). If you scored below average, please make sure you review your breakdown to see where you missed points. Feel free to schedule an appointment to come see me if you are unable to discern why you were docked points in any particular area.

The strongest technology autobiographies included detailed examples of how the top 3 technologies influenced specific aspects of their lives for better and for worse. Some of you were able to self-reflect in honest, critical ways to see both the good and the bad. However, many of you are only able to see the benefits of your chosen technologies. Strong autobiographies also adhered to the 750-word limit in a smooth, narrative writing style and included reflection on the content of the "Learning to Change" video. 

You will see from the grade breakdown in Engrade the areas of where everyone lost points (your individual privacy is protected). For some it was not clearly mentioning the video and/or failing to discuss how your stance is similar to and different from those of the young people in the video. Some of you missed points because you went (in some cases) way over the 750-word limit for the blogpost or perhaps did not title the blog post correctly. I also noticed that many of you switched voices in your discussion of technology. Instead of keeping in first person ("I") as an autobiography should do, many of you switched and starting talking about "you" or "society," and that was confusing since an autobiography can only be about you (which, in this case, is "I").

Also, when you craft each blog post, think of your blogspot as a professional portfolio and your audience being a superintendent who is trying to determine whether to call you in for an interview. It is probably therefore not a good idea for posts to be assembled in bullet-pointsYour post should therefore not resemble bullet-points or a class assignment. Each post should be a carefully crafted, concise narrative. As a reminder, blogging criteria are [posted here]

If you review the assignment description for Interactivity #1 with a critical eye, you will discover where you made mistakes. Learn from this first interactivity that assignment details matter. 

Finally, I thought you might find it interesting that the majority of you ranked your cell/smart phone as the number one technology that has influenced you the most up to this point in your life (see graph below). The second most influential technology was pretty evenly split between computer/laptop and cell/smartphone (see 2nd graph below). Third place is shared by cell/smartphone, computer/laptop, and TV (note that somehow cell/smartphone was listed twice, separately).

I was surprised that most of you framed your autobiography with technologies that are present-day, rather than those technologies that you used while growing up. Wouldn't technologies that you used when you were much younger play a larger, more influential role in who you have become as a person up to this point in your life? Does the majority of this group really believe cell phones have made them the person they are today? If so, there is much to be concerned about, on several levels.

If you find any of the aggregate data above or below to be interesting, it may compel you to compose a blogpost for your online participation for this week (or not). 

The Technology That Has Influenced You the Most (Ranked #1) (60 responses)

The 2nd Most Influential Technology in Your Lives (Ranked #2) (60 responses)

The 3rd Most Influential Technology in Your Lives (Ranked #3) (60 responses)

Interactivity #2 (The History of Technology in Schools)

The first interactivity asked you to self-reflect on your own relationship to communications technologies—and how that relationship might be similar to and/or different from those of the young people that you will teach. At this point, you should be more aware of those technologies that have most influenced your own life and also aware of their negative as well as positive influences. You will receive feedback and an Engrade score for Interactivity #1 by this Friday.

Interactivity #2 asks you to look back into history to more deeply reflect on how communications technologies have influenced (for better and worse) the formalized education process through schooling. The purpose for doing this (twentieth-century) historical tour is to more deeply understand the political and economic imperatives that have traditionally surrounded the (non)use of technology in schools, so that we can move forward in rethinking and renewing our educational technology efforts to better meet the current (twentieth-century) needs of students.

In terms of workload for the next two weeks, I am requiring you to view a brief (9-minute) video, chapter two from Rethinking Technology in Schools and a short journal article, A Social History of Media, Technology and Schooling. You will find the links to all three of these texts as well as the assessment criteria on the Interactivity #2 assignment page.

The deadline for this assignment is 11:59pm EST on October 6th.

Have questions? I will be hosting a live chat through Google+ to address any of your questions and concerns on Monday, September 30th at noon. It's an optional session for those who might need clarification or additional assistance. If you can't make it, feel free to email your questions to Michelle or myself. If you prefer a phone appointment or F2F, feel free to schedule an appointment through Deanna at ext 5187.