Final Draft

The final draft we created at the library yesterday is on google docs. I did a thorough edit. Let me know when you've finished yours, and then we will be done! (for now)!

WOW Check out the map

Our blog continues to attract world-wide attention - wow - Europe, Canada, Asia, the Mideast, Austraila! Maybe we are on to something here....

Have I mentioned lately that this was a fantastic idea you had to put the map up! :-)

Presentation

Great job today at the presentation. It was really fun to discuss our project and it just made me realize even more how this could be a great tool for learning. Just a few more steps left to go!

Draft

The additions you made look great. I like the narrative flow you added to the theoretical framework, it really demonstrates how the process happened within that framework and how it is more generally connected to the framework.

More edits/additions (computers & comp, future research) posted now.

Google Doc Powerpoint and Handout

I posted the powerpoint we finished today at the library on google docs.
The handout is also there.
Check it out.

Rose

Mike Rose's blog
http://mikerosebooks.blogspot.com/

Professor Williamson had posted this on the C&T forum and it makes for interesting reading, especially in context of our project.

Audience (voice)

More on audience, Mr. Navigation:
I am thinking about our discussion on self-censorship, voice, audience, etc...and I thought about the fact that since this is primarily a blog between us I tend to want to write more informally and put in lots of lame jokes (see above). But then sometimes I go back and edit before I post because I know others are reading. When we think about audience and collaborative writing, it is important that students feel comfortable conversing with each other, but they also must think about who else is reading. While you may understand what I am trying to get at even if it is said in a humorous manner, or using an inside joke, it will not demonstrate our points accurately to more global audiences.

Another Navigation Thing

The importance of using keywords in the title. When searching for previous posts--be it on the blog's listing of posts or through the edit page--having accurate phrasing in the title makes searching for information easier.

Also, the search function on the edit page locates terms in the actual post. Thus, using term-specific terminology inside the post is no longer beneficial just for good content--it's good for navigation.

OK...I won't write anymore about navigation. I sound like a Skipper.

Audience (powerpoint)

I was thinking about our presentation and the growing fan base our blog is acquiring (lol). I think for the global audience section, the picture of the map is actually a pretty strong component of our research. What started out as a fun experiment with computer software (and tracking, let's be honest) is really demonstrating just how blogging can help students become published authors with an audience. Possibly, we may even want to mention this and put a thumbnail in our paper.

Data Themes

So, I believe we have narrowed down our data to three primary themes that we discussed:

1. Writing Process & Process-Blogging - how process-blogging influenced the writing process.
2. Blogging technology - the good, the bad, the ugly
3. Community - local and global

I wanted to reflect a little on this because I think it is interesting to note that when we began this project, we were pretty singularly focused on #1. We both felt that the blog would be a great place to work collaboratively and to strengthen the writing process. We didn't know exactly how the process would unfold, but we did think that it would unfold.

I don't know that we put much thought into #2 or #3. While we were aware of these issues, I don't think we considered how important they would be in the results. As we now begin to realize that people (Australians!) are viewing our blog, it is an interesting dimension to add to our reflections and analysis.

I just wanted to take a minute to process that. :-)

Another Navigation Term?

As the blog continues to grow and we move toward organizing our information for the paper, I think we've both seen the need to start gathering multiple posts and placing them into one on-going post to consolidate the material. So here is a list of possible terms to identify this process...tell me which one you like best:

1. Organizing Post
2. Corral Post*
3. Cull Post*
4. Consolidation Post*
5. Gathering Post
5. Merge Post
6. Cornucopia Post (hah!)

*I like these best

Australia!

So our audience is growing. Check the map. Pretty cool.

Basic Writer Bibliography

This is just a reminder for me to add this to our web page
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/basicbib/content/toc.html

Back to the Google Doc

Great progress today on our presentation! Woohoo!

So, I opened up the google doc and am starting to copy and paste stuff in. It may look messy for a while, but like we discused, I think that our presentation layout can help guide our writing.

Research Project Web Page

So, I tried to incorporate the stuff posted on the blog onto our research project web page. Check it out and tomorrow we can add anything I missed.
Research Project Web Page

Big Brother Begins

So I buckled and added the clustrmap. Let's see if it works.

What is Process-Blogging?

I think we need to establish our position on process-blogging. So here's a quick breakdown. Tell me what you think.

The following areas contain their own areas of discipline:

1. Blogging
2. Process Writing
3. Collaborative Learning

One can blog without following the writing process or collaborating with someone else. One could use the writing process without a blog or collaboration. One can learn collaboratively without even knowing the existence of blogs or process writing. You see the pattern.

Process-blogging, however, combines all three disciplines: blogging, process writing, collaborative learning. To process-blog, one must collaborate with another person throughout stages of the writing process to compose a coauthored written piece.

If these guidelines are not followed, one is not process-blogging. To that end, attention must be paid to the public nature of process-blogging. Process-blogging is public because someone else--even if it's only one other partner--must read and respond to a writer's posts. Now, if a teacher or family members or other visitors post comments, well, this interaction also falls under the category of process-blogging because now the learning community's population has grown.

On the other hand, if a writer uses a blog to generate ideas and promote reflection, but does not allow other people to respond via blog-posts, then this writer is engaged in private process blogging.

One could say our study is public process blogging. But public is extraneous because process-blogging, by our definition, must involve interaction in a public forum. Process-blogging is influenced by social constructionist theory because knowledge is acquired through active participation/engagement in a collaborative learning community.

Unless you wanted to add some extra complexity to our project and change the name to public process blogging? Probably not, right?

Seeker Posts

Thanks for sending me that seeker post. What is a seeker post, you ask? A seeker post is when one blogger posts for another blogger to check (seek) a previous post. So when you sent your seeker post about the meeting minutes, I had to seek the previous post to read your comments. Like that phrase? I do.

I also thought of "heads-up post" and "post-it post" (as in a post-it note) and "reminder post" and "notification post." But they all came after seeker post, which proves you should always go with your first choice.

Check "Conversation Today"

I (finally) posted our meeting notes on the 25th. Know we know these are also "field notes," ahhh the joys of research.

Presentation Prep

Should we plan a time over the weekend to get our presentation ready? Saturday or Sunday works for me. I figured if we met over the weekend and then on Monday, we should be good to go on Tuesday.

Positive Energy

So, I've been thinking about our discussion today and about the positive energy that has guided our project and that has remained throughout our work. And I am taking your advice to "think positive thoughts" about the remainder of our journey on this work. My nature is to want more time to do things in the thorough or perfectionist way that I am prone to. I like playing with my words, editing, deleting and adding words, finding more sources, and on and on and on....and one week seems so compressed to do that. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that the collaborative work has brought out the best sides of this nature for me: I want to do my best to produce a quality assignment and to uphold my end of the bargain, but I also must release some of the control I would normally have over my writing. And by doing this, I have learned more and considered so many more points of view than normal.

As I considered this, I thought about how our enthusiasm for this topic, but more particularly for alternative assignments, collaborative learning, and working with basic writers could be the most important part of our presentation. While all of the information we are presenting is of course crucial, it is really the enthusiasm we have for this work that is most important to our project. So, when framed that way, I can readily say that I am eager to discuss our findings with others, and to continue working on this type of collaborative writing.

Today's Meeting with Dr. P

Some notes from our meeting with Dr. P:

• Under future research we should discuss what is the most natural follow up research for ourselves from this study. Also, what are the long term possibilities (this is what we have already).
• Discuss how learning is socially mediated in our epistemology section.
• Under implications, discuss implications as teachers, how this type of blogging could influence each of our scholarly research if we continue to blog together about different projects, and how does this influence the C&T program or composition generally.

Our List of Terms

I've been adding some ideas to our list of terms so we can keep track about all the areas we have been discussing (even if we don't include all of these concepts in our paper). When you can, check out the List of Terms/Ideas post and add whatever you like.

Concept Map

So here is a rudimentary concept map. Feel free to add whatever you wish. Via the blog, we have used the following prewriting techniques:

1. Freewriting
2. Listing
3. Clustering
4. Outline

Concept Map
http://www.people.iup.edu/dqrp/ConceptMap_ProcessBlogging(1).xls

Collaboration Led/Leads to "Process-Blogging"

So I was thinking how we created the name "process-blogging." Or should I say socially constructed the name "process-blogging." With all due respect to Loftus, my memory is as follows: We were in Dr. Pagnucci's class, and we were excited that he had approved this project. Of course, before I could turn around, you already had blogger up on a computer screen. With you at the keyboard, we brainstormed for a name to call our new blog. We experimented with a few possible names that had already been taken by other bloggers. But we were both on the same page about combining "process" with "blogging." And I remember that we sort of arrived at process-blogging at the same time. When you typed it into blogger and the name was accepted, we had our term.

If not a figment of my imagination (damn you Loftus), this story is great for two reasons:

1. We collaborated to create a name that we had never thought of or heard about before that afternoon in class. Our social interaction allowed us to construct knowledge and meaning. And so it was fitting that we had arrived at a name for our blog in this manner because our project is based on collaboratiion and the social construction of knowledge as applied to the writing process.

2. If not for the blog, we probably would have never created a name in that way. Why? If we didn't need to name the blog, we likely would have written about this topic without every really giving it a name. I'm sure in time we would have decided upon something. But the technology forced us to consider creating a term before we had even written about the topic. We had to name the blog to commence in the actual blogging and research. And I would argue that by thinking critically about naming the blog, we had to reflect about our topic area and goals for research. To enhance this reflection, we had to discuss the project and its implications. This discussion was aided by the use of a computer where you could type out different names to see if they had already been taken. And when the software informed us that process-blogging was available, a new term was born. (Perhaps if "bloggingasaprocess" was still available at blogger, our term would have been different. So the technology limited our selections, but it also helped focus our attentions on what we were truly attempting to study: process-blogging--a term more fitting with what we have experienced over the last few weeks).

On Second Thought

I first thought we should include all the data samples in one continuous post so we could avoid having other posts (such as this one) interrupt the flow of data sample posts. I thought that creating a distance between these data posts would make it more difficult to corral the material and organize into one cohesive piece.

But I think labeling the data posts the way you have is better. If we put all the data samples into one post, it will grow very long and make the organizing process more laborious. So the compromise, I think, is to create separate data posts based upon content (technology, navigation, initial perspectives of the project, etc.) and keep adding content-specific material in the original post. In other words...you have the technology post. Any information I want to add about technology, I will just edit into the existing technology post--instead of creating a new post. Make sense? Hope so.

Data Sample: Technology

Because of the limitations of editing on the blog, it became clear that we needed an alternative place to start copying and pasting our drafting from the blog to an actual document that would be handed in. We had several options, including having one person responsible for pulling the information to the draft and then e-mailing it back and forth. However, this took away from our conception of this project as truly collaborative. The online document made it clear that neither one of us "owned" the document. It reinforced the idea that we were co-authors and both contributing and editing the document. It was a truly collaborative piece of writing, just like the blog. It served as an extension of the blog, and a complement to the blog. It did add an extra layer of technology to work with.

"I started a Google doc that we can share so we can start pulling some of our writing from the blog into an actual draft for Monday. I will work on this more tomorrow, and maybe we can get together at some point. You should be able to get to the google doc by going to http://docs.google.com and then logging in." (jessica)

Access to technology is another issue that we encounted when Jessica's computer crashed. It made us consider how students without home access to computers may feel in the collaborative writing process.

"Yesterday after class my computer crashed. As I was lamenting my dire situation and considering whether I should simply pack up my things and go home, I thought, "thank god for the blog." Because of the blog, most of the work for the research paper is intact. So, another benefit of the blog emerges. However, as I went back to my old method of handwriting my papers, I begin to think about all of the access issues in relation to computing. While of course we can expect our students to use campus resources to complete their work, the dynamic of blogging may be changed for students who must complete this blogging in such a narrow time frame. Because we want the blog to be a way to enhance the writing process, and not be a barrier, those access issues are something we must consider." (jessica)

[there are more posts to add to this]

Data Sample: Navigation

Data Sample: Navigation
Navigation
Over the course of the project, it became clear that blog navigation was an important topic. Sabatino often focused on this clarity of navigation to help organize the pattern of the blog. As time progressed, it became clear that we needed a focused way to track what we were doing so the blog posts did not become too much to handle. This is an important consideration within the classroom. If the group members do not agree on blog formatting to help this navigation, or if they do not have the skills to implement this, the blog could become more of a challenge to the writing process rather than a complement to it. We discussed F2F issues that we were having tracking the blog and brainstormed ways to improve this process.

After a F2F meeting, Sabatino made comments to Jessica's blog post. However, by this point, there were several posts in between. Because there was so much information, and it was necessary to ensure the person saw it, Sabatino offered the following post, which became a format for the future:
“When you get a chance, please take a look at my comments to the meeting minutes. As this blog grows, it might be a good idea to provide heads-up posts such as these to make sure we don't lose the good communication we have going on.”

“Just a suggestion: I've found it easier to navigate our posts by scrolling through the text on the "edit posts" page...the blog itself is getting a bit long. As we continue blogging, I see how the length, depth, and number of postings could become a bit overwhelming for developmental students--anyone for that matter. Then again, developmental students wouldn't be using the blog for such an in-depth, research-driven assignment.”

Sabatino noted: “I see that we are both kind of narrowing our searches to particular scholars/experts in the fields of blogging, process writing, collaborative writing, developmental writers, etc. I think this is a good trend. So if I find more info on Peter Elbow, I will continue to return to the initial post about him and add the new-found text there.Seeing the names helps me contextualize the conceptual framework of the paper.Unless you think we should use the concepts as an organizing tool. For example: Process Writing... Elbow and those to follow?”

Jessica responded: “Either way is fine with me. You start a pattern and I will follow. If authors help, then let's do that.” Because of the previous discussions regarding our topic and paper, it was easy to agree with Sabatino on an organizational method. This communication and compromise is so important to the collaborative writing process.

I first thought we should include all the data samples in one continuous post so we could avoid having other posts (such as this one) interrupt the flow of data sample posts. I thought that creating a distance between these data posts would make it more difficult to coral the material and organize into one cohesive piece.But I think labeling the data posts the way you have is better. If we put all the data samples into one post, it will grow very long and make the organizing process more laborious. So the compromise, I think, is to create separate data posts based upon content (technology, navigation, initial perspectives of the project, etc.) and keep adding content-specific material in the original post. In other words...you have the technology post. Any information I want to add about technology, I will just edit into the existing technology post--instead of creating a new post. Make sense? Hope so.

I first thought we should include all the data samples in one continuous post so we could avoid having other posts (such as this one) interrupt the flow of data sample posts. I thought that creating a distance between these data posts would make it more difficult to corral the material and organize into one cohesive piece.But I think labeling the data posts the way you have is better. If we put all the data samples into one post, it will grow very long and make the organizing process more laborious. So the compromise, I think, is to create separate data posts based upon content (technology, navigation, initial perspectives of the project, etc.) and keep adding content-specific material in the original post. In other words...you have the technology post. Any information I want to add about technology, I will just edit into the existing technology post--instead of creating a new post. Make sense? Hope so.

(note - I know this is informal and changing from 1st to 3rd, but wanted to start making comments that we can modify in our actual write up. As usual, please feel free to insert any other threads you might want here).

Pagnucci, pt. 2

Community
"[T]here is much potential for technology to help previously silenced students to speak, to engage students in dialogue with a culturally rich and diverse new population, and to help students become real published authors" (Pagnucci & Mauriello, 2003, p. 80)

Pagnucci, G. S, & Mauriello, N. (2003). Balancing acts: Tightrope walking above an ever changing (Inter)Net. In P. Takayoshi & B. Huot (Eds.), Teaching writing with computers. An introduction. (pp. 79-91). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Based on our conversation yesterday, I thought this quote from our reading may be a good thing to put in the community section, particularly the aspect of giving students a voice and providing a place for dialogue.

Data Samples

OK. Just something to get the ball rolling. Think of these two samples as filling the tip jar to inspire more to come...

Schreyer, Launching This Project
I am very excited about this undertaking, both because it will allow me to grow as an academic writer in composition studies, but also because it will allow me to collaborate and brainstorm with a fellow student. I believe the process of collaboration will help me grow as a writer in a more effective fashion and enhance how much I will enjoy the process. From our discussions, I know Sabatino and I have similar research and teaching interests, and probably similar teaching styles. We both value the collaborative nature of writing, as well as believe strongly that writing is a process. By practicing this process with Sabatino and by completing this research paper, I believe that we will both grow as researchers and writers.

Mangini, Pondering the Project
Excitement. That one word continues to dominate the conversations Jessica and I have had concerning the framework and possibilities of this collaborative project. And Dr. Pagnucci seems to share our enthusiasm. In that sense, this collaborative process has already yielded positive results. Why? Positive energy is contagious and inspirational. Today, I am more confident about researching and writing this paper than I had been the first day of class. Yes, some of that confidence has grown out of my experiences with the readings and class discussions. But I'd argue the upswing of self-belief--for lack of a better term--is due to working with a like-minded partner who shares the same viewpoints on how to better engage developmental students in the process of writing.

Data (Paper and Presentation)

We should begin selecting data excerpts to include in our paper as well as screen-shot representations for our presentation. I was going to start it now, but I am too tired. But I will post it with a title to inspire us to begin filling in the space.

Concept Map (Revisited)

Per our meeting today, I've fiddled with our concept map. Still can't get it to work on google docs. I think we should add it as a link to our research Web site, and then post a link to it on our blog. Then you can access the document as well and make your changes (and probably liven up the graphics a bit...as you are known to do).

Please remind me to add this to our research page tomorrow when we are on campus.

Conversation Today

Today we discussed how we are defining our concepts. I will put our ideas below VERY informally.

We are incorporating within our epistemological framework the ideas of active learning, experience, constructing knowledge, and critical thinking. We will look further at social contructionism and Vygotsky.

We are first examining how the process influenced us, and also then applying this and connecting to our classroom.

In relation to assessment, we believe it is necessary to look at alternative approaches. Many people try to use traditional assessment tools, which can be ineffective. Sabatino discussed multi-trait rubrics which he will look at further.

In the data analysis, we currently believe we have found three important thread:
1. How it influenced the writing process, including exploration of ideas and focusing ideas.
2. Technology - how did it influence writing.
The blog allowed us both to work at times convenient to us. It forced us to keep working, and there was a little bit of "peer pressure" to keep going (in the most positive sense, of course). We had to allow for things not to work perfectly, but at times this was a positive influence (google docs, clustering, sorting info, etc).
Technology helped us with freewriting, revision, reflection, encouraging to keep working, continuing dialogue, reflection from dialogue.
3. Community

Some benefits were that we found new sources, considered alternate ideas. We will look at internal (local) collaboration and global collaboration. What we experienced caused discussion, confusion, and growth. We can see how having the blog open may cause complexity that basic writers would struggle with. We were able to come back to our ideas and not lost steam. We discussed the idea of whether the blog encourages open discussion or if there is self-censorship because we know there are many different audiences - including each other, the instructor, and other readers. This will need to be addressed in the paper.

Blog allowed us to collaborate better but to get full experience of collaborative writing we can't forget the importance of F2F conversation. However, if we were collaborating w/o blog, there would be different problems to attend to.

Sharing the blog promotes the idea of partnership, no one owns the project, the voices are all there, and we are contributing to it.

Reagan

Collaborative Learning
"And when graduate students begin to talk with each other about their writing, they will discover what we have known all along: the ideas and insights that emerge from these transactions can transform their writing" (Reagan, 1994, p. 197)

"Graduate students of both genders need to experience the transactions that occur when they talk about what they are reading and writing. Only by collaborating will they learn the value of collaborating (Reagan, 1994, p. 212)

Reagan, S. (1994). Collaborative learning in the graduate classroom. In S. Reagan, T. Fox & D. Bleich (Eds.), Writing With: New Directions in Collaborative Teaching, Learning, and Research (pp.197-212). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Community

In relation to the previous post, and the response from the company, I think that is another aspect of our community conversation from earlier today (I'll post more on that conversation later). We must be aware that people can find and comment on our blog (since we have chosen to have it be public, not private. How does that influence our writing. Is it a bit violating that the company came in and posted, or is that a good addition to our conversation and project. The idea of our voices blending with these other voices really connects with our discussion at the library today.

Forget the Clustrmap

So I've tried to add the clustrmap to our blog but the site simply refuses to email me a password so I can access and download the software. So I am done with it. I've already spent too much time trying to figure it out--and it doesn't really add much to our project. It would be just another cool feature to add.

Another idea: How other technology (clustrmap) can divert a participant's focus from the technology (process-blogging) she should be using--thereby adding unneeded complexity to the process.

Tyron

Use of blogs in composition
Tyron uses blogs to make concrete the concepts he is teaching in class. "In my courses, I seek to instill in my students that much of the writing that they will do in their academic lives and beyond will require them to make and support arguments, usually for a specific audience" (p.128).

Tyron, C. Writing and Citizenship: Using Blogs to Teach First-Year Composition. Pedagogy. 128-132 (will fill in complete citation).

Pagnucci

Computer-based writing/learning
"Collaboration. That's what we were learning, the power of collaboration. That was the key. Somewhere, somehow, somewhen, we plugged in, and the world spun faster, and we all began to weep and laugh, together." p. 181

I think this would be a great ending slide for our presentation!

(in Computers and Writing: The Cyborg Era, I'm going to have to look up how to do this citation)

Penrod

Some info for various spots in our paper.

Redefining literacy
"The results of my trials and errors over the last 6 years have helped me form the following considerations for initiating transformative learning and assessment through the use of computer-enhanced composition...online communication facilitates a sense of community among students faster than most F2F classroom or teacher-initiated activities. Computer-enhanced writing instruction is purely holistic in the best sense of the word. Process is equal to product in the teaching of writing in networked spaces, and students' minds and bodies are engaged in solving the problems that arise in the action of communication. Students can also incorporate all their lived experiences and choices in their writing." p. 123

Assessment
"Technological convergences can offer instructors the opportunities to focus on the independent and collective writing processes of our students as well as the democratic use of information." p. 124

Future of computers in composition
"As a discipline, Composition should be speaking louder in recognizing the importance of establishing and fostering multiple literacies in our students to meet the demands of writing various e-texts. Using the body of works produced by numerous scholars, researchers, and teachers in the field, Composition needs to do better in its investigation of what the pragmatic goals and rationales are for incorporating these numerous abilities into the various levels of college writing that now exists. There has to be greater discussion of when and where, pedagogically, these computer-enhanced writing activities can and should be incorporated into the entire writing sequence." 146

Penrod, D. (2005). Composition in Convergence: The Impact of New Media on Writing Assessment. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

-----------------
Penrod, D. (2007). Using blogs to enhance literacy: The next powerful step in 21st-century learning. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Education.

How students view blogs and the future of literacy
"Students clearly understand what is at stake: Blogs are not the answer to developing students' information literacy; they are the herald, the harbinger, of what is to come regarding literacy in a global knowledge economy." (ix) Jessica, notice how the word "blog" appears in the word "global"...thought you might like that.

Blogs mix play with learning
"...blogging is playing with language, finding pleasure in writing. This aspect of the writing process is often missing in school-based writing...The lack of play in classroom writing activities draws students to blogging for several important reasons--all connected to learning" (p. 7). Jessica, I've been making this point about the "lack of play" in writing for years! I actually brought this up during our first meeting in the library. Remember? If not, I am sure it is in your copious notes.

"Educational psychologists explain that when we integrate play or pleasure with a learning activity, we tend to become more engaged in the material and retain a greater amount of information" (p. 7). Jessica, this could support our findings that our blog added a level of excitement to this project.

Blogs: Public vs Private
"...Whether the blogs are public or private, students are learning how to balance information to fit online spaces and audiences' needs as a well as a writer's personal interests. This is an important phase in becoming digitally literate" (pp. 12-13). This ties into our conversation today about the benefits and drawbacks blogging brings to public or private writing.

Blogs: Writing Process
Through blogs, "students rather than their instructors now have control of the learning and writing process. With blogs, students can write anywhere and at any time; no teachers are required to lead the activity...It is as if Peter Elbow's 1973 words have come true--bloggers are now 'writing without teachers'" (p. 21).

Blogs: Interactive Learning
"Several longitudinal studies, such as the one conducted by Thomas and Collier in 1997, indicate that interactive learning as well as discovery learning activities help students achieve more in their lessons" (p. 120).

Through a blog, "Writing and thinking, for instance, become a collaborative venture without the housekeeping distractions that frequently plague a traditional classroom, such as announcements, off-the-topic questions, unruly students, and attendance problems...Valuable learning often takes place when students work together to solve a problem, pose questions, or challenge course content" (p. 153).

Blogs: Alternative Assessment and Learning Communities
"Alternative assessment tools, such as electronic portfolios, a public blog, teachers' observational notes or teaching journal entries, open exhibitions of student work, individualized rubrics, and so on, need to be established before blogging can be integrated into any classroom. Alternative assessments can enhance relations between parents and educators because the community can see what students are learning and how they are mastering this information in various ways" (p. 124).

Blogs: Challenges
"...a blog is only as good or as useful as the blogger who builds it...If teachers incorporate blogging in the curriculum without blogging themselves, as some do, then the blog is a miserable add-on" (p. 154). Our rationale for doing a blog before we wrote about it and implemented into our classrooms.

"Blogs should never replace face-to-face connections between instructors and students...Blogs should supplement or extend, not replace a teacher-student relationship" (p. 159). This supports our theory that effective collaboration involves face-to-face interaction (between the students as well) along with the blogs.

Terminology and Theoretical Framework (Updated)

So let's see if we are on the same page:

Terminology

1. Developmental Writer: any student--ESL, Generation 1.5, adult learner, native speaker--who does not possess the confidence and/or skill set to write standard academic discourse. For the purpose of this project, the definition also includes grad students who must learn new terminology, concepts, and structure/guidelines to write within higher levels of academia. (Mike Rose & Mina Shaughnessy)

2. Writing Process: a recursive approach to writing that involves some form of prewriting (freewrite, list, cluster, scratch outline), drafting, revising, editing, and submitting. (Peter Elbow)

4. Blog: a Web site that can be public or private and is typically comprised of chronological, reflective, journal-style entries or other forms of personalized written discourse. (Rebecca Blood & Diane Penrod)

5. Collaborative Writing: when two or more people interact with each other throughout each stage of the writing process to compose a single piece of writing (Helen Dale's social constructionist theory on collaborative writing & Bernstein's concept of a "critical community of learners")

6. Process-Blogging: using a blog as an integral part of the writing process. (Schreyer & Mangini...hah!)

-----------------------------------

Theoretical Framework

1. Praxis: Schwandt says one version of praxis is concerned with "improving practice by designing ways of getting knowledge (theory) somehow better aligned with or connected to practice (i.e., by beginning an inquiry with practioners' own knowledge, doing coresearch, etc.). Maybe we can use: a participant using theory to drive practice. (Steiner? & Paulo Freire)

2. Pragmatism: argues for practical consequences to be vital components of truth and meaning (we have to put this in our own words). Maybe we can use: a participant using real consequences and real meaning as a way to drive theory. (John Dewey; Stuart Peirce; Willam James; & Lev Vygotsky?)

Pragmatism and Praxis

A Marxist interpretation of pragmatism:

http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/p/r.htm#pragmatism

You can scroll down the same page to find praxis (no direct link for that term).

Charles Sanders Peirce

Bio
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/p/e.htm#peirce-charles-sanders

How to Make our Ideas Clear
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/peirce.htm

John Dewey

Bio
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/d/e.htm#dewey-john

The Question of Certainty
Chapter II: Philosophy's Search for the Immutable

http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/dewey.htm

William James

Bio
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/j/a.htm#james-william


What Pragmatism Means

http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/james.htm

Bib Additions

Just a heads-up that I added a few sources to our working bibliography--namely Dewey, Peirce, and James (as per our blog-conversation with Diane).

Web site for Research Methods

From the home page: "The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods."

http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php

Web site for Assessment

This site is devoted to language theory and method. Check out the section on assessment. There, you will find good examples of peer assessment as well as four different types of rubrics teachers can use in the context of alternative assessment. Could be useful for us when we consider the implication of assessing the alternative approach of process-blogging. I think the multitrait rubric would fit nicely with assignments that use proces-blogging.

http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/index.htm

Praxis

Quotes on praxis to consider:

"Within Freire's system of pedagogy, an individual's ontological vocation is to be a subject who acts upon, and transforms, the world in order to become more fully human. This praxis, reflection and action, moves the individual towards ever new possibilities of a fuller and richer life through initial subjective reflection and the resulting rational and objective action." (Steiner, p. x)

"True dialogue cannot exist unless the dialoguers engage in critical thinking-thinking which discerns an indivisible solidarity between the world and the people and admits of no dichotomy between them-thinking which perceives reality as process, as transformation, rather than as a static entity-thinking which does not separate itself from action, but constantly immerses itself in temporality without fear of the risks involved. Critical thinking contrasts with naive thinking, which sees historical time as a weight, a stratification of the acquisitions and experiences of the past, from which the present should emerge normalized and 'well-behaved.' From the naive thinker, the important thing is this normalized 'today.' For the critic, the important thing is the continuing transformation of reality."(Freire, 1973 as quotes in Steiner p. 8).

Wednesday

So - I think we are making some good process here and your ideas about epistemology are helping to steer us in the right direction. Should we plan to meet Wednesday when we would have had class to work through some of these things and pick up some new books at the library. We could also discuss our goals for the presentation and talk about how we want to sort that out. We need to clarify with Dr. Pagnucci how much time we get.

Kairos Journal

Some resources to check out...

http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/10.1/binder.html?praxis/hewett/index.htm

http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/12.1/binder.html?praxis/moxley_meehan/index.html

Email Excerpts from an Evil Doctor

Via emails to me, here are some of Diane's excerpted comments concerning the conceptual framework of our project:

..."you might want to think about praxis (practice grounded in theory and informed by classroom experience)."

"Yes, what you and Jessica are doing certainly falls more in line with praxis. Pragmatism is either a particular philosophical bend or it gets bastardized in terms of 'cookbook curriculum' (throwing a bunch of (stuff) together to hope it works in a classroom). I really think the two of you are working through a system of praxis related to how technology works with a particular group of writers."

How About Praxis: Please Don't Shoot

I've been reading more and more about praxis, and I was beginning to wonder if our project is grounded in praxis theory. So I had multiple conversations (including an email with Diane....duh? Why didn't I use the blog. Another implication to consider: Reverting to familiar technology to communicate) about praxis, and I think our approach to this project falls more under praxis than pragmatism. Although praxis seems to be derived from pragmatism much the same way social constructionism stems from constructivism.

Schwandt says one version of praxis is concerned with "improving practice by designing ways of getting knowledge (theory) somehow better aligned with or connected to practice (i.e., by beginning an inquiry with practioners' own knowledge, doing coresearch, etc.)

We should discuss this with Dr. Pagnucci tomorrow. But maybe building our framework around the concept of praxis will alleviate some of the questions we had (and discussed through the google doc) about focusing our theory through one lens.

Mina Shaughnessy

Errors and Expectations

Here is a review of Errors and Expectations:
http://www.secondaryenglish.com/errors%20and%20expectations.html

Research Question

So what do you think of this for a research question:

Does the use of a blog complement or complicate the writing process for developmental writers?

I don't know if complement is the right word, but I like the "ring" of complement/complicate.

Fine Line...

I think we also must be careful not to blur the line separating the paper and the presentation. These youtube clips are good for the presentation, but they may not apply to the written project. Ya know?

But, in terms of research, all of this information is good for the paper. In fact, it might be interesting to use the interviews as source material in the paper. Actually, I think we have to. If part of our goal is promote literacy with and through technology, wouldn't it be appropriate to incorporate different media into our own research and attempts at adding depth to our literacy as doctoral students and researchers.

Idea to organize our research

I see that we are both kind of narrowing our searches to particular scholars/experts in the fields of blogging, process writing, collaborative writing, developmental writers, etc. I think this is a good trend. So if I find more info on Peter Elbow, I will continue to return to the initial post about him and add the new-found text there.

Seeing the names helps me contextualize the conceptual framework of the paper.

Unless you think we should use the concepts as an organizing tool. For example: Process Writing... Elbow and those to follow?

Elbow

Peter Elbow "On Writing"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YDUn1c4uxUE

Rebecca Blood

Here is Rebecca Blood's Web site:

http://www.rebeccablood.net

And here is one particular blog that can help our paper:

http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Mike Rose - Lives on the Boundary

Interview with Mike Rose:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wH90U4UlIco&feature=related

Clustrmaps

This Web site allows bloggers to track the visitors to the blog as well as what country they are from. Might be an interesting for our blog. Should I add this to processblogging....

http://clustrmaps.com/index.htm

How to Grow a Blog

Great picture for our presentation here
http://www.teachandlearn.ca/blog/2007/10/27/how-to-grow-a-blog/

Composition and Blogs

This blog gives a little information about the history of blog use and ethical implications for composition.

http://www.english.ilstu.edu/dcfitzg/blogcomp/index.html

This site is Dr. Penrod's and related to basic writing and blog use.
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/tbw/penrod/penrodmodule.html

I'll add these and the clip to our resource web page.

Powerpoint Clip?

I found this clip on youtube. It shows elementary school students...but the concepts and goals of blogging in the classroom seem applicable to all students. Just something to consider...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whm3pxqkvB8

Here are some more:

Blogging in Education (Post-secondary, ESL learners, brainstorming, audience)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyh4UeP-IY&feature=related

University of Padua- Using Blogs in the Classroom (Interview....not too exciting but gives some decent insight into blogging)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJB1QOEWL4

Powerpoint

I may be jumping the gun a little, but I started a powerpoint presentation for us for next week. I like the new designs in PPT 2007. I thought it would be cool to put pictures of some of the blog posts as we move through our data analysis.

Abstract - final?

Process Blogging

We will discuss blogging as part of the writing process. Through practice (as students) and analysis (as researchers), we examine a teaching strategy that we would like to employ in the basic writing classroom. We will review collaborative approaches to writing, discuss process blogging, and identify student writing development within a collaborative blog.

It is hard to stay within 50 words. Let's write the abstract as if the paper is written--losing future tense cuts down the words.

How about:

We research blogging as part of the writing process. Through practice (as students) and analysis (as researchers), we examine a teaching strategy we hope to employ in the basic writing classroom. We review collaborative approaches to writing, discuss process blogging, and identify student writing development within a collaborative blog.

Perfect! What a pro. I printed for tomorrow.

Thoughts on collaboration

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." ~Henry Ford

I think so far this project has been a success.

Google Doc

I started a Google doc that we can share so we can start pulling some of our writing from the blog into an actual draft for Monday. I will work on this more tomorrow, and maybe we can get together at some point.

You should be able to get to the google doc by going to http://docs.google.com and then logging in.

Abstract for Presentation

This is going to need work...so feel free to type right over anything. I just wanted to get it started.

Sabatino Mangini & Jessica Schreyer
Process Blogging
This presentation will discuss using blogging as a part of the writing process. Through practice (as students) and analysis (as researchers), we examine a teaching with technology strategy that we would like to employ in the basic/developmental writing classroom. We will take a pragmatic approach and review collaborative approaches to writing. We will discuss our theory of process blogging as a part of the research and writing process for developmental writers. Student writing development through the use of a collaborative blog - including issues related to discussion and peer-review and issues related to assessment - will be identified. The data used is a blog created through the research and writing process.

Assessment

I think your trusty professor is right. It may be time to broach the topic of assessment. And, I think the discussion yesterday on asking an appropriate research question ties into this issue.

Student level assessment issues
How would these writers be assessed?
How would blogging participation figure into that assessment?

Curriculum level assessment issues
How would the process itself be assessed?
How would students be involved in this process of assessment?
What types of assessment would others in the field or others in the university most want to see?

Teacher assessment issues
How would the effectiveness of this as a teaching technique be assessed?

I'll see if I can get the book.

Response to Silicon Snake Oil

As you probably inferred from class discussion yesterday, I completely agree with you. In today's readings, I thought Dr. P's article was quite fascinating in relation to the 2 camps of people (experienced teachers who didn't want to change their pedagogical strategies that they found successful, younger teachers who wanted to experiment). I think in relation to technology, if you undertake technology within your pedagogy, you have to be prepared for constant change of your curriculum and strategies. The technology will keep changing, and we will have to be committed to adapting as needed. To me, this is exciting. However, I also know the demands of academic life at times can be rigorous and I feel overwhelmed with everything I need to do. Therefore, I think he is right in saying we need to carefully examine what pedagogical tool we should use, and decide when technology is the best method.

Technology Readings

I think that some of the readings for Dr. P's class tomorrow will be helpful in our discussion about using computers in the classroom. Maybe after our class discussion tomorrow, we can discuss which ones we found most compelling and build from there. I thought the article by Dr. P was interesting in that it provided a type of timeline for the implementation, and the process that teachers must be willing to go through to experiment with new pedagogical methods (including technological ones) in the classroom. I think we already have a lot of information about challenges faced as students, and we can extend those into a discussion of what we may face as instructors.

I also thought the discussion this morning revolving about perceptions of developmental writers was pretty fascinating. Relating back to Dr. Penrod's discussion, there reallly is a strong stigma related to basic/developmental writers (we're going to have to identify precisely which term we want to use). As a teacher, I always found teaching these writers to be invigorating, and so I hadn't considered so much how others may have negative perceptions of these writers. I'm going to do some more thinking on that subject and will probably come back to post more.

Access Issues

Yesterday after class my computer crashed. As I was lamenting my dire situation and considering whether I should simply pack up my things and go home, I thought, "thank god for the blog." Because of the blog, most of the work for the research paper is intact. So, another benefit of the blog emerges. However, as I went back to my old method of handwriting my papers, I begin to think about all of the access issues in relation to computing. While of course we can expect our students to use campus resources to complete their work, the dynamic of blogging may be changed for students who must complete this blogging in such a narrow time frame. Because we want the blog to be a way to enhance the writing process, and not be a barrier, those access issues are something we must consider.

Working Bibliography

References

Baron, D. (1999). From pencils to pixels: The stages of literacy technologies. In Hawisher, E. & Selfe, C. (Eds.), Passions, pedagogies, and 21st century technologies (pp. 15-33). Utah: Utah
State University Press.

Haas, C. (1996). Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacy. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Stoll, C. (1995). Silicon snake oil: Second thoughts on the information highway. New York: Doubleday.

Xie , Y., Fengfeng,K., & Priya, S. (2008). The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes. Internet and higher education, 11 (1), 18-25.

Dewey, John. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education. New York: Macmillan, 1961.

James, William. Pragmatism. 1907. New York: Dover, 1995.

Peirce, C.S. “How to Make Our Ideas Clear.” The Essential Peirce: Selected Philosophical Writings. Eds. Nathan Hauser and Christian Kloeser. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1992. 124-41.

Welch, Nancy. “Playing with Reality.” College Composition and Communication 51.1 (1999): 51-69.

Penrod, D. (2005). Composition in Convergence: The Impact of New Media on Writing Assessment. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Reagan, S. (1994). Collaborative learning in the graduate classroom. In S. Reagan, T. Fox & D. Bleich (Eds.), Writing With: New Directions in Collaborative Teaching, Learning, and Research (pp.197-212). Albany: State University of New York Press.

Silicon Snake Oil

Wow! Do I ever disagree with Stoll. Early in the chapter, Stoll (1995) writes, "students deserve personal contact with instructors--interactive videos and remote broadcasts are no substitute for studying under a fired-up teacher who's there in person" (p. 118). I can see his argument here. But then he spends most of the chapter degrading technology as this tool of ignorance where students merely learn how to use computers and gather information on the Internet but do not learn how to think critically and solve problems. He says that "what comes across the computer screen is a surrogate for experience" (p. 148)--and that computer technology is isolating people from each other.

This text appears to be an extension of his yearning for the good old days of libraries and card catalogues and first-hand experience with research as well as the "real world." But when were these good old days? When was this golden era? I guess it's the same goledn era of family values politicians refer to when everyone was involved in happy marriages and kids didn't pregnant. The 50s? But just because divorce rates weren't high does not mean people were happy and all those undisclosed back-alley abortions and sending pregnant teens away so the neighbors didn't know does not mean teens weren't having sex. (Sorry about that...just came to my mind and had to get it out).

This type of argument is so typical for people who seem resistant to change--in this case the "change" is technology. I won't even say "advancement" because I'd argue that technology has been around for as long as man could hold a club. So I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.

But in a more academic sense, would Stoll get rid of books? Many academics were ridiculed as children for being bookworms--people who didn't interact with others. Even Oprah remembers being reprimanded by her grandmother for reading books instead of going outside and playing with her friends.

Books, too, are a "surrogate for experience." But would Stoll prohibit a child from reading "The Grapes of Wrath," to get a sense of the Dust Bowl drought? "Old Man and the Sea?" "The Count of Monte Cristo?" Surrogate experiences found in reading a book or a computer screen are valid and belong in the development of a child. If a student has a surrogate experience it does not mean she can't also have a "real-world" experience. Plato would say its all material anyway, right?

When it comes to making meaning out of research, the use technology to gather information is comparable to the use of books for the same purpose. In both arenas, students must be able to analyze and interpret the information before they can develop opinions and solutions to problems.

The major flaw is Stoll's argument is that he assumes teachers are expecting technology to do the teaching. But I'd argue dedicated teachers understand that technology is part of a collaborative mix of content delivery that they must integrate into a classroom setting to engage students in learning. As Stoll says himself, "Meaning doesn't come from data alone. Creative problem solving depends on context, interrelationships, and experience...and only human beings can teach the connection between things" (p. 134).

Writing as a Technology (Response)

I agree with you. We need to consider "writing as a technology" along with "writing is a technology" combined with the ambivalence of faculty toward this theory. Haas (2006) makes a good point when she outlines the debate between Plato (1973) and Derrida (1981).

Haas argues Plato doesn't join Socrates when the philosopher "denounces writing at length," but Plato does argue "writing gives the illusion of wisdom while in fact fostering forgetfulness," and that writing cannot "answer queries put to it." For Plato, writing lives in the ambiguous material world, so it cannot be trusted or valued as can speech.

However, Derrida argues that Plato must use writing to denounce it as a medium. "For Derrida, writing is not ancillary or secondary or derived, but is always there" (Haas, 2006, p. 7). Haas argues that Derrida wants to "deconstruct Platonic binaries--particularly...speech and writing, but also body/soul and immaterial/material" (p. 8).

So this argument on the duality of speech and writing can be applied to the presupposed duality of writing and technology. Is technology a medium for writing or do the two work collaboratively in what Haas describes as Derrida's writing as a "cultural system?" If we view writing and technology through the lens of "cultural system," then we can argue that these entities are not separate from each other--rather they are connected in a way that to ignore technology is, in effect, to ignore the process of writing and how human beings interact with this process.

"Any effect of computer networks on writing process is a result of complex interaction between the technology itself and the teachers and students actively using the networks to achieve those goals" (Neuwirth, Palmquist, Cochran, Gillespie, Hartman, & Hajduk, 1994, p. 36).

As Brown (1999) states, "the computer is simply the latest step in a long line of writing technologies." Including the pencil, right?

Phenomenology

I read your explanation yesterday about phenomenology and thought "hmm, I need to consider that more." Now, I am really intrigued by the idea of approaching the phenomenological view of this study. After reading a little more in the Schwandt book, I think you are absolutely right that it could be a fascinating perspective to take. While I'm not sure how in depth we may be able to take this viewpoint at this time, since like you said we are still so much in the moment, I think we could further develop this if we continue posting about our perceptions/feelings after the paper is complete.

Navigating the Blog

Just a suggestion: I've found it easier to navigate our posts by scrolling through the text on the "edit posts" page...the blog itself is getting a bit long. As we continue blogging, I see how the length, depth, and number of postings could become a bit overwhelming for developmental students--anyone for that matter. Then again, developmental students wouldn't be using the blog for such an in-depth, research-driven assignment.

Let's Put Penrod in the Mix

So here is the email Diane Penrod sent me (the one I talked to you about). I ordered her book, Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy, through PALCI. The book should be here in a few days. The Yoda reference at the end of the email...it's a nickname I gave her a few years ago because she is all-knowing and always available (sometimes I annoy myself with the amount of times I email her over, well, everything). So she's a good person to have in our corner--not to mention her "street cred" in scholarly research and writing, including technology and writing.

Check out the section I put in bold. I think this statement is at the root of what we are trying to discover, right? Whether developmental writers can benefit from blogging...if they are skilled enough to use this technology or if it lends more complexity to an already difficult process for basic skills writers. Plus, this issue about teachers' assumptions concerning developmental students is a critical aspect of why/why not technology is being further integrated within the process of writing.
-------------
Hey,

Just got back from an international conference in Iceland where Bill and I have been presenting our work in preparing writers for future information systems. We're quite a bit ahead of what you and your colleagues at IUP are doing, but I think I can offer you some resources. I know that blogging has not been done much with developmental writers, but mostly because of the prejudices faculty have about what "basic/developmental writers" are, not because developmental writers aren't capable of using these technologies.

Two years ago, I did an online component for McGraw Hill on blogging and basic writers. Plus, I have a book that's very well received (and a great review of it is coming out in the next issue of Computers & Composition's Tech Talk section, so says Kris Blair, the editor there) -- Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy. (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2007). I also have a new book coming out there next year, Literacy 2.0, which discusses more in depth the types of literacies changed by social networking items. And in 2009, I have a book slated for release with Heinemann titled, Pop 2.0 -- How Social Networking Changes Composition.

I had an article come out in Educational Technology, an international journal, about Web 2.0 literacies in Jan/Feb 2008. It's the foundational article for a new study coming out later this summer from the University of Helsinki on volitional media literacies. If you want to snag a copy of the article, let me know next time you're in the Boro and I'll get you one.

I think if you Google my name, you can find a whole lot of junk I have out there. Also, if you find Bill's name (Bill Wolff), he's doing amazing things with blogs in his classes here at Rowan. I'm sure if you email him, he'd be glad to talk with you about your work. He's pretty helpful that way. He's still in Europe until 6/24, so feel free to contact him after that.

See..Yoda's always busy. :)

I saw your blog, btw. Looks interesting. Mind if I post there once in a while to irritate you?

Future Research Respone

Just wanted to try out a response in a new post as opposed to in the comment section.

I think you've provided a good area for more research. I added another point as well: how a blogging community could create a power structure where certain bloggers may assume roles of authority or be in a position of authority and thereby changes the dynamic of discourse (ie. opinionated blogger, a teacher, etc.)

Annotated Bib

Dr. Pagnucci said a book chapter on collaborative writing would be find under the literacy section of the annotated bibliography. I'll plan to use the Singular Text/Plural author seminal work.

Future Research

I posted another possibility under the future research list below. I was thinking how having students review blogs from a previous semester could help demystify the process for them. For instance, if students in Dr. Pagnucci's class next semester looked at our blog, they could see how this doctoral research project unfolded. It may give them ideas about the frustrations they may face, where to look for research, and how to effectively organize time.

Comments

When you get a chance, please take a look at my comments to the meeting minutes. As this blog grows, it might be a good idea to provide heads-up posts such as these to make sure we don't lose the good communication we have going on.

E-mail v. Blog

Throughout this research, I have been thinking about the difference between e-mails and blogs. When I receive e-mails, I tend to read them and then decide whether to keep or delete them based on content. However, with the blog, there is a built in history that I can quickly review. This has been very helpful in relation to the writing process, as I can use it as my writing notebook. It helps keep me organized and helps me see the evolution of the project.

Resources on Blogs

Barclay Barrios has an interesting website that points to the growing use of blogs in the composition classroom, particularly around 2003. He also has a few neat resources.
http://www.bgsu.edu/cconline/barrios/blogs/index.html

An edited collection of essays on blogging and writing is available and very interesting. It is
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/
There are a lot of possibilities for annotation. (Maybe under teaching literacy with technology?) One I like is Remediation, Genre, and Motivation: Key Concepts for Teaching with Weblogs Kevin Brooks, Cindy Nichols, and Sybil Priebe, North Dakota State University
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/remediation_genre.html

Apparently, Blood has been an influential force in writing about blogging. She offers some historical information.
Blood, Rebecca. "Weblogs: A History and Perspective", Rebecca's Pocket. 07 September 2000. 25 October 2006. http://www.rebeccablood.net/essays/weblog_history.html

Writing as a Technology

As I was reading the technology readings for the week, I thought it may be relevant to note on our blog the extensive research and reasoning behind writing as a technology in and of itself. As we think about computers and blogs as technology that some writers (and teachers) may be wary of, we should also keep in mind that many (including Socrates) were wary of writing itself. When we think of writing as a technology, this can help guide our discussion about how blogging complements this. I know there is much more that could be said on writing as a technology, but I just wanted to mention it as a potential avenue that we may want to discuss in our paper.

Research Project Web Page

I started the required web page for our research paper. If there are things you think we should link there, let me know as you get them. If you prefer changes in the design, tell me those too. I'm thinking it won't be too extensive because most of our information will be on the blog.

You can add the link to your web page when you are on campus using this url:
http://www.people.iup.edu/rqrp/808researchproject.htm

Resource: Bibliography on Technology in Composition

Dauvan directed me to a helpful website with a bibliography on technology and composition.
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dfgwrgq3_318ck29jkhn.

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Entry Topics

Each student will be asked to find, read, and annotate 6 article/book chapters. Annotations should cover any of the following course topics. Do not pick any of these topics more than once. Do a total of 5 annotations for this part:

• literacy
• technology's impact on society
• technology-focused research
• teaching literacy with technology
• online/virtual communities
• online teaching
  

All students should annotate one dissertation chapter related to the Technology Paper they hope to write (but don't worry: if the topic of that paper eventually shifts, that will be ok!). The topic of the dissertation annotation may duplicate the topics listed above, though it does not have to be on one of those topics.

Just pick something related to your focus for your Technology Paper: a chapter from a technology-focused dissertation.

------------------------------------------------------------------

• Annotated Bibliography Guidelines

http://www.english.iup.edu/pagnucci/courses/808/coursetasks/annotatedbibliographies/default.htm

• Dr. Pagnucci's Sample Annotated Bibliography

http://www.english.iup.edu/pagnucci/courses/808/coursetasks/annotatedbibliographies/sampleannotation.htm

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• Annotated Bibliography: Teaching Literacy with Technology

Citation

Xie , Y., Fengfeng,K., & Priya, S. (2008). The effect of peer feedback for blogging on college students' reflective learning processes. Internet and Higher Education, 11 (1), 18-25.

Journal Article Summary

This empirical study wanted to answer the following questions:

1. Will weblogging over time reinforce participants’ reflective thinking?
2. Will students who give and receive peer feedback on their blogs exhibit higher levels of reflection than those who do not give or receive such feedback?
3. Will participants’ reflective thinking level predict their learning approaches or stages, hence their learning achievement?

The participants totaled 44 first-year undergraduate students who were enrolled in an introductory political science course at a northeastern land-grant university. Thirty-three percent of the participants were female. None of the students had ever used a blog previous to this study.

All participants opened a blog account on blogger.com using teacher-assigned pseudonyms. The control group blogged without any feedback, while the treatment group blogged and shared feedback with a partner.

The results of the study found that students in the treatment group who sent and received peer-feedback on the blog did not reflect as well as those students in the control group who blogged alone. However, the study also suggested that when students kept a blog-journal over a period of time, they increased their ability to think reflectively. In addition, students who illustrated stronger patterns of reflective thinking also received higher grades than students who aren’t as effective with reflection.

Journal Article Assessment

The researchers offer an effective argument that when students keep a blog-based journal they increase their ability to reflect and thereby earn better grades. The study was backgrounded by in-depth theoretical claims about peer-review, reflection, and collaboration. The study itself addressed its research questions and even discounted claims from other studies that suggested peer review aids the reflective process. Perhaps if the study included more female participants, the result would have been different, particularly in the realm of the effectiveness of peer-feedback.

Reflection on the Journal Article

This study provides good data for my research because it does suggest that online-blogging helps students think more reflectively which can help change their schema and allows for the student to create knowledge. I find it interesting that the study shows the drawback of peer-review, and I would like to see more research in this area. I wonder if this study had been performed on first-year composition students—in relation to blogging as part of the writing process—if the results would have been different.

Key Journal Article Quotations

Effect of Blogging

The findings of this study confirmed that if students are constantly engaged in journaling/blogging activities, their reflective thinking level demonstrated by their journal entries would increase over time (p. 23).

Roles as Participants and Readers

…when students pause and become readers of their own writing, they have another chance to speculate on these ideas and test their viability according to their existing schema. In order to articulate their ideas, students assume roles of participants and readers so that the ‘learning and representation of the original learning both occur’ at any time in Moon’s model (p. 23).

Effect of Peer Feedback

Previous researchers (Slavin, 1995) pointed out that peer feedback on journaling should be constantly moderated to reduce off-track and passive behaviors in interactive discourse, and that structured protocols for peer feedback should be used while ensuring opportunities for equal participation and a ‘trusting and non-threatening relationship among peers’(Eisen, 2001) (pgs. 23-24).


** Sources they used that we may want to review:

Eisen, M. –J. (2001). Peer-based professional development viewed through the lens of
transformative learning. Holistic Nursing Practice, 16 (1), 30.

Slavin, R.E. (1995). Cooperative learning: Theory, research and practice (2nd ed.).

Resource: Conference Article "Blogging as a Social Activity"

I found an interesting conference proceeding paper, available at http://www.darrouzet-nardi.net/bonnie/pdf/Nardi_blog_social_activity.pdf. "Blogging as social activity, or, would you let 900 million people read your diary?" Proceedings of the 2004 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work, Chicago, Illinois, USA, Pages: 222 - 231, Year of Publication: 2004

Eventually, I may do an annotated bib on this article, I'm just not sure under which section.

Here is a section that is very relevant to our research.

"Thinking by writing"
"A number of informants said they used the blog to work through the writing process. Alan, a historian of science, explained that once having started a blog, it “forced” him to keep writing, a
discipline he deemed important for his work. “I am one of those people for whom writing and thinking are basically synonymous,” he observed. Having an audience stimulated or “forced” him to write and thus to think. While “thinking” might seem a solitary activity, or one not quite social, in blogging the presence of the audience and the writer’s consciousness of the audience clearly introduce the social into an individual’s thought process (as Vygotsky argued, more generally, seventy years ago [18]). "

"'Thinking by writing' embeds cognition in a social matrix in which the blog is a bridge to others for getting explicit feedback, but also a means by which to regulate one’s own behavior (writing) through connecting with an audience."

"Evan called blogging “thinking by writing." ... Writing was a social process in that he posted his thoughts to the blog where he had an audience, and continued the discussion face to face with his wife, after she had had a chance to read the blog."

"The writing and posting to an audience fed back on each other so that the thinking needed to
write the poems was “helped” by the posting of the poems."

Databases for Resources

The librarian recommended some of the best databases at IUP related to composition and education.
1. MLA International Bibliography
2. LLBA
3. ERIC
4. Digital Dissertations
If the full text isn't there, you can check Pilot for holdings in other databases. If it isn't avaialble at the library, you can request a copy through ILLIAD (for interlibrary loan).

Central Theoretical Framework/Epistemology

1. Pragmatism
Dewey - lots of material about using pragmatism in education
2. Constructivism (Social Constructivism?)
Vgotsky is a social constructivist who focuses much of his attention on education

There is also some things out there that connect Dewey and Vgotsky, so that may be a good starting point.

Others to Consider
1. Empiricism
2. Phenomenology
interesting - say more about your ideas on this

OK....In Foundations for Research: Methods of Inquiry in Education and the Social Sciences, Kathleen deMarrais writes, "Phenomenological researchers create contexts in which participants are encouraged to reflect (my emphasis) retrospectively on an experience they have already lived through and describe this experience in as much detail as possible..." (p. 56).

Applied to our study, we are both the researchers and the participants. We are experiencing this phenomenon of blogging in a contextual way--through technology--in the moment. And then we are reflecting on this "life" experience through detailed responses to questions we are posing to each other and ourselves. This post, for example, is in direct response to your suggestion that I elaborate on this subject. Our lifeworld consists within the blog-o-sphere (hah!) as well as in our "real" life in academia as we type on the computer and research terms for this project. I guess one might argue that because we are cataloguing our experiences as we go, we are defeating the ideology behind phenomenology. That we are reflecting and mussing up the experience before its essence has had a chance to permeate our beings. But I still think a valid argument could be made that we are using phenomenology.

3. Postmodernism
4. Utilitarianism (May be a bit of a stretch)
5. Humanism (May be a bit of a stretch)

Terminology

1. Developmental Writer: Any student--ESL, Generation 1.5, adult learner, native speaker--who does not possess the confidence and/or skill set to write standard academic discourse. For the purpose of this project, the definition also includes grad students who must learn new terminology, concepts, and structure/guidelines to write within higher levels of academia.

2. First-Generation Student: (Do we need to define this?)

3. Writing Process: a recursive approach to writing that involves some form of prewriting (freewrite, list, cluster, scratch outline), drafting, revising, editing, and submitting.

4. Blog: A Web site that can be public or private and is typically comprised of reflective, journal-style entries or other forms of personalized written discourse.

5. Process Blogging: Using a blog as an integral part of the writing process.

Concept Map

So I found a simple way to create a concept map by using Excel. I made one for the epistemologies we are using as the framework for this project. But when I used google docs, the spreadsheet appeared, but my work didn't. Maybe when I am on campus, I can upload the document to my Web site and then post the link in the blog. Or maybe we don't need an electronic concept map at all.

Future Research

• Graduate student fears about collaboration
• Use of blogs for academic writing groups for graduate students, young academics, or experienced researchers
• Use of blogs in FYC and developmental comp (further study)
• How new students could review previous student blogs to help demystify the writing process
• The impact of interpersonal power structures within a blogging commnity--the role of authority

List of Terms/Ideas

• Blog
• Collaborative Writing
• Development Writing
• Developmental Writer vs. Basic Writer (which is a better term?)
• Writing Process
• Process Blogging
• Learning Community?
• Invasion of Privacy (Clustrmap)
• Public Forum
• Peer Review (Good or Bad...too many voices)
• Teacherless Environment
• Access (Write anywhere, anytime / Some students don't have access to technology)
• Technology Literacy (Different Levels)
• Assessment
• Alternative Assessment (Multitrait rubrics)
• Public vs. Private (Censorship/Authentic Self)
• Bullying

Evolving Blog Posts

We discussed having several blog posts that could be evolving. But now I am wondering whether we need to keep better track of our actual writing process. Should we date additions to original posts, or should we just use the blog as part of the process and not worry about when the blog posting was changed/modified. Or, do we need to copy the post and create a new posting with the same name and new date each time we add so we know when something new is added? While I like the idea of just changing the post, I think we may want the data about how/when the new information was added.

Thoughts on Collaboration

I read today that students (particularly grad students) are terrified of collaboration. Due to the competitive nature of graduate work, they do not want to work with others. Before coming here and working on this project, I probably would have been in complete agreement. I would have said, "I just want to do my own work." But, when I think of my own writing past, I see how colored it is by all of the collaboration it entailed. My work at the hospital forced me to work with others to find the right tone, include the right vocabulary, and become accustomed to people changing my writing. Also, when I think of my work at the university, much of it is collaborative. I think it is an interesting strand of conversation to think about collaboration within the university, and how graduate schools should help prepare students to collaborate as they enter the academic community. We see so many co-authored journal articles. Conventions generally feature panel presentations. The more I consider it, the more important I think it is that graduate schools consider how important collaboration is going to be in our careers.

Comments...

I think I am leaning more toward writing original posts--even if they are in response to your posts--rather than using the "comments" option because with original posts you can go back and revise as well as use spellcheck.

That said, I've written the last few "comments" in Word first and then pasted the text into the comments section. That process allowed me to use spellcheck. But I read my last comment and I noticed I forgot "the" in one of my sentences. Technology only goes so far...

Technology

I realized that it is not possible to share Word docs and pdf files through Blogger. But, a potential solution for this is to use google docs as a way to share those types of documents, and post the link through here. We can even use google docs as our word processor so we can make changes on the document itself without sending back and forth. Then it truly is collaborative. We can comment about our thoughts on the blog while at the same time making changes to the actual document. Seems like a pretty nifty solution.

Meeting Minutes: June 14

Wow! What a productive meeting. I can't believe how much ground we covered and I think we are really on our way to a focused project. I couldn't believe my watch when I left the library and saw how fast the afternoon had gone. I think that is just reinforcing the idea that this collaborative project is adding an element of excitement that wouldn't have been there.

So, I am going to briefly list some notes from our meeting so we can refer to them as needed.

We talked about justifications for why we wanted to study this issue. This included our own interest in using blogs as a part of the writing process with students, particularly our developmental writing classes. We also discussed that students are familiar with technology, but some may not be as familiar as they should be. We talked about the blog as a place for topic development and working through difficult stages of the writing process. The blog may give them a place to start focusing their topics.

We see ourselves as developmental writers because we are new to the demands of doctoral writing, as well as some of the terminology. We are confronted with difficult material, and for the first time in our education are feeling how our developmental students may feel as they approach college writing. We don't want to look unintelligent and use the terminology incorrectly, and we know we have much to learn.

We discussed our diverse backgrounds and how this has helped us generate ideas and approach the research in different ways. At the same time, this adds an element of interest, because on the surface people may say that we seem like unlikely (or even incompatible) partners due to our diverse backgrounds.

Our main goal with the paper is to write a paper collaboratively using a blog as a part of the writing process. We will analyze whether we felt it was a helpful tool for developmental writers.

We came up with some terms we need to define and theory ideas (social constructivism/pragmatism/collaborative ethnography) which will be reflected in upcoming posts.

We discussed how blogs could be used in the freewriting portion of the writing process, as well as each step along the way. We also discussed how the blog could be a place for students to not worry about the "how" of writing, but rather for them just to practice writing.

In the paper we will comment on first hand experience, what experts say, and using the blog as a partner in the writing process. We talked about the necessary format of the paper and how we can help students see the process through the blog and how it may help them further understand audience.

With today's students, the secondary discourse is technology. By integrating technology into the course, we show students we value their discourse and can help bridge this discourse into the classroom.

We talked about implications we have noticed so far for us as teachers, including breaking the paper into parts, how using the blog has forced us to "practice what I preach" and really participate in the writing process in a complete way, how it has made us more excited about collaborative learning. I also enjoyed your point about adding dimension to the writing process, and think this can be an excellent off shoot of our project. This third person/dimension gives us the opportunity to organize, record thoughts, the ability to "play" with our writing, ask questions and direct writing, and make writing more approachable.

We must keep in mind that not all students are as good with technology as we may expect. We also will need to help them learn how to use the blog effectively.