Virtual Homework?

FLASHBACK

The year was 2006 - texting is is growing but is still primarily for teens and techies. High schools do have computer labs, but more sites are blocked than allowed. MySpace is all the rage and kids can't get enough of the flash game Kitten Cannon. I was teaching tenth grade ELA that year.

I was fortunate in that I got to choose which Shakespeare text I taught. She's the Man came out that year so I knew that Twelfth Night would resonate with the students. 

Because of My Space and teens now hiding their cell phones in their purses and book bags to text, I took a chance at trying to create a virtual space for my students to use. I created a google.pages site for each of my classes and assigned small groups a specific character to make summaries of what had happened through each act of the play. 

This worked to some extent, but the main issue was that each group needed the admin password to add and create pages to the site that I set up. Most students were clumsy at best at creating webpages. It caused a lot of chaos and confusion.

FAST FORWARD (seven years)

Facebook has taken hold. Almost everyone has at least one profile. MySpace is a very specialized site for artists and musicians. Facebook offers the option to create multiple group pages with very little effort; sites are easily created and deleted.

The question I ask Myself as I get ready to again teach high school students: Would I expect them to post to a FB page? 

The answer - Yes... and... No. Seven years later, I expect so much more form them. I want hyperlinks, I want Prezzies, I want to see that they are plugged in and know how to work their phones, how to get the most from their tablets and their computers, I expect that they control some space in the cloud.

College and Career Ready Is Not What It Used To Be...

Even though I am a full time graduate student, this past year I have not purchased a single physical textbook. Instead I opted to buy an eBook reader and get all of my textbooks electronically. The result so far is that I have saved a lot of money (included the cost of the reader). I really don't see this changing for future students.

In my own work experience, I have occupied office space in Faridabad, India for about 18 months without ever stepping outside of the United States. The world is shrinking rapidly and as educators it is a priority that we not only teach our students to work virtually but also how to make sure they understand how to do it. It's really not an option anymore.