Teaching through Technology
As technology becomes such an integral part of society, we
must learn to also make it an integral part of the classroom, especially
writing classes. 60 Minutes came to the CSUDH campus recently to discuss how apps and their
content are designed to be addictive. According to Tristan Harris, a former
Google product manager, smartphones are like slot machines, making the student
increasingly curious about the number of likes or comments they receive on a
post or picture. It becomes a constant desire that is reinforced by the
immediate response from followers that app users are able to generate. Collaborative writing assignments are an excellent
way to incorporate writing and apps in the classroom. We can begin an essay,
short story, or novel and have the students continue writing from there. It
offers them the opportunity to write in a low stakes collaborative manner, but
engages their fixation (addiction) to social media. It can also incorporate
various levels of discourse and become a writing of the students' choosing and
liking. Once they like what they are writing about, they will put more effort
into the task, ensuring that they like what they write, which is the first step
toward “good” writing.
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