Blogs as War Diaries

The New York Times featured an article today by Tom Zeller, Jr. titled "Anne Frank 2006: War Diaries Online." It discusses how bloggers in Israel and Lebanon are maintaining sites that are documenting the progression of the conflict. The opening of the article touches on the impact that Anne Frank's and Zlata Filopovic's (victim of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo) diaries had and continue to have on people's lives. Both of the girls' heartfelt -and at times, desperate- diary entries later revealed details of the life in a war zone. (I read Zlata's Diary in graduate school, and the book was one of the 2 non-fiction books that I would say greatly affected me.) Zeller then discusses the prevalence and possible impacts of online war diaries about the war in Israel.

I checked out a few of the featured sites, researched others, and have listed the most useful of what I found below. The authors are getting hundreds of comments on each post, and some pretty interesting conversations are taking place. This "conflict" is extremely significant to the rest of the world, but these blogs will help remind us of what those people are experiencing on a daily basis with rockets, missiles, and gunfire falling like rain.


War-Related Links:
-Blogging Beirut
-Video Clip of Missile Attack
-Manamania
-Video Clip of Air Siren Alarms
-Damage in Galilee
-Blogs of War
-Jerusalem Post
-The Captain's Journal
-Israellycool.com
-Morning Coffee
-Lebanon's The Daily Star

For more information on Zlata Filopovic:
Teachers' Bookzone
American Library Association
Zlata's Diary

Blogs as War Diaries

The Beauty of EduBlogs

If it is enigmatic to answer a question with a question, what then is it to blog about blogging?

I’ve had some thoughts swirling around in my head over the past several months about the opportunities for use of web logs in education. Blogs (and social networks that call themselves blogs but aren’t really->see previous tech posting) have become immensely popular over the past 2 years. It began as a trend with young adults, then filtered down to colleges, then to teenagers, and now even to middle schoolers. They love them, they post several times daily, and for crying out loud they are excited about writing and then reading what their peers are posting. Do you realize what this means? Willful creative composition, drafting, revising, editing, publishing. The best part? They do it for fun.

Stop the presses.

Someone please tell me why we aren’t using this in schools? Many of the most commonly used blog-wares are currently blocked in my school system via network filters set at the central office. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that some of these kids are using their blogs or MySpace accounts to gossip and in the worst cases, cyber-bully others. I’m neither denoting that fact nor demeaning the power of public slander in the life of a student. As a matter of fact, initially I almost understood the ban because it is our foremost responsibility to protect our children. But as the potential for blogs continues to grow, I am convinced that the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. We shouldn’t be afraid of this new technology that can be so great for the students for whose instruction we are also responsible. If their education can be enhanced by utilizing it, then we owe it to them to try.

You know, when the internet became a big thing, educators were afraid of it. “They’ll see trash!” we cried. “They’ll play games!” we protested. “What good is this www, anyway? None of that information is reliable!” There’s this silly little cycle. Whenever something is new, we fight it. We protest, we cry, we make lists of all the reasons it just won't work, we bang our fists on the floor, and we are dragged kicking and screaming (led by the kids, most times) into the future. Then after our tantrum and after we recover from the paralyzing fear over what will go wrong, finally, as a last resort, we figure out how to modify the new thing into something that is useful. We taught them (with relative success) to stay away from the smut, to evaluate their sources, and to play games in their free time. We’ll teach them to blog responsibly, too.

I’m telling you right now, people, mark my words. Blogging is here to stay, and its uses will only continue to multiply. Don’t pass out at the following suggestion, but why don’t we embrace it this time (gasp)? Frankly, I think we need to take advantage of this tool before the powers that be catch on and start making us pay for it!

I most assuredly believe that the use of web logs can be an invaluable tool in teaching the writing process (how exciting will it be for students to see their very own words published on the web?!), and easily integrated across the curriculum. This newfangled (did I mention FREE?!) technology is a beautiful tool, full of potential for our kids; but as we all know so very well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Beauty of EduBlogs

Tech Talk

I recently attended an educational technology conference in Orlando, and wanted to throw in a few tips about some up and coming school-related technologies.

• If you don't know already, iPods are pretty much here to stay. Once thought to be the latest fad which would quickly be replaced by bigger and better tech toys, the iPod has firmly established its relevance to the world in general, and specifically in the world of education. Its uses multiply regularly. Bottom line: if you don't have one, get one.
• System integration systems are quickly becoming an actuality for school districts. For brief clarification, most schools currently use a collection of softwares to manage student information, library circulation, cafeteria accounts, and standardized test data. These system integration systems I’m talking about here are single softwares that bring them all together into one nice little accessible package. From what I can tell, we remain in the “bleeding edge” stages of working out the kinks, but it’s good to know that what was once thought an unattainable goal is quickly becoming a reality.
• There were several exhibits advertising web-based professional development courses. From graduate degree programs to trainings on software applications such as Microsoft Word, online courses are definitely becoming increasingly prevalent.
• SanDisk, a leading distributor of USB flash drives, will soon be releasing the Cruzer Freedom. Designed specifically for students, the Cruzer Freedom is a more rugged drive with the unique feature of partitioned, protected memory that allows the safe storage and sharing of copyrighted material (such as textbooks, novels, study aids, learning tools, etc.). SanDisk advertises the Cruzer Freedom as a digital backpack.
• Live Ink is a reading intervention software for middle and high school students that alters the format of text on a page to make word and letter combinations easier to comprehend. It employs word patterns and grouping as opposed to traditional block text to improve reading comprehension, content mastery, and retention of information.
• There is a nation-wide push for 1:1 student/computer ratios in schools. This includes handhelds, tablet PC’s, laptops, and good ol’ desktops. To that I say: we can dream, can’t we?
• This will not come as a surprise to many of you, but the MySpace social network (dubbed a blog, but does not truly measure up to the true description) is now the #1 source of victims for pedophiles. There are a lot of kids and parents who think it is harmless. Share this information with them and show them how to have a MySpace account without revealing personal information.
• Professional portfolios for educators have long been a useful way for potential employers to gain insight into applicants' experience in and out of the classroom. Electronic portfolios have also long had a place in the form of disks (and more recently, USB flash drives). Currently the trend has shifted toward using blogs for the design of e-portfolios. Some free blog sites are www.blogger.com and www.livejournal.com.
• Tablets (laptops that have a rotating screen that you can lay flat and – using a stylus- actually handwrite notes that a software will translate to text) are one of the newest types of PC’s that are becoming very popular with college and high school students. I personally have mixed feelings about them because: 1) Kids today are proficient typers by 3rd grade. They can type faster than they can write! Looking at it this way, it seems like we’re taking a step backward. 2) Any computer that you write directly on will probably need lots of maintenance. Even with a screen protecting film, regular use of the tablet feature will wear down faster than a plain jane laptop. AND 3) The handwriting-text conversion feature excludes kids who have poor handwriting. If the software can’t recognize the markings, it won’t translate the student’s thoughts correctly. Like I said, we have a long way to go with this particular technology. Since they are increasingly popular, however, I felt them worth mentioning.
• Last but certainly not least is a somewhat older software (well-only about a year old, but that is considered old in the tech world!) being distributed by Scholastic called Scholastic Keys for Microsoft Office. Install this to a workstation that already has MS Office on it, and it works as a simplification of the regular products. I can easily see it as having significant value in the classroom, and even as a training tool for some tech-a-phobic teachers!

Quote of note:

"The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do." ~B.F. Skinner, Contingencies of Reinforcement, 1969

Tech Talk

Teachers and Technology

In the education profession, I believe that one of our primary responsibilities is to produce people who can make valuable contributions to society. To do this, we have to quip them with skills and knowledge they can use. Reading, writing, history, science, and mathematics are necessary subjects, but there are other important areas that tend to be overlooked.

Technology is one of these areas. In a world driven by technological advances (did you know that- in our society- technology DOUBLES every 17 months?) it would seem as though it would be priority to teach our kids how to use them. There are many standards set that dictate the importance of technology-based instruction, but the problem lies with implementation.

In every school in every state, there are too many teachers who have the attitude that they will never learn how to use these new-fangled tech toys like laptop computers, digital cameras, and PDA’s (palm pilots, etc.), and therefore refuse. Others who are “unable” to install a new printer to their computer or run a simple scan for viruses, so they wait for weeks until someone else will do it for them. Their students also adopt this helpless attitude. Some complain that technology is for younger people, but personally speaking, some of the most technologically-literate individuals I know are middle aged. They had the same opportunities to learn as others, and chose to take advantage of those opportunities. When teachers learn to accept and value the technology that is available to them, and use it, their students will follow suit. In the words of one football player to another in the Disney movie Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.”

The bottom line is that, despite the wishes of those who lag behind in technology developments, it isn’t going anywhere. More and more aspects of our daily lives are relying on computer technology, and the failure of these educators to pass along the importance of embracing these advances puts their students at a distinct disadvantage.

Teachers and Technology