Keeping pace with a changing future: keeping our place in a

changing classroomRebecca Freeman

Massey University

NTLT Conference 2012, Nelson

reporterneighbourfriendstudent

Background/context/delivery

May, 2012

Forced Adaptation: Me vs. ‘Them’?

THEMES

(Youtube)•Require a response from students•Specify what engaged behaviour looks like•Reward engagement•Require reflection on performance as a learner

(Plevin)•Develop trust by meeting a need early

(Me)•Learn about problems before it’s too late to help.

How were students and public actually feeling? Intimidation or miscommunication?

•Students want our presence and guidance in virtual spaces, not just the classroom or the campus website.

• To varying degrees, we should manage these spaces as we would manage the classroom and students.

•Not doing so is comparable to ignoring a difficult and potentially overpowering student. What are the possible consequences of this?

NEW STRATEGIES

Public Profile forms/sheets

“Dear Rebecca, I remember the first day of the class, when we did the personalprofiles. I did _____ and he did mine. It was and still is a greaticebreaker. I think most of us were nervous on the first day, I know I was. I justremember it as a great way of putting everyone at ease. Thanks.”

Private Profile forms/sheets (in conjunction with ‘Link Bombs’)

“Thank you for the email, I have never had a tutor who is so interactive and personalised like you are. I am very certain that with your guidance I will uncover and polish my hidden talent!”

“It’s very welcoming that you have interest in helping each individual and learning about them and I thank you for that.”

GUIDED HOMEWORK (WITH PRE-CLASS ANIMATIONS)

“I'm finding the course so far really enjoyable and my boyfriend is in a different academic writing class and by the sounds of it, you are giving us way more explanation and help to us understand the content better. I think that the homework sheets you gave us were really helpful through out the first half of the class, as it definitely got me doing the work and not forgetting about it, like some of my other classes.“

PRE-CLASS ANIMATIONS

(In passing, from a colleague): “…your class think you're great! :) They love your animation*s+. :)”

WEEKLY EMAIL TO STUDENTS:

Dear Students,

Thank you for your hard work yesterday! The assessed peer review isalways confusing, because our paper schedules it over two weeks. Therewill be a class on Monday, 1st October. There will be no other classesuntil Thursday, 11th October, when we will all meet as normal>>

I have also included a few resources here. You probably don't have time to look at them all in the lead-up to your draft, so you could put them to best use when looking at everybody else's drafts or when revising your own after peer review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw-eGT_7llQ -- This has a basic guide tousing opposing views if anybody is lost, but you should disregard before2:24, as you must have evidence for all the opinions you provide in thisassignment. You should also IGNORE the citation method shown here. At2:58, you will notice that everything is written in the passive voice.This is one way to do it, but it is less useful for clarity. Vary youroptions, but my preferred approach is the one offered at 4:23.

THE FINAL PHASE: WEEKLY HOMEWORK EMAIL

“I now find myself seeing rhetorical strategies in everyday things, especially advertising. I feel I am able to critically analyse text much more effectively than before, and I now see the importance of double checking facts with secondary sources. “

FINDINGS•Small adjustments to existing materials brought the biggest results; value meaning-making over newest technology and combine new/old technology to suit.

•Students actually become lessdemanding when reassured and supported in their other environments/spaces.

HINDSIGHT 2:

• Academics use pen and paper/human interaction to formulate ideas. Technology is for giving/ observing performances of those ideas.

•Today’s students use screen time to formulate ideas . At university, written work and interpersonal discussion feel like performances for teachers’ benefit.

•‘Performance anxiety’ can disengage screen-time learners in class.

•We can use technology to establish a common ground.

•We are all combining various technologies with old techniques.

•We are also all combining technologies of various ages, so ‘having the latest’ is not a requirement.

•We do not need to use technology for the entire course, but we can begin where students feel comfortable, to :1. Lure them away from screen time into independent

learning/discussion/writing for university.2. Help them become discerning and learn how to create

meaning from technology.

•“…there is likely to be a significantdisjuncture between present-day approaches to supporting student writers and thedigital textual environments within which students are immersed…”

•“…undergraduates *are+ engaging in a range of modes, integrating written,visual and multimodal texts as part of the process of meaning-making.”

•“…both people and technological applications are…participants.”