Dream Machines

As children, we spend much of our time in imaginary worlds, substituting toys and make-believe for the real surroundings that we are just beginning to explore and understand. As we play, we learn. And as we grow, our play gets more complicated. We add rules and goals. The result is something we call games. Now…

Moonlighting

Still unconvinced of my suitability, he reminded me that the job involved backbreaking work and that the average person could not hack it. He warned me that I would leave the job daily with various aches and pains. I countered that I worked out regularly and that I was not afraid of a strenuous job,…

We Can’t Do It Alone

Universities and colleges, including my own, have made retention a priority, encouraging faculty members to rethink what they do in order to foster student success. However, this is only half the effort needed, and may come too late for many students. Like the musical Chicago’s Velma Kelly, colleges and universities cannot be a one-person act…

Law Professor Bans Laptops in Class

Professor June Entman says her main concern is that students are so busy keyboarding they can’t think and analyze what she’s telling them. […] Student Cory Winsett says if he must continue without his laptop, he’ll transfer to another school. —Law Professor Bans Laptops in Class (AP)

E-mail and text 'replace writing'

The decline of handwriting and the rise of e-mail and text messaging has been highlighted in a new survey of media consumption in the digital age. It suggests that half of written communication is by e-mail, 29% by text message and just 13% by pen and paper. —E-mail and text ‘replace writing’ (BBC) But take a…

Calling All Bloggers

Calling All Bloggers (CCCC 2006 Chicago — Day 3) Mike Edwards and Clancy Ratliffe led a very productive special interest group on weblogs. The project I had agreed to work on last year, seeking NCTE support for proposing some sort of official statement about the professional and pedagogial value of weblogs, fizzled. The NCTE had its…

Changing Literacies/Changing Mindsets: Communicating Across Digital Difference

Changing Literacies/Changing Mindsets: Communicating Across Digital Difference (CCCC 2006 Chicago — Day 3) I had written a different session down in my conference planner, but I’m glad I want to this one. Sally Chandler brought two of her undergraduate students from Kean University, and together they presented what they learned about the nature of research with…

You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired!: Why multiplayer games may be the best kind of job training.

Gaming tends to be regarded as a harmless diversion at best, a vile corruptor of youth at worst. But the usual critiques fail to recognize its potential for experiential learning. Unlike education acquired through textbooks, lectures, and classroom instruction, what takes place in massively multiplayer online games is what we call accidental learning. It’s learning…

Why Plagiarism Makes Sense in the Digital Age: Copying, Remixing, and Composing

Why Plagiarism Makes Sense in the Digital Age: Copying, Remixing, and Composing (CCCC 2006 Chicago — Day 2) This was a jam-packed, no-downtime, hardly-time-to-breathe presentation. I’m posting the notes that I took while the presenters were speaking, very lightedly edited afterwards in my hotel room. I hope whatever inadvertent remixing I did while taking these notes…

Technology, Play and Pedagogy: Video Gaming and New Literacies

Technology, Play and Pedagogy: Video Gaming and New Literacies (CCCC 2006 Chicago — Day 2) As is always the case with a conference blogging exercise, these are my rough notes, typed as the speakers were talking, and lightly edited in my hotel room at the end of the day. Matthew S. S. Johnson, Indiana University, Bloomington:…

Using Genre to Help Students Envision Themselves as Writers

Using Genre to Help Students Envision Themselves as Writers (CCCC 2006 Chicago — Day 2) I volunteered to chair this session, so I wasn’t taking copious notes, just jotting down possible discussion prompts. Scott Whiddon, Louisiana State University, “From Cellblock to Center: Literacy, Identity and the Angolite.” The Angolite is an award-winning news magazine produced by…