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I have managed to distribute a couple of surveys to my students with the hope of acquiring information about the cultural background of my students.  I initially sent out a short survey to determine cultural origin, date of immigration to Canada, and reasons for immigrating to Canada.   Although the survey contained useful information, I realized that I would require more information to carry out my plans for the field study.  I distributed a more complete survey which asked students to share their thoughts about their own culture and whether or not they felt it was important to learn about their and other cultures at school.  I also asked the students to share whether or not they would be more understanding of other cultures if they learned about them.   The students were asked  to identify the source from which they learn most about their and other cultures.  At the conclusion of the survey the students listed any questions they had about different cultures and they also provided ideas of what people from different cultures can do to understand each other better.

With this data collected and reviewed, I had a much clearer idea of how I would proceed to change my practice as an educator and what I could do to raise awareness of cultural diversity.  This is all a work in progress and is tied into the Social Studies unit on Immigration to Canada.  I post questions on the the class blog to gain an understanding of what students are thinking/learning.  The goal is to have students realize that Canada is a nation which has been built through immigration, many immigrants have come to Canada for similar reasons, many different cultural groups have made a contribution to Canadian society, and the fact that Canada can be considered a role model for other countries with diverse populations.

Stay Tuned….

The ability to communicate through writing is an important skill to be possess as it allows for individuals to express their opinions to the public and also allows people to advocate for themselves or an idea. As an educator, it is important to develop teaching strategies which allow students to develop their writing skills to the fullest potential. Traditionally, students have developed their writing skills through paper and pen activities. These traditional methods of teaching writing included an emphasis on grammar and spelling. During the past generation computers have played an increasingly important role in the writing process. As most word processors have grammar and spell check built into the software, these aspects of writing may not develop the way they would with the traditional approach. However, some people believe that using computers to support writing includes many benefits which are not present with the traditional approach. This paper will highlight some key benefits of using computers to develop writing skills and then look at the flip side of the argument. It will be concluded with my personal thoughts about this topic.

Goldberg, Russell & Cook (2002) did a meta-analysis of studies conducted over a ten year period to determine the effects of computers on writing. Their findings suggest that students who write with word processors produce higher quality passages then students who write with paper and pencil. They report that student motivation, engagement and independence increase when students write with computers. Goldberg et al (2002) also state that writing with computers usually translates into more student to student interactions as opposed to teacher to student interactions. This is extremely important as there are tremendous benefits when students are at the center of their own learning. The teacher role shifted when comparing writing activities on pen/paper and computer. In the classroom, the teacher acted as an activity leader. In the computer room, the teacher played more of a role of facilitator and proof reader. This shows that students seemed to play a greater role in their own learning when using computers to write. Many people would agree that an experience that puts the learner at the center is more powerful than one which expects that child to follow the teacher.

It was quite difficult to find an argument which was the polar opposite of the one presented above. However, there was the odd critic who tried to support the paper and pen method of writing. One such article (without a listed author) was found on a Family Education website. This article stressed that developing the skills associated with writing are as equally important as the skills associated with typing on a keyboard. The author stopped short of saying that computers improve the quality of children’s writing by stating that no technological tool can ever replace the creative mental juggling that comes with the task of writing. However, the author did acknowledge that computers give writers more options and thereby making the experience more adventurous. A final argument of this unknown author is the importance of mastering basic spelling skills. Relying on spell checkers may cause the development of very weak spelling skills. Also, the author argues that spell checkers miss many errors due to the context in which the word is written. The following poem is an example of spell check gone wrong:

An Owed to the Spelling Checker
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks eye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it’s weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl styles two reed,
And aides me when aye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker poured o’er every word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
Be fore a veiling checkers,
Hour spelling mite decline.
And if were lacks or have a laps,
We would be maid to wine.
Butt now bee cause my spelling
Is checked with such grate flare,
Their are know faults with in my cite,
Of nun eye am a wear.

As we move forward into the future, technology will continue to play an important role in the lives of individuals. Learning in our schools should encompass the changing times and capitalize on the variety of technological learning experiences available for students to develop their writing skills. Blogging can even get the most reluctant writers “out of their shell”. The use of computers to develop writing should be integrated into the curriculum so that students are exposed to a variety of methods which humans use to communicate from a local to global level.

References

Goldberg, Arnie, Michael Russell & Abigail Cook. (2003). The Effect of Computers on Student Writing: A Meta-Analysis of Studies from 1992 to 2002. The Journal of Technology, Learning & Assessment, Vol.2(1), pgs. 2-20.

This article included a look at many studies conducted over a ten year period. The studies were conducted to see if computers help students develop writing skills. The authors conclude that students who use computers when learning to write are not only more engaged and motivated in their writing, but they produce written work that is of greater length and higher quality. This article was very useful as it highlighted many of the benefits of computers to develop written output.

Five Myths About Kids Writing With Computers. Retrieved: June 30, 2008 from http://school.familyeducation.com/computers/educational-technology/30197.html

This article looked at some “myths” surrounding the topic of kids writing with computers. This article was somewhat useful and did not represent the exact opposite arguments as the resource which supported computers to write. However, it did provide some insight by discussing some important things not to overlook when implementing teaching strategies to develop writing skills.

I have thought about conducting a field study around the following questions:

1) How can students be helped to understand/interpret data represented in graphic form?

2) How to improve/increase written output and quality of writing of male students?

Is the resource you chose and the educational issue of importance that everyone in class should read about?

Apart from the 30 pages of references, appendices and graphs at the end of the article, I strongly feel that authors address a very important aspect of instruction and how it relates to written output. In an educational context, I feel that writing skills acquired during the schooling years are an essential skill which may determine whether students are able to get through high school and move on to post-secondary education. Furthermore, writing allows individuals to express their opinions to the public and also allows people to advocate for themselves or an idea. As educators, we must develop teaching strategies which will allow students to get the most out of the writing process. There are positives to writing with pen/paper as well as writing with computers. I would like to explore this topic to expand my horizons with a hope of developing a teaching plan which will optimize the development of writing skills of my students.

What are your views about this issue? Do you agree or disagree with the author?

After reading the article, I did agree with most of the points that the authors made. Their stance strongly supported the use of computers to develop writing skills. Even though I did agree with the points, I feel that I need to look at the other side of the coin to determine the benefits of traditional pen/paper writing activities before I take a stance on this topic. I am certain that each method has its benefits. At the same time, I feel that the role of the teacher in each setting changes. In the computer lab, I feel that the students are more independent and are not as reliant on the teacher as a leader/instructor/director etc. This puts students at the center of their own learning and much research/theory supports this approach.

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