Paper Progress

I had my interview with my professor on Friday and talked about my "FINAL" PAPER. 


I think it went well and I am eager to explore some of the avenues that I was contemplating and some that he brought to my attention. I want to add an excerpt about incorporating facebook into the modern classroom (especially because it has been my favorite to experience in the classroom as a student). Of course, all of the media has their own advantages and disadvantages and need to be used in class to accomplish certain goals and expectation.

Some of the future avenues:

1. Add facebook section (I really want a personal interview before I include this)
2. Explore more about my assessment section- this was something I only dipped in and it is something that I could really use to argue as an advantage for English Language Learners, as well as how current technology will make current assessments invalid so there is a need for change
3. Something that really caught my professor's attention in my paper was a tantalizing hint at how technology affects student-teacher relationships (this could be explored positively or negatively)

I will need to proceed with great caution in some of these explorations of my paper. A lot of the topics and issues I bring up could easily become it's own ten page research paper. I need to keep a tight reign on  my topic and 'sharpen' my thesis.

As we continue with our paper in class we were asked to think about how to reach intended audiences best. I wrote my paper with a specific audience in mind-- high school teachers and professors. All teachers could certainly be included, but have a STRONG inclination towards professors become of the minimal barriers they would have to overcome to implement technology in their classrooms. Parents become less and less protective of their children as they get older (typically) and with a classroom full of 'adults' they have the authority and society expects them to have the wisdom to manage their own life. (Professors do not have to worry about getting parent's permission/ release forms).

A lot of my research has been found in journals specifically geared for a teacher audience. Interestingly enough most of the journals are maintained by professors. Ironically these journals do not have a great online presence, but it does exist. Obviously getting my paper published in one of these journals would be ideal for reaching my intended audiences; however, I do not think my paper is the right style because it is usually the Technology articles are examples of how the author (a teacher) implemented certain technology in their classroom.

Another idea would be to publish an electronic book then forward it to all of the current social contacts we have as a class and any future social contacts we will have. Food for thought as we explore the idea of inserting our voice into the current conversations.