Lector Gugeliense

In finding a Latin title for my post, I was reminded of how the Latin words for "read" and "choice" can look so similar. A "lector" is a reader, as in the English word for someone who reads at a church service, but a "lectus" is something chosen, like our word election.
This goes straight to the heart of using a Google Reader; it's a new tool for making choices about what to read on the web.

Just wanted take a moment to share how setting up a Google Reader was fun if only because I somehow managed to out-tech a very tech savvy friend of mine. We had a good laugh about how the reader of dead languages learned a new web tool before the software engineer had even heard of it.

What the Google Reader did was create a page where the blogs, columnists, and websites I follow are all updated in one place. Instead of me going out into the web, the web comes to me. It's a little overwhelming and easy to be inundated. However, I think if I carefully sort through my RSS subscriptions, keep them well pruned, I'll find that it's a useful tool for staying current in the field.

Reading about RSS feeds in Will Richardson's "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms," he gave instructions for how to subscribe to certain topics in current events using the advanced news search option at Google news.

Now, Latin isn't a subject that we often associate with current events. However, many people come to learn the Latin language because they are fascinated by Roman material culture, by ancient archaeology. Archaeological finds do appear in the news. Usually I find these articles by dumb luck or because friends found them by dumb luck and knew to pass them along. Now with a news subscription on my Google reader for ancient Roman archaeology, I'm reading fascinating articles about very recent discoveries.




And they aren't trivial discoveries either. Here's an article from MSNBC about a Carthaginian warship discovered on the Mediterranean sea floor. This is a vessel sailed over 2000 years ago and sunk in combat in the final battle of the First Punic war, a conflict that dramatically shaped Western history. We could all be speaking languages derived from Carthaginian right now if things had turned the other way.
For all students of history, both young and old, sometimes the physical evidence draws us in and provides a sense of awe that written accounts do not. I know I could use an archaeology feed like this to really reach some of my students who aren't connecting with the history and the culture through texts. In fact, there's no reason they can't subscribe to a relevant RSS on their own and teach me a thing or two. There's great potential for rich, student directed learning using a Google reader.

Convenite!

I know our course is on webtools, using the internet for communication and networking, but I just wanted to make a quick endorsement of real face to face networking. It's great to be able to get in touch with someone at any time through email and social networks. It's great to find relevant Twitter feeds or blogs and read the thoughts of professionals and educators whom you might never meet in person. But meeting them in person is more fun. If you find a conference or convention relevant to your field, I highly recommend attending.

Over Columbus weekend, I was fortunate enough to connect with colleagues and old friends at the Classical Association of the Atlantic States (CAAS) conference in New Jersey. It was a lot of travel time, but I'm glad I went. Maybe this is something that only a small, specialized field like Classics can do, but the conference was a great mix of scholars, professors, booksellers, writers, high school Latin teachers, graduate students and undergrads. The panels were therefore on very diverse in topics and and had diverse potential applications in my own studies and work. Everyone had something to offer and we all learned a lot from each other.

As convenient as internet networking can be, networking in person is a truly great experience. Try to find those opportunities to come together with fellow educators and make real connections!

Titio. Titiemusne?

I have recently signed up for a Twitter account. My handle is MsEffundatrix (my name, Latinisized).

I'm interested to learn more about this webtool. It may not be a good fit for me. My prose has been called Proustian, so 140 characters may not be the right thing for me. Still, I'm very optimistic about the possibilities for personal use and life-long learning.

However, I worry about asking my students to join Twitter before they are ready to manage the personal information they share. Twitter makes it easy to let a whole world of people know exactly what you're thinking in just an instant without much time for reflection. It takes experience to determine what is safe and appropriate to share with the world wide web.
That is not to say that adults do not have to learn this skill also. Perhaps many of our students are more savvy than adults when it comes to internet sharing. However, even the most luddite adult has had opportunities to forge his own identity and the permutations of that identity in each of the communities in which he participates.
An adolescent or pre-adolescent is still in the process of creating her primary adult identity. If she is still developing in her cocoon, I do not want my course requirements to push her out of her shell before she is ready. Her development should not be complicated by having it take place in the public eye. So I worry about asking students to put themselves in a position where they are expected to share themselves and their thoughts regularly and instantaneously.

On the other hand, I do believe students have to enter the wider world at some point. It's just a matter of when. They should learn to move beyond the cliques and social circles or their own high school. Taking part in a larger internet community, outside of their Facebook friends, could really expand their horizons. If they learn to follow current events, influential writers, politicians, and connect to those who also follow these Twitterers, this could be a new community of learners for our students. A very exciting prospect worth teachers' consideration.

We also have to consider the role of technology in the classroom. When we use webtools, are we using them to teach technological literacy, or are we using them to reach students where they are? This article in the Washington Post points out that Twitter is not very popular with teens. Using Twitter in the classroom does not reach students where they already are. It is a new medium, a new skill for them.
If an educator is already a successful user of Twitter, has found it very useful for her own professional development and life-long learning, than she is ready to share it with her students. But if the educator is still learning Twitter for herself, or has found it to be unhelpful, there's little reason to bring it into her classroom.

If Twitter is used in the classroom, there are many potential uses. Here are some of the ones I found in this article by Gabriela Grosseck and Carmen Holotescu that I like in particular:
~ Promoting Blogs: if you already use a blog for your class, instantly let everyone know about updates
~ Quick Announcements: if you feel comfortable being in constant contact with students, Twitter can be checked on computer or phone for up to date information
~ Research: especially on current events and developments in the news
~ Succinct responses: learning how to communicate quickly and precisely is a very important skill. I'm not sure I've mastered it myself; I tend to ramble. If the instructor creates a specific learning activity based around succinct communication, Twitter with its 140 character limit may be a useful tool.

Twitter is not the only microblogging tool available to educators. Micro Mobs could also be used. As Mr. Byrne explains, Micro Mobs can be used to create a public or private micromessaging network. If you're worried about using a public service like Twitter for more private announcements meant for only your students and their families, or your coworkers, this might be a great alternative.