What Good Can Come from This?

I started this blog as a class assignment. The class is about electronic resources available for teachers. But in prisons, the existence of the Internet is a closely-guarded secret, so many of the resources are not available for my day-to-day work.

Perhaps, though, that is why I enjoy classes like this so much. I would never normally have a reason to start a blog or develop a Web site.

In this class, I have subscribed for the first time to podcasts, netserv lists, rss feeds, and newsgroups. I have posted my first blog (this one) and I have posted a PBwiki. I have greatly improved my knowledge about my faithful companion, Microsoft Office. I have finally added other search engines to my one and only Google, like Alta Vista, and Lycos, and metasearch engines like Dog Pile. I have met Ms. Dewey, and I have stockpiled a whole bunch of valuable resources with del.icio.us that I can now access at the prison as well as at home.

I am not a digital native by any stretch of the imagination, but I am not afraid of new-fangled gadgets. I am, however, skeptical at first; I have to be convinced that they are worth the time and effort to learn and use. For that reason, I am not too sure yet about blogging and podcasting. It reminds me of the old adage that when everybody is talking, nobody is listening. Some of the educational podcasts we looked at in this class, like Grammargirl and Tech Tip Chicks are very useful, but finding more will take a lot of time. And I will probably wait for the rise and fall of the popular sites before I really get on board with things like Facebook. Already, with instant messaging, I have installed MSN, Yahoo, and AOL - and still I have no one to talk to! Where do you draw the line?

Now, one gadget that really impressed me was the electronic response device for students. These little remote controls just struck me as so very useful for teachers. They allow students to respond individually using a device that looks like a TV remote. Students can respond anonymously, but the teacher knows who's who. And the results can be shown on a screen for all to see, Family Feud-style. They are very cool, and relatively cheap at less than $100 per device. ("Relatively" compared to buying a computer per kid, anyway.) I can think of worse ways to try to get students to pay attention in class. I don't know if they would be acceptable in prison classrooms (our department supervisor was told today that answering machines are against prison rules, so his new phone has to go - and no, he can't have a secretary instead!) So probably e-clickers (from einstruction.com) have no chance, but I have to ask...

This class, and others like it that I have taken, keep me "with it." I can pass on news of developments in electronics to my students, even if they can't use it right now. I can explore new Web sites and find new items to download that can be taken to my classroom on good old-fashioned paper, or even on disks, if the files are small enough (we don't have CD burners!)

I can feel that I am on a par with my colleagues in the public schools, and I can talk it up to my colleagues in the prison. If I ever leave the prison, I believe my new knowledge will be directly relevant to any other teaching job I go to. But even if I don't, I already am reaping the benefits of this class. Hey, Shift Happens. Thank you Dr. S.