Blogs as Collaborative Writing Tools
Blogs are widely embraced as a tool that has revolutionized publishing on the web. It’s easy and it’s fun to keep a blog, two elements that are always attractive. I like blogs, but what I’m going to write about in this essay is a way in which I think blogs don’t work; or, at least, a way in which blogs didn’t work in my teaching in the way I tried to allow it to happen. Just to telegraph my points clearly: First, and I only want to touch on this point briefly, I learned that the logic extreme of the “student-centered classroom” doesn’t work that well, even with electronic tools that you would think would facilitate it and even in a class of advanced students who you would think would know better.
Second and more importantly, web log technologies like blogger are designed to be single-authored online journals, dynamic sites that nonetheless publish static texts written by one person. While this sort of writing has a place in writing classes (and I’ll talk about that too in my presentation), I don’t think it is a substitute for the dynamic and conversational exchange made possible by a rather “old fashioned” technology, email—specifically, a listserv-style mailing list discussion.
(Here I gave a brief description of the class I discussed, “English 517: Rhetoric and Culture of Cyberspace.”) Here’s the description I gave to my students about the blog writing project:
“For this project, students will break into groups and, collaboratively, create a blog on a topic of group interest and one that makes connections to the subjects of the class in the broadest possible ways. We’ll be using the “blogger” interface, which is linked to the class home page. It’s quite easy to use, so I am...
... middle of paper ...
...s an important point to make because a lot of the blogs that I’ve seen and heard about recently seem to be that: porting over the discussion of a mailing list over to a blog space.
I think that ultimately, most blogs work best as single-authored and/or static texts. There is a reason why they are often called online journals or diaries. And even while it is very possible to have a multi-authored blog of sorts (I’m thinking of kairosnews or hotwired, for example), these sites are more or less wire services, they aren’t “collaborative” in the sense of people writing texts together, and they aren’t really “dynamic” in the sense of exchange of ideas and discussion with each other.
I don’t know if I really have much of a conclusion to offer beyond this. Blogs are great spaces for electronic publishing, but they are not a substitute for electronic discussion.
Throughout the course of semester, I have developed many essential skills as a media text creator. We’ve been asked to do at least one of the media text once throughout this semester allowing us to fix our past mistakes and improve upon that. Challenges I will face throughout this assignment is I longer have the book in hand with me, so I may have to go back through previous assignments/blog post to find specific quotes that I’ve. I may have to retrieve the book back and refresh my memory of the book as it’s been a couple months since I had last finished the book. The start of creating my web page may be a bit difficult to get started with because we’ve dealt with majority of blogs this semester, so I may have trouble getting started with how I want to explain/showcase the purpose for an example to the audience.
From my perspective, a wise thing to do would be to first do a thorough analysis of the website. Go through and see what the weak points are and try to analyze a solution. Aim Higher College has deployed an open source blog package. This package uses a database backend and allows users to create user IDs, sites, and their own content to post it. Recently, the service has had off-campus users who have posted links that appear to be directed towards university resources, but they are getting redirected toward off-campus malware sites. It seems that the website the college has deployed has become target of a DoS attack or other malware attacks.
According to Bandman & Bandman (1995), critical thinking is defined as the rational examination of ideas, inferences, assumptions, principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, statements, beliefs and actions. In this subject ‘Critical Thinking in Nursing’ has emphasized critical thinking as an essential nursing skill and its definition of critical thinking have evolved over the years. In short, the general definition of critical thinking is self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking. Every nurses must cultivate rigorous standards for critical thinking, however they cannot avoid completely the situatedness and structures of the clinical traditions and practices. They must make decisions and act quickly according to
In earlier times, the acquisition and spreading of knowledge was not used to improve society. Instead it was used to have control and to exclude certain groups. As one could imagine, there needed to be a change in the way that the education system was set up. In her essay, “Project Classroom Makeover”, Cathy Davidson discusses how the “one size fits all” model of learning hinders students from learning in a new and modernized way. She suggests the notion that using technology to teach and learn can be effective in many ways. Davidson shows that using technology presents the opportunity for a traditional classroom to become more inclusive and creative. The “democratization of knowledge” is the improvement and modernization of how information is taught and learned. Having a modernized and advanced learning system is a vital point for students because they gain insight and experience with what is considered a society dominated by advanced technology. Technology has become a dominant resource in the 21st century which makes it a relevant and essential factor needed to succeed in the world of education and
“The fact that critical thinking relies upon criteria suggests that it is well-founded, structured, and reinforced thinking, as opposed to “uncritical” thinking, which is amorphous, haphazard, and unstructured.”2 For instance, it is important in the academic field because it facilitates the individual to analyze, evaluate, and explain their thought in a clear manner. However, having this knowledge of logical inquiry doesn’t exempt people from making mistakes. Character traits such as bias can affect the effectiveness of the critical thinking process. Critical thinking skills can also be used by nurses during patient assessments. Through critical thinking, nurses can come to conclusive diagnosis or decisions of the situation at hand. Some Colleges now-a-days are including this skills in their curriculum to continue the professional development of their
Price, Leah. "American Girl." New York Times Book Review. 12 Dec. 2010: 21. eLibrary. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Lunney, M. (2010). Use of critical thinking in the diagnostic process. International Journal Of Nursing Terminologies & Classifications,21(2), 82-88. doi:10.1111/j.1744-618X.2010.01150.x
Caring promotes patient health, individual growth, and stimulates coping skills, and therefore must always be emphasized in holistic patient care (Zimmerman & Phillips). In addition to its value in patient care it is also a central component of a nurses critical thinking process (Zimmerman & Phillips, 2000). “According to Brookfield (1987), critical thinking is a process of active inquiry which combines reflective analysis with informed action and has an emotive or affective component that is central to this process”(Zimmerman & Phillips, 2000, p. 223). Thus, when a nurse is aware of their patient’s holistic needs they are better able to care for their patient and in doing so enhance their critical thinking abilities (Zimmerman &
Throughout the years, critical thinking has been defined, interpreted, and implemented in a variety of professions. The nursing profession demands the use of critical thinking for the safety of patients and staff members. With plenty of practice, it can be taught and learned, but it is key that the learning process starts at the beginning of nursing school.
Critical thinking is defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. Critical thinking enables the nurse to consider multiple possibilities in clinical situations; identify alternatives to the data, problems, and interventions; weigh the consequences of different alternate actions; and arrive at sound decisions (Case, 1994; Oermann, 1998; Oermann &Gaberson, 1998; Whiteside, 1997). By using critical thinking exercises in orientation, continuing education programs, and interactions with staff, nurse educators and administrators can better prepare nurses to meet the challenges of today's practice.
Critical thinking and decision-making are key pieces involved in nursing care. Critical Thinking is the process in which questioning and analyzing ones thinking occurs. It is “the rational examination of ideas, inferences, assumptions, principles, arguments, conclusions, issues, statements, beliefs and actions” of a nurse (Coutts, 2014, p. 28). Critical thinking is more then making a decision, Roberts and Peterson (2013) purposes that critical thinking reflect a nurse’s wider perspective extending beyond problem solving. The process of critical thinking allows nurses to distinguish between significant observations and insignificant observations made during patient care, providing a foundation for decision-making (Roberts & Peterson, 2013, p. 86). “Clinical decision-making is a complex and dynamic process, occurring within a larger context and drawing from various dimensions of knowledge, in which nurses collect and organize information in order to form conclusions and choose actions, with the intent of creating the best outcomes for clients” (CRNBC, 2014, slide 19). The purpose of this paper is to describe a decision made in practice, explore the decision using the situated clinical decision-making framework and the practice implications involved.
Fanselow, Julie. “Community Blogging: The New Wave of Citizen Journalism.” National Civic Review 97.4 (2008): 24-29.
“Critical thinking in nursing is an essential component of professional accountability and quality nursing care” (Masters, 2017, p. 217). Nurses apply critical thinking by using their intellectual reasoning to prevent unsafe practice. It allows nurses to study and interpret the data appropriately to make a judgement about the patient’s condition or the achievement of a particular outcome. The ability for nurses to critically think enhances the coordination of patient care by developing and applying strong clinical skills in a safe, organized environment. It is my belief that I utilize critical thinking skills to reflect on the implications and consequences of circumstances that may arise during a problem or to understand a patient’s condition
Critical thinking in nursing process is a process by which the nurse with critical spirit can obtain, organize, and analyze information, apply it with experience in a real scenario and also make informed decisions (Potter & Perry).Critical thinking and its importance has been examined carefully through the years by many scholars, because it is an essential element in the nursing practice (Edwards,2007).Explanation and description from critical thinking scholars have coincided, making stress upon the three elements mentioned above. We observe that implementing and making decisions are the cornerstones of critical thinking in life in general and in the nursing practice in particular. Hence, critical thinking entails the thinking process, not just problem solving or decision making. We will study the importance of these elements.
Do you ever think about how much technology has changed the way we work, learn, play, and even think? Technology is a major beneficiary to society; especially in the classroom where we get the opportunity to learn and grow. In recent years, schools have begun implementing tablets and other devices in the classroom to better student’s education. The use of technology in the classroom provides more of a personalized learning experience and gives students a widespread availability to engage in learning. Technology is necessary in today’s modern globe, it is basically “the pen and paper of our time and the lens through which we experience much of our world” (Warlick, 2013). Technology is not just considered the “internet”, it is so much greater than that. Overall, it enhances the quality of education and engages students deeper than ever before. With all the significant gains, why would people argue that technology hinders students more than it helps? Critics may try to repute the use of technology in the classroom but I believe what really matters “is the way we use it, the context that we use it in, and the learners who we use it for” (Chong, 2012).