I gave a presentation to a class on Wednesday. The class focuses on using electronic texts in First Year Composition. I took the course last spring and it opened my eyes to the things that I could do in my own classes. This was the class that set me on my path to a potential dissertation topic. So, when the current professor of the course asked me to present on blogs in the classroom, I jumped on the chance. Honestly, I did this for three reasons. It gave me a chance to further show off my research to a professor who I want to be on my dissertation committee (she now is). It also gave me the chance to try out some new things in presentations; I got to use a YouTube video in my presentation for the first time. But most importantly, it gave me a chance to present a good idea to a group of new teachers. This last one was the most important.

I spend a lot of time in the office working with our first year teachers and helping them along as a mentor would. I never would have thought of this role developing into anything else when I took on my first mentoring role. But now, I have three teachers who come to me for guidance when they need it (and two more who call from out of state on occasion).

Yesterday, I sat down and had a conversation with these first year teachers. They were all saying the same thing–they loved the presentation, but they still weren’t comfortable using blogs in their classroom. Now, keep in mind that these are the same people who are the core of the technology workshops that I am starting in the office. I reminded them that once we cover blogs, they’ll begin to see how they can use them in their classes. But then I began to listen–really listen–to what they had to say and think about this from a broader perspective.

I know that what I am trying to do with the technology workshops will help the teachers that I work with. I also know that a good number of people are doing the same thing in their own schools and districts. But deep down, my plans for a dissertation have been bothering me over the last few days. I can’t seem to justify to myself what good it will do to write 200 pages on how effective social medias can be when used in the classroom when at least half of my general audience may not know how to use these mediums when they’re through reading the book. If I really want to make a difference in the way that teachers engage their students, I need to make them tech-literate on their own. I cannot expect them to read my work and say “oh, Diigo. I’ll just go sign up and figure it out.” Not all teachers are prepared to just get an account and figure these things out on their own. This is already a question that I can see having to defend in my prospectus defense. Which brings me to my first “dissertation coffee break” as I shall call it.

I want to use these random thoughts to converse with my readers and get feedback on some ideas I’m having for coming up with the ideas that will drive my thinking to a fuller idea for a dissertation. I want to consider not only the use of Web 2.0 and social media in the classroom, but I want to expand that to look at how teachers can be taught to (a) learn to use 2.0 (specifically social medias) in their personal lives (b) use current 2.0 tools in their classroom (c) assess and learn new tools as they become available.

Now, I have a background in literature which I have realized is not as conducive to working with educators as, say a degree in education or curriculum could be. However, I’m relatively good at learning as I go. But I could use some feedback. Since many of you are teachers or work with teachers on a regular basis, take a minute and comment to this post to let me know what the one thing you think a curriculum for teachers should include to help teachers accomplish these goals. What is the one thing you wish somebody had taught you about using these tools.

The good news is, my prospectus is over a year away (I still have coursework to finish and comps to take). So, you have plenty of time to think this through and let me know of good leads that you have along the way. I’m looking for links to sites that help, stories, ideas–anything you’re willing to provide. Also, I’m starting the technology workshops in mid-April, so you’ll be seeing more in-depth ideas on this same topic as we undertake these.

As I experimented successfully with blogging in the classroom, I began contemplating it as a dissertation topic. When I found out I was teaching developmental writing this fall, I was enthused. I was waiting patiently for a chance to experiment with blogging at such an important level.

But then the other shoe dropped. We’ve been going through some “changes” in our department this semester. We have an enthusiastic and open-minded new director that can infuse some life into our FYC classes. We have a new common syllabus that we’re allowed some flexibility with. We have random new rules. And, apparently, we have security rules too. When all this newness began, I was polite enough to ask about using blogs in the class. Now, I did this because they have gone as far as telling us to refuse to answer emails sent from students using an email address not assigned to them through the school. It had to do with “privacy” and “security.” It doesn’t make sense to me. I usually use my Gmail account because no other server that I am familiar with allows me to 1)be alerted the minute I have email, 2)keep conversations together instead of having to sift through individual emails with the same topic and 3)allowed me to make my life as simple as 54 categories in one mailbox. But, I changed.

And, in addition to changing, I was polite enough to ask if I could use blogs. Yes, I know the saying “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission,” but I was being nice and trying, in the long run, to save my job.

So, a week later, I get an email back telling me that the word has come down the foodchain that no blogs can be used that are not hosted on the school server. Well, in essence, the school just said that I could not blog. Why? We have one way to access a blog–through Blackboard. Not that this would be a problem, but this aspect of Blackboard is currently only available to distance learning instructors. So, I’m left with no blog.

Okay, I can work with this. I have plans once we get through this semester. But what’s really bugging me–in much the same way that I was bothered with the fact that my students could watch YouTube videos in class but nowhere else on campus–is that the reason I have been forbidden to allow my students to use a blog in the classroom is apparently for their security.

Now, understand that when I emailed about this originally, I was clear to explain the safety to the blogsite I wanted to use–this one. I also explained how blogs could be set as private and all that jazz. But no, this site is not secure enough for the school. Okay, I can see them denying it. But there should be larger concerns if they’re going to play the security card. Facebook and Myspace are still available to students from their dorm rooms, computer labs, library and even from the computers they use in the classroom.

It’s starting to sound, to me, as though this is not a privacy issue, but rather a freedom issue. We were told when they required us to use only our school email (which we can’t even forward to another account that will allow us to answer back using the school email) that this was because they could keep the emails on the main server even if we deleted them. That way, if we needed them later, we could have access to them. I’m assuming that means that they can also read any of them at any time. And, by forcing students to use only school sponsored sites, they have the ability to censor anything we say. (In fact, you should check out the changes to my “About Me” page.)

All in all, it sounds like a nice big panopticon where the administration has the ability to quash our freedom of speech, invade our privacy and censor as they wish. If you will excuse me, there’s a link I need to delete from my page before I call it a night.

After reading your paper I’ve decided to make more use of blogs in my face to face advanced writing class in the fall. One problem with such set-ups, though, is that the class contributions and documents are all public. How do you contend with that?

Now, I wasn’t just gloating over the fact that I’ve influenced a professor (and me, a lowly PhD student). I was also gloating over the fact that I had an answer and had already been contemplating addressing this issue in a paper/presentation that I want to get a jump start on. Damn, I’m good! Look for more on this current question as time progresses.