Author: Kate Poirier (Page 4 of 6)

There are lots of ways to consume information about technology in the classroom. Later in the semester, you will be reading and presenting formal research papers in the field. For this homework exercise, you’ll perform a much less formal review. Post your findings here on the OpenLab.

Instructions

• Find an article or a blog post anywhere on the internet that discusses technology as a pedagogical tool.
• Before you write your review, include a link to that article/post as a comment on this post to claim it as yours. Make sure none of your classmates have already chosen the same article/post.
• Write a one- or two-paragraph summary of the article. (Write your summary so that when your classmates read it, they’ll know what the main points of the article are, and can decide whether they would like to read the article for themselves.)
• Write a one- or two-paragraph statement expressing your opinion about the points made in the article. (You don’t have to be super precise here; you can discuss the points in the article whether you agree or disagree with them based on how they relate to your own experience.)
• If the website where you found your article/post is not that of a well-known media organization, include one sentence about the kind of website it is. (For example, if you choose a blog post, the “About” section of the blog should tell you a bit about who the post author is.)
• Submit your review, along with a link to your article/post as an OpenLab post. Title your post “HW #3: Review of [title of the article/post you’ve chosen].” Select the category “HW #7: Article/blog post review” before publishing your OpenLab post.

How to choose an article/blog post

You have some flexibility in terms of what you choose to review, but there are some rules you must follow:

• Read a few different articles or blog posts before selecting one to review.
• The article/post you choose must express an opinion about technology in the classroom, report on an academic study about technology in the classroom or discuss specific strategies for using technology as a pedagogical tool.
• The article/post you choose should support its arguments with evidence.
• The article/post you choose cannot simply report on a type of technology being used, or how widespread its use is. It cannot be a “how-to” guide for using a particular technology yourself.
• The article/post you choose cannot be published by a company that is writing to promote its own product.
• The article/post you choose should be long enough that it is insightful in some way.  Your summary/opinion should tell us why it is insightful.
• The article/post you choose should be short enough that a fast reader could read it in under 15 minutes. (For example, you should not review a scholarly research article.)
• If you have an article/post in mind and aren’t sure whether it is appropriate, link to it in the comments on this post and explain why you’re unsure. Leave enough time before the deadline to choose something else if I determine it’s not appropriate.
• The article/post you choose should be written in English. If you find something that’s written in another language and that you’d really like to review, link to it in the comments on this post and explain why it appeals to you. Leave enough time before the deadline to choose something else if I determine it’s not appropriate.

Some resources

Note: some of these websites require a subscription to access articles, but will provide a selection for free to non-subscribers.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Inside Higher Ed

New York Times Education Section

Los Angeles Times Education Setion

Washington Post Education Section

Slate

Math with Bad Drawings

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