I liked this week’s virtual session on “Internet Communication” very much. It gave a lot of interesting suggestions for using Internet communication in-class.

First, I have to mention that I was a little bit shocked when looking at the list with the Internet specific abbreviations. Who is that crazy to invent them? Who knows them all and uses them? I think a dictionary is needed for the huge number of abbreviations… But maybe it is funny to have a try on using them, just FYA (for your amusement) or is it NAGI (not a good idea)???

IMOH (In my honest opinion), I have never thought about different types of communication before. Therefore the part on synchronous and asynchronous communication was interesting and I think teachers should use it more in school. It might be exciting for students to write e-mails to experts or even to chat with them. BOC (But of course), it is not always easy to communicate with experts, as they mostly seem to be very busy 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) lacking time for chats with pupils. Another point I regard as critical to do in-class, are the live chats with other classes abroad. I think it is rarely possible that two classes in two different countries meet at the same time, although the idea is nice. But why not being in contact with pupils abroad via e-mail? This offers a lot of advantages: practicing a foreign language, making new friends, learning how to express oneself in written language. AISI (As I see it), asynchronous communication (e-mails, forums, NGs (newsgroups)) is a lot easier to practice in school than synchronous communication (chats, MOOs, video-conferencing). Hopefully, I will have the opportunity to use these types of communication L8R (later) as a teacher.

Furthermore, I liked the idea about having virtual office hours. Why do we not have that at university? IDD (InDeeD), it would make a student’s life much easier… Maybe professors should take this suggestion into consideration.

But I am not quite sure about the use of MOOs in school. AFAIUI (As far as I understood it), this kind of interactive role-playing game is good for learning how to construct new objects and how to perform group communication. But I think pupils could misuse it and do not see the educational purposes behind it. Is it communication to give a virtual character a command about what to say? What are these conversations about? I do not think that pupils behave seriously when they are part of a virtual world. KWIM (Know what I mean)? Maybe I am the only one who does not have that much trust in today’s pupils… BICBW (But I could be wrong)…

I think TAFN (that’s all for now) and hopefully you understood that I regard these abbreviations as BS (bull shit), SFT (sorry for that), B/C (because) they only confuse the readers and nobody understands what you really want to say. Is our generation becoming that lazy that it is too time consuming to write because instead of B/C?

ATB (all the best), GBH&K (great big hugs & kisses) and HAND (Have a nice day)

Lorena

The first thing I do when I have to write a term paper or to give a presentation is to ask the Internet for help, as it offers the opportunity to collecting information quickly and easily. Of course, I always have to consult books as well, but for a first overview I prefer Internet research. Unfortunately, Internet research has a lot of disadvantages: Sometimes the information found on the Internet is questionable or even outdated; in some cases we are overflowed with information and irrelevant results; in other cases we do not find any useful information at all. Furthermore, the risk of plagiarism arises through the Internet as some people copy whole presentations and essays found there. Most of the time it is very time consuming to evaluate online sources. Looking at these disadvantages it becomes obvious that it is necessary to do book research as well. And maybe they also explain why a lot of professors at university are sceptical towards online sources. But in my opinion, the information found on the Internet can sometimes be helpful as a starting point for term papers and presentations.

Interesting for me was the part in the virtual session about Search Engines, Meta Search Engines, and catalogues. I think now I made up the differences and that might be helpful for my future researches on the Internet.

Moreover, it is always important to know how to quote online sources, because a lot of students have problems with that. I think this information about how to quote correctly should be taught at school. I did not learn that and my teachers never told me when I did it wrongly.

Another aspect I liked in the virtual session was the presentation of the three different search levels, the guided, half-guided, and the free search. They tell us when a teacher should use which kind of search. As far as I am concerned, it is significant to help pupils with their first Internet researches until they can do it alone and correctly.

The information about WebQuests was not new for me. I had to do one last semester and I liked it. In my opinion, it is a nice alternation to writing essays at home and I think pupils would like to do it as homework, as they like working with the Internet and get to know which online sources are reliable through a linklist given by the teacher.

Although some information was repetition for me, I liked the presentation on Internet researches, because it is important that we know the different possibilities in order to guide our students and to show them how to use information on the Internet the right way. Hopefully, we will learn more about that on Wednesday…

In the following blog entry I will discuss a quotation that was part of last week’s ‘Practical’ and put on a poster during the in-class session:

A 1996 poll of US teachers found that they ranked computer skills and media technology as more ‘essential’ than the study of European history, biology, chemistry, and physics; than dealing with social problems such as drugs and family breakdown; than learning practical job skills; than reading modern American writers such as Steinbeck and Hemmingway or classic ones such as Plato and Shakespeare. (The Atlantic Monthly, July 1997.)

The group that created the poster shows on the poster what would happen if computer skills and media technology were the most important things to learn in school. Are computer skills and media technology more important than history, biology, chemistry, and physics? What would schools look like if they were? Would there be empty classrooms? Everything could be done from home; no one would have to go to school anymore. What would happen to the teachers? Would they be needed anymore? Maybe they only would become tutors and would not have to teach anymore. But what would happen then to the pupils that need help and support during their learning processes? What would further happen to the pupils’ social competences? Is it enough to get in touch with friends only via the internet?

Although I regard media competence as important I do not think that it is the most important thing to learn in school – not more important than the traditional subjects like history or biology. As we live in a digital age it is necessary to teach media competence in school, but I think the other subjects should not be neglected. Therefore it is essential to integrate new media into the existent subjects in school.

Furthermore, I think social competences cannot be achieved through the internet via e-mail and chats only. Real communication and interaction in order to express thoughts and feelings are important to get along in life. Pupils have to learn how to behave in companionship with others, how to deal with social problems such as drugs and family breakdown. In my opinion, the internet does not always provide the right information about such things and pupils could be guided wrongly.

How could pupils profit from excellent computer skills and media technology if they had no knowledge about other things? What would their researches and presentations be about, if they did not know anything about literature or natural sciences? What would pupils do after school, if they had no practical job skills? As far as I am concerned it is not sufficient to have good computer skills in order to find a job. Knowledge is a precondition for success.

I think new media become more and more important and therefore have to play a bigger role in schools, but does the German curriculum offer enough time for them? Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a lot of time, but teachers should invest as much time as possible into teaching computer skills and media technology by combining them with the other subjects.