final extra credit opportunity this semester for 10 points

For those of you who don't have their 25 points of extra credit full yet:

If you want to improve your grade a little and can still use 10 points extra credit (only if you haven't reached your limit of 25 points per semester yet!), you're welcome to post a 500-700 words SUMMARY AND RESPONSE about the following article on "he/she" by Professor George Jochnowitz, who wrote our favorite article, "Everyone Likes Pizza, Doesn't He or She?"

Be very clear and concise in your summary; show that you have understood the article. Then, use critical thinking and write down your own thoughts about the topic!

(Of course, you can also do this extra credit blog if you already have 20 extra credit points and just need 5 to get the allowed 25 full. The rest will simply be deleted.)

Blog 30: Educational WebQuests

The reading summaries are done by:

ENGL300-1: Melanie Bloden for 5 pts. extra credit
ENGL300-2: Janesha Boyce-Ford for 5 pts. extra credit

The text for reading is HERE.

In this article Maureen Yoder explores the world of WebQuests. Yoder discusses exactly what a WebQuest is and explains the different aspects necessary to create a useful WebQuest. WebQuests were first introduced by Bernie Dodge and Tom March; the two created a lesson plan that gave students some sort of prompt or problem to research by following links provided on the WebQuest. Over the years teachers have started creating their own WebQuests, and WebQuests have gained a lot of popularity. According to Bernie Dodge there are certain things that make a well-thought out and effective WebQuest. A WebQuest should include an introduction, a task, a process, resources, an evaluation, and a conclusion. The introduction and task give a general background, and present the problem; often the “problem” is a scenario that can have many categories like, contemporary world issues, creating products, evaluating history, and basically anything worth teaching. Students are guided through the task by suggestions from the teacher or a step-by-step process provided. This really helps the students organize their project. Resources are included in the WebQuests from links found by the teacher, this is great because it gives the students credible sources and keeps them from aimlessly wondering cyber-space. The end product varies depending on the assignment, students may hand in paper reports, oral reports, performances, artwork, musical compositions, or anything else that teachers can think of. After the WebQuest is completed students can reflect back on their work and everything they learned.

WebQuests are an effect way to change up the normal routine of class work. WebQuests promote creativity and allow teachers to harness the, often overwhelming, internet. I am often overwhelmed by technology today and prefer to use paper and a pencil, but that is just another reason why I think WebQuests are so great. Teachers can take something, like the internet, and make it useful to students’ educations. In my opinion, WebQuests are an inventive way to make learning more interesting and hands-on for students.

-Melanie Bloden

Blog 29: Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis

The reading summaries are done by:

ENGL300-1: Jacob Collins for 5 pts. extra credit
ENGL300-2: Arlicia Ketchum

The text for reading is HERE.

Arlicia Ketchum

The article Teaching and Learning online with wikis written by Naomi Augar, Ruth Raitman and Wanlei Zhou basically shows its readers how to use Wiki. A wiki is website that is fully editable by the public. Wikis were given their names by Ward Cunniham after the Hawaiian word meaning “quick”. One of the most famous wiki websites is Wikipedia, an online collaborative encyclopedia. Wiki’s can also be used to assist in computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL). CSCL was first created in the 1990’s in an attempt to develop a public and educational collaboration by the means of technology in order to change the style of education and the research surrounding it. Students can use Wikis to share their common knowledge with other students in their class.

According to the authors, wikis have two different modes. The first mode is the document mode. In this mode, contributors to the wiki create different documents written in the third person. Eventually other users will come and edit the document by adding additional information to the documents topic.  The second mode is called thread mode. Thread mode is basically like a blog. User share an opinion and other users come and respond to those opinion with an opinion or facts of their own. Along with the two modes, Wiki also has two states: read state and edit state. These two states are self explanatory; however, in the read state users only see the wiki as a normal internet web page and in the edit state users are allowed to edit the information on the webpage.

Each Wiki has a very unique feature. These features can make it easier for an e-learning environment. The authors give an example of an experiment done on the students at Deakin University, in Victoria Australia. Students who attend this university in The School of Information Technology are required to an entire subject online through the Deakin University wiki entitled Deakin Studies Online (DSO). The DSO was created by the wiki syntax WebCT Vista. The DSO provides bullet boards, chat rooms, whiteboards, communication and collaboration for the students. In the experiment the professors at the university created a wiki type icebreaker, giving the students a two week time limit and goal. The results were that the students took very well to the wiki and quickly completed the icebreaker creating a sense of student to student collaboration and an e-learning environment. The article ends by stating that even though the students in this experiment used a wiki under specific circumstances, wikis are not specific to anything. They are social sites used to elaborate knowledge and share knowledge from user to user.

Blog 28: Educational Blogging

The reading summaries are done by:

ENGL300-1: Brittney Hosey for 5 pts. extra credit
ENGL300-2: Katelyn Kockler for 5 pts. extra credit

The text for reading is HERE.


In the article Blogging to Learn, Anne Bartlett-Bragg examines a new technological trend known as blogging. A blog is a posted log on the internet with dated entries. Blogs include personal editing, a hyper-linked posting structure, updates, public access, and archived postings. When first introduced, blogs gained popularity from personal bloggers who shared exerts of their lives. Today, there are categories and sub-categories of blogs created by a wide range of industries and users. It is reported that there could be over 2 million blogs posted, and it has been recorded that a new blog is created ever forty seconds. Saying that the blog-o-sphere has grown is a complete understatement. Among the lawyers, journalists, librarians, designers and huge number of corporations that are creating blogs, is educators; educators make large contributions to the blog-o-sphere. Conversing with others, considering the information and giving thoughtful feedback, is a significant learning tool. This is the main reason that blogging for educational purposes is so popular. Group blogs can be used by teachers as a sort of class bulletin board where students can comment and talk to each other about material. Blogs are used to publish students writings; students are given a real audience to write to, and they receive input which can help them create a sort of professional work shop. Other types of educational blogs consist of field reports and journals, personal opinion publishing, research journals, learning journals, and so much more. Academic blogs offer a freedom of tone, interaction with diverse populations, and speedy feedback. Bragg wrote of blogging as a 5-stage process: establishment, introspect, reflective monologues, reflective dialog, knowledge artefact. These five elements teach users a great deal of life skills in subtle and obvious ways. They must recall information and learn how to express ideas; while doing this users can slowly evaluate their own experiences. Then users can become more aware of the reflexive process, considering the experience, extracting meaning, and evaluating; during this stage users usually begin writing with more thought. The audience and its feedback provide constructive criticism, and users can further consider their style and thoughts. By the end users have formed writing and reading tools; they can evaluate other blogs and write helpful comments. All of the reasons listed above are ways that blogs can help students learn. Blogging has become a popular way to educate for good reasons. I have used a class blog before this class. It took a bit of time to get comfortable with, because I am about as technologically advanced as a cave-person. I really enjoy it though. I think being able to share ideas with people all over the world, with different views, is absolutely great. Not taking advantage of such unique and readily available perspectives almost seems wrong. I am going to look into different types of blogs.

-Melanie Bloden

Blog 27: American Indians and School Success

Reading summaries to be done by:

ENGL300-1: Jasmine Christmas
ENGL300-2: Dontrell Sims

The text for reading is HERE.

Blog 26: The Klingon Language

Reading summaries:
ENGL300-1: Jacob Collins for 5 pts. extra credit
ENGL300-2: Hannah McArthy
The comments by the whole class can be made as soon as this post appears; you don't need to wait for the summaries to be written!

Read about the history, the alphabet, and the phonetics of the Klingon language on the website of the Klingon Language Institute. Summarize its history and development, and state what you think about such an invented language. If you can write Klingon, write a sentence with translation ;-)
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by: Hannah McArthy

The information regarding the Klingon language was all found on The Klingon Language Institute’s website.  Dr. Mark Okrand, a trained linguist, created the Klingon language for Paramount Studios to be used in certain Star Trek movies.  The Klingon language contains its own grammar, usage, and vocabulary.  Dr. Okrand created the entire language, instead of only a few words, to sound alien.   These words and phrases could sometimes be heard in Star Trek, and it became one of the fastest growing languages.  Okrand’s concept of Klingon language was to create something that sounded unusual, while Paramount Pictures wanted something harsh.  Klingon was soon born.  Klingon contains combined sounds not usually heard in other languages.  Dr. Okrand created single sounds in Klingon, sometimes to be represented by multiple letters of English.  An example is the phrase “ng” which is a single sound in Klingon and is considered a single letter.  Mark Okrand also created his own orthography when he created the language.  The written language also has some different rules than English, such as capital and lower case letters being shown differently.  Having a capital letter means that the letter sounds different.  This means the first word of a sentence is not capitalized like in English, instead, the appropriate sound is capitalized.  Klingon is meant to be spoken forcefully with the intent of making the conversing partner wet, with saliva.  Klingon does not contain the letter g, q and Q are different sounds, and the apostrophe is considered its own letter.  When it comes to vowels, the Klingon language contains the consonant “b” on each side.  An example is the vowel “a” which will be “bab” in Klingon.  Consonants are seen at the end of syllables, between syllables, and before syllables.  An example shown on the Klingon Language Institute website is the vowel “a” and the consonant “ch” will be written “chachacha.”  Mark Okrand created the Klingon language, while writing multiple books regarding the language, and inspired an institution called the Klingon Language Institute.  The institute was created in 1992, to bring individuals together that have the same interest in the Klingon language.  The Klingon Language Institute’s main channel of information is through its own journal that is published quarterly called HolQeD. 

I found this website to be extremely interesting.  From watching Star Trek I have heard the different language, but I never asked where it came from.  I assumed it was random words and phrases created for the purpose of Star Trek.  I found it fascinating though that Dr. Mark Okrand went beyond a few words into a full blown language that contains rules.  Another thing I found interesting is that he veered away from making it have similarities from known languages, which added to the extra-terrestrial effect.

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Tom Swifties, in-class activity of 11/21/2011

As comments to this thread, please invent and post your own Tom Swifty!!! (5 pts.) If you work in groups, post all your group members' names, so everyone gets points.

Examples:

1. How do you start a model-T Ford without a battery?" asked Tom _____________ .
(answer: CRANKILY)

2. "I have to wear this cast for another six weeks," said Tom _________________ .
(answer: DISJOINTEDLY)

3. "I'm shocked," said Tom _____________________ .
(answer: ELECTRICALLY)

4. "I will end my life," Sue sighed. ("suicide")

Here's the Tom Swifties website, if you missed class and need to read the rules again.