1. Have you ever used online communication tools in the classroom before? If so, detail your experiences. If not, what has prevented you from using online communication tools?
Because I am not yet a teacher, I have only ever used online communication tools in the classroom as a student, and then only sporadically. In middle and high school my use was restricted to computer classes generally, excepting the occasional email. Every student used word processing documents very often for English, history, and literature classes, but these had to be handed to the teacher on a specified date. If online communication was ever involved it was for the teacher who would accept a first draft to correct and return it to the student.
Much the same could be said about my undergraduate and graduate studies. Notable exceptions are online or distance-learning classes, which are conducted online in toto. Part of the reason for this is the ingrained conservatism in historical study. More importantly, though, is the subject matter, such as Latin or Greek language, is usually more easily transmitted (from the professors’ point-of-view) through standard communication. Still others think they do not have enough time to put together electronic presentations.
2. Identify one online communication tool you can use in the classroom and discuss how you will prepare your students for using this communication tool.
A very simple tool that is used widely in many different modes throughout contemporary society is electronic mail, or email. As mentioned above, this can be used to turn in practically any assignment as long as said assignment can be completed via digital media. I used the following example in my paper as to how email can both simplify the editing process and save vast amounts of time for both teacher and student:
An excellent example of which I have extensive personal experience was during my senior year at the University of the Cumberlands. At the time, I was writing a presidential research paper about the changes within the army of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. The final product was something around ninety pages. Imagine for a moment being my editor. Consider the convenience of reviewing the paper with Microsoft Word, for example, in your own home and your time of choosing. Compare that with having to meet a student who commutes to school, having lengthy discussion about sources, grammar, etc. Think also about the cost and time of constantly printing and reprinting almost one hundred pages (in addition to whatever projects you might have) as well as the amount of ink needed for thousands of words, over and over. My professor-editor, Dr. Charles Smith, was exceedingly helpful and promptly responded to my emails and could upload the entire paper including all notes, bibliographies, and appendices in a single email, with revisions to each. This simplification, not surprisingly, really reduces the stress of such an undertaking, but also of smaller projects. Of course, actually reading the document takes the same amount of time whether it is on paper or on the computer screen; all the peripheral actions done digitally, listed above, really shorten the time taken by both student and teacher to finish such a project.
It is easy to see the advantages of such a tool. As far as training my future students to utilize such a tool, they all should know how to use it by then. Nevertheless, students should be given explicit directions as to when to use email as well as appropriate ways of doing so, such as reinforcing proper grammar, spelling, etc.
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