Good for Nothing
“It has been a common saying of physicians in England, that a cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing”—Samuel Johnson quoted in James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Digital Access Literacy
Dear Reader,
I am taking moocmooc, which is a one week MOOC (massive open online course).
Today's assignment asks us to create conversations related to today's course materials. I want to focus on teachers and their role in creating safe learning spaces. In today's reading Jesse Stommel says, "The notion of participant pedagogy does not undermine or eliminate, but rather clarifies, the role of the teacher, which is to model -- to embolden other learners to experiment more (and more wildly). The other role of the teacher is to provide a safe space for the activity of the class -- a safe space for the risks students are asked to take." I appreciate these roles and would like to offer an addition: another role of the teacher is to model accessibility through universal design (accessible to all) so that students learn how to consider accessibility, in it's broadest sense, and create accessible digital work. Teachers could model what I am calling "digital access literacy," something I want my students to own.
Please join me in a Twitter conversation, which I can manage more easily today than I can a chat on this blog. Please use the hashtag #access along with #moocmooc , and thanks for reading! I am eager to hear your thoughts.
Dale
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Digital Annotations
As more of my students are using digital texts, something I do, as well, because it is much easier to carry a tablet than one, two, or three bags of books, I want to ensure that I offer them digital annotation strategies. It is also important to me that these strategies are accessible because I want my students to create small-group and class annotations of the texts we read. In short, my students need to be able to create their own annotations while also being able to access those of their peers. Many of my students read their texts form their mobile devices, which means I want a tool that would work equally well on a smart phone, tablet or a computer and that is accessible for those using the tool to create annotations and to those reading the annotations.
I found one of the most useful ways to introduce my students to electronic annotations is http://todaysmeet.com/ because it is easy to use and resembles texting and tweeting. The image after this text is a screen shot of a collaboration space in TodaysMeet. Posted text is on the left side of the screen and a textbox for writing text to be posted is on the left side of the screen. There is a lot of white space in the page layout and the layout is uncluttered.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Moving
Sunday, November 28, 2010
I continue to work on several projects that explore aspects of national and cultural identity in the eighteenth century. Editing work remains one of my interests as I continue to enjoy my work as the University Thesis and Dissertation editor and my work as a foundation communications editor. Although I do not look forward to saying good-bye to my classes, I do look forward to the promise of time the holiday break holds for my own scholarship and, if I am lucky, some time outside on my bike, in the frigid Pacific on my bodyboard, in the mountains on my snowshoes, and some time with friends and family around copious hot cups.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Now that I have successfully denied the onset of fall by enjoying the crisp air, gray skies setting off orange leaves, the return of ocean swells, and eating pomegranates, I am sad to say good-bye to fall. This was a good fall. I had the privilege of teaching to upper-division discursive writing courses this fall at California State University, East Bay and two critical thinking courses at Las Positas College. I look forward to keeping in touch with my students. This fall I also had the opportunity to attend the East-Central American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies Conference.
I gave a paper: “With Anger, Zeal and Love: Samuel Johnson on the Inutility of Useful Passion.” What I enjoy about regional conferences is the feedback I receive on my continuing projects, and this conference did not disappoint. The paper is a section of a larger project, and I always benefit from feedback. Opportunities abounded this fall; in October I participated in the Colonial Peru Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific Perspectives Colloquium, hosted by University of Wisconsin, Madison, at which I gave a paper: “How Peru Comes to Signify in English Eighteenth-Century Print.”
I received useful feedback, and made some new friends. This was the first time I took my work on how Peru comes to signify in eighteenth-century print to scholars outside of the American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies national and regional conferences. I met wonderful people and fell in love with the campus. I am fickle because my work with the eighteenth century has taken me across the country and to Canada, and I fall in love with all these places.
I am looking forward to a winter of playing in the white water—the waves are too big for my lack of skill with my body board, riding my bike in the early morning cold followed by hot peppermint tea, playing Scrabble via the Internet with my niece in Spain, and working on several projects. As for teaching, I will have to wait and see what shakes out in the land of Furloughs.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Ready, Set, Go Summer!
I am looking forward to a summer of research, writing, teaching, body boarding, cycling, hiking, gardening and playing with technology.
This summer I am giving a presentation at the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) International Conference:
Regular Session (30 minutes):An Open
Invitation: Creating Universal Access with YouTube Videos Track: Track 1:
Innovations in Online Teaching and Learning Presenters: Dale Ireland
Using technology to foster universal
access in online classrooms allows students access to the curriculum, to one
another and to the instructor. YouTube videos offer unique opportunities, while
also posing distinct challenges because the videos are rarely created with
universal access in mind. This session explores how to use such videos, ensuring
that they are universally accessible, so that students have greater access to
one another, the curriculum and the instructor. <http://mic09.merlot.org/program/index.php?sort=date&date=2009-08-15>
I will be finishing two book reviews, one article and several conference papers this summer. My summer will keep me close to Samuel Johnson and eighteenth-century Peru. I will spend one week in New Hampshire with my sister and her family, which should put a skip into my step.
I am looking forward to my summer classes and the joys that come with summer teaching: warm weather and fresh summer fruit during class breaks, at which I have a chance to chat with students about their other classes, work, families and communities.
Ah, summer!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Montreal 2008
One of the joys of teaching online is that when you get invigorated by a paper you can share your enthusiasm immediately with your students. I also came home with knew ideas about texts to bring into my classrooms and ways to use them.
I was able to spend time with Jack, Laura and their good friend Chris. We took in walks, shared meals and enjoyed the city. Sean and I enjoyed our time with our friends, including our table mates at the conference's Saturday banquet.
I gave a paper, "Samuel Johnson’s Distancing Antiquity through the New World," Saturday morning, and we flew home Sunday, Oct. 19th.