Entry 10

Liz’s discussion of Hicks’ (2009) chapter 5 really changed the way I think about digital portfolios, class anthologies, and audio anthologies. Prior to reading this chapter and answering Liz’s discussion questions, I had only really thought about digital portfolios as a possible way to organize and compile student work. In addition, I had not considered the logistics of utilizing this technology. For example, I had not considered which website to use to create these digital portfolios. It is helpful that Hicks (2009) includes suggestions of potential websites within the chapter, so that readers can explore these sites on their own in order to determine which is best to use with their students.

Our discussion of Hicks’ (2009) chapter 5 also made me more familiar with the types of technology that can be used to create class anthologies and audio anthologies. I think that too often, secondary educators disregard these types of projects, as they are used more often in elementary classrooms. However, I think that class anthologies can be very motivating and empowering tools to use with our older students. For example, in my high school Spanish class, during senior year, our teacher had the class create a yearbook. We each worked on our own personal page, and then each of us contributed an extra portion, such as a superlatives page, a poetry page, a music page, and other pieces. The whole class collaborated to create a design for the front cover. After all of these parts were completed, we had books made for the whole class (it was not a large class; only about 12-15 students total). This experience was so unique and caused all of us to get to know each other better. I still have the yearbook (somewhere) at home. Through this class anthology, we all were able to grow in our knowledge of Spanish, as well as in our understanding and respect for each other as classmates. I believe that creating a similar compilation online through a class wiki would also allow for these same benefits in a secondary classroom.

I was really happy that Liz chose to have us make our own webpages for a class anthology or digital portfolio. Typically, I am very hesitant about using new technology, so it was good for me to step out of my comfort zone and attempt to create my own webpage. While I still have much to learn, this experience provided me with a good basis in how to go about creating webpages using Google Sites. In addition, creating a potential place to upload my Genre Pieces Project allowed me to have a better perspective on the feasibility of using Google Sites for this purpose. I am the type of person that actually needs to see and use technology in order to more fully understand its features and usage. It would greatly benefit me to try using some of the other websites and programs mentioned in this chapter for use in creating class anthologies and audio anthologies. In this way, I will better comprehend how to use this technology with my students for these purposes.

In addition, although we didn’t have much time to thoroughly discuss copyright issues, I did appreciate that Liz mentioned this in her presentation. Copyright and plagiarism issues are strictly enforced in most schools, and I think that teachers are highly aware of these issues when reading students’ writing. However, when working with digital media, I believe that these concerns are not always at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Since digital media is so new, and since some of this media is often considered to be separate from classroom life, it can be challenging for teachers to remain vigilant about copyright issues and to determine when potential copyright infringements may occur. For example, my LTED 625 vocabulary blog requires me to include images relating to the particular vocabulary word, when possible. Prior to our conversation last class, I had added images to my blog from Google Images, with no citation and without considering the source. Until we discussed copyright issues in class, I had not given much thought to the fact that using these images in this way may be a copyright infringement or may constitute plagiarism. This was very shocking to me, as I always attempt to properly cite others’ ideas in my written papers, so why wouldn’t I do the same with images? It seemed so obvious to me after we discussed it, but I truly did not consider online images when I considered copyright and plagiarism. I suppose this is due to the fact that plagiarism of images was not touched upon when we discussed this topic in my high school English courses. My teachers were always most concerned with the writing aspect, such as including quotation marks around each direct quote and citing at the end of each sentence in which another person’s idea has been used. I think it would be extremely beneficial for all educators to further explore these issues so that we are prepared to identify and address plagiarism and copyright issues when our students utilize digital media in our classes.

Hicks, T. (2009). The digital writing workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann