Monday, December 5, 2016

Almost Done

I can't believe I am already heading into my last full week of the semester. What a semester it has been! The ups and downs are subject matter enough for a [reflective] post of their own.

Last week, we did an activity in class that I borrowed from another Teaching Associate... "Wasting Time on the Internet". I chose this activity as we've focused a lot in the last couple of weeks on social media, sexting/texting, our online presence, and this seemed a way to bring it all together. It also gave them fodder for a final mini-essay (see prompt below). I had them all follow these guidelines for 45 minutes in class on Thursday (they were asked ahead of time to bring a laptop or other internet capable device):

1. No talking. You may communicate through email, text message, or social media only.
2. No TV episodes or movies. The point of the exercise is to see where the internet will take you, so follow links if they look appealing, check your social media, etc.
3. Keep track of your browsing history. Either take notes, or screenshot the actual history. You will need this for your final.

Simple enough. Dead silence ensued. And at the end of the 45 minutes, I brought them all back together, back to the world of the classroom. The general response was that this felt "weird" and "a little uncomfortable". "School shouldn't be this quiet." Yes, I did this activity alongside them, and it did feel peculiar after weeks and weeks of active discussion.

For the final:

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