I watched a video today by Konrad Glogowski (it takes a minute or two for him to get going but it's good info once he does) about creating "third spaces" in the classroom. (Steve and Joani, we've talked about this before). The idea is based on sociological concepts; our first space is our home, our second space is where we work or, for students, where they go to school, but we all need third spaces where we can just be. In cities or towns, these are typically pubs, parks, malls, coffee shops, etc.
Konrad's idea is that we can create these third spaces online with blogs (and presumably other web 2.0 tools also) by creating places where students can be and interact... spaces where they have the opportunity to use their creative voices in expressive writing, the freedom to customize and build and define their own web presence (perhaps by using their own themes, adding widgets, linking photos and videos, creating avatars...), the opportunity and freedom to network in any way they want and to seek out those with similar interests in and out of class, and accessibility to one place that houses all their interactions in a connected and convenient way.
Doing this would require big changes in the traditional roles that teachers and students inhabit...
-students have to be free to pursue their own interests
-teachers have to let go of reading every piece of writing a student produces
-teachers have to let go of dictating what exactly will be written when so they can allow the community to grow and develop a life of its own where students' interactions and passions and questions are the driving force...
-students have to learn to face the blank page and think about how to grow their blogs
This is a short list, but even these few changes would be HUGE!!! but they can be done-- I've done these things myself without blogs. The blogs add a level of freedom, convenience, speed, interaction, and connection that paper versions can't reach.
These concepts, by the way, aren't new; they are reminiscent of Donald Graves' and Nancy Atwell's research with elementary and middle grades students. It's kind of nice that web 2.0 is gradually going to force us into what research has been telling us for over 40 years...
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2 comments:
I'm interested in this idea of "third spaces" and I want to try out blogs with my students, but I'm not sure the two ideas a necessarily intertwined. Especially with younger students, like the ones I teach, there are certain behaviors, certain freedoms, that they simply can't have if their blogs are going to be associated with school. If, for instance (as is the case with students in many classrooms) they are going to "just be" racist, or "just be" ignorant, or "honest"--they could unwittingly put themselves, and others, in a situation that could shut down the entire blogging endeavor. I'm not saying it can't happen, but there is so much character education involved in preparing students for these interactions--where "click" and "send" don't require any more impulse control than raising your hand before your speak--and the incident has the potential to be manipulated and made public in ways that an outburst in the classroom usually aren't. I'm still using online writing tools with my students, ones that allow them these types of freedom, in regulated, specific ways, and with a lot of training and practice I think they are learning how to interact independently, and "be" themselves, without infringing on the safety or rights that other learners have in these digital spaces. Adults can't even seem to do this successfully in the real (or digital) spaces that we inhabit.
In any space, we make adjustments to the social context we find ourselves in. I think what you're getting at is the rhetorical nature of writing for any audience, and you're right, there is a lot of character education-- I might call that ethos-- involved. But I think that's where education in general and English Ed in particular need to return. None of us has absolute freedom, and I'm not sure that we would want it if we had it. Our freedom is always wrapped up in the way we relate to others and the way we want others to relate to us. And I think you're point that we as adults are often unaware of (or choose to ignore) social contexts and tip more heavily in the direction of "freedom" while we are forsaking any kind of responsiblity strengthens the case for third spaces in schools where students can learn to "be" themselves in relation to others. As adults, in our "third spaces" (whether real or digital),we are always choosing to say or not say things, and to interact in certain ways based on the context. Every situation is in some ways rhetorical. We are always walking a line between external (and/or self-imposed) constraints and "being ourselves". As far as the public nature of blogging (or any other web 2.0 tools), we all need to think about what that means and talk about the potential impacts of these tools (for good and harm) (and these are conversations I know you're already having with your students). You've mentioned before that in education we tend to want to make everything "safe" for kids and so we shy away from letting teachers experiment in the classroom... things must be proven first. But as quickly as new technologies are coming along and altering the way we think, learn, and interact, it seems more dangerous to avoid them than to think carefully, talk openly with our students, protect them as much as we can, and accept the risks... and it's this sort of open, ongoing dialogue that I think is necessary in order to create "third spaces" and to make the use of web 2.0 tools in the classroom about more than the tools themselves
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