Karen+K.+Lowry

=**Sample Page**=

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 * I am the instructor of this course, and my name is Karen Kimbrough Lowry. I live in an historic home, drive a red Mini Cooper, and own a shiloh shepherd named Beowoof and a cat named Chessie. I'm especially proud of my a cappella performance group, Patuxent Voices, and my award-winning jams and jellies. Some of my favorite activities include reading, gardening, traveling, and working for my church. I'm the mother of two outstanding and diverse daughters (Elizabeth and Sarah), and I am married to a dynamic and complex man (Rusty).**======

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This is a haiku I was inspired to write after some deer helped themselves to my carefully planted spring flowers.====== **Tulips for Dessert, Deer?**

A slice of green leaf Garnishes a bowl of earth Framed by two hoof prints. =Journal Entry 1= I chose to share this journal entry to let my students know that I have experienced education from both sides of the desk, as a teacher and as a student.

I needed a few days of reflection to come to terms with last week’s class. After all, I was the remedial student during our Microsoft Excel lesson, the only one who couldn't produce a bar graph made of pumpkins. Towards the end of class, I even found myself thinking, “This is stupid! When will I ever use this stuff?” And as an educator, I know that this signals frustration saturation, the point at which many students give up.
 * Frustration Saturation **

As I struggled with my computer that evening, I realized that I was exhibiting the same behaviors that so many of my students have displayed in class. I was confused, annoyed, and, finally, agitated. I began to think that instead of asking questions and stopping the whole class that I should just sit quietly so that everyone else could learn without interruption. Intellectually, I knew that I was just having a bad day, or that perhaps my computer was causing some of my difficulty. But emotionally, I felt stupid and angry, and ready to quit.

The next day, I began to reflect upon my frustration and to ask myself what I could gain from my experience both as a student and a teacher. I’m usually a quick learner, so I rarely feel such negative emotions. But it was good for me to do so. It reminds me to be more open, flexible, and empathetic towards my class and classmates. The day after this lesson, one of my students shared how miserable she felt when we engaged in peer editing. Today, I held a mini lesson on non-evaluative feedback which should improve not only her classroom experience, but the experience of others as well.

This week, I can relax a bit. I know how to make a student data base and how to use a spread sheet. These are valuable skills I learned on older software, so I can certainly relearn them for more sophisticated programs. Despite my difficult lesson, I have the directions to create an attractive chart or graph. So I can achieve that goal if I need to. And the pumpkins? Really, as an English teacher in higher education, I don’t think I ever will use that stuff.

=Journal Entry 2= I chose to post this journal entry as an example of a typical learning log for a college class. I wrote this as an assignment for a technology class that required weekly reflections.

I had some big “AHA” moments this week, all centered around search engines. The first arrived during the Bing presentation. Although Bing is installed at SMCM on the Microsoft operating system, the software is new to me, and I have actually been calling up Google as my preferred search engine. But, AHA! Now, I know that Bing has a multitude of services that I had not begun to utilize. The list of linked topics on the left of the page provides a quick access to related sites. And I was delighted to learn about the summary service on the right side of the web page. I confess that I had seen text appear and disappear as I moved my curser down the page, but I had no clue what the function and the purpose of that print was. This application will be extremely helpful in choosing web sites to visit.
 * Reflection 5—AHA! The Little Engines That Could **

This “AHA” feeling continued during our lesson on search engines. This information was eye opening as I thought all search engines were relatively equal. But, AHA! There are different categories of software. Knowing the types of search engines, and their purposes, will help me to choose the most effective software for my needs. This information will also help my students to become better researchers, because I intend to share this lesson with them. The meta crawlers really do narrow and refine searches; plus they eliminate distractions in the form of irrelevant information or commercial ads. I will become a devotee of the meta crawler, particularly Bing.

My last “AHA” doesn’t really concern search engines, but applies to the web at large. I can’t believe that I never knew the origins of .com and .org. when the definitions are so simple: the .com sites are commercial and the .org sites are nonprofit organizations. This explains why so many ads pop up on the .com sites. AHA! Now, even if I can’t avoid the ads, at least I know why they are present.

=**Research Paper**=

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One of the biggest challenges for any composition instructor is teaching the research process, especially since today's students depend primarily upon electronic sources. Research tells us that this generation of learners responds best to technological instruction because they are truly digital learners. In fact, educational experts have documented that students work best in socially interactive situations, and that they prefer the immediacy of using the internet for information and instruction. Textbooks, handouts, and lectures are their least favorite ways to learn. Therefore, I decided to create an interactive lesson for the research process using the internet as the primary source of instruction. ======

As I prepared my lesson, I discovered a variety of useful and instructive sites provided by colleges and universities dedicated to the research paper, ranging from topic selection to the documentation and citation format. Using the Webquest format, I created a task that incorporated individual and group exploration of a number of reliable sites that presented research techniques and composition guidelines, as well as documentation software. Another aspect of the lesson encouraged students to evaluate those sites and to choose the most helpful web pages. Additionally, the project which was titled "How to Write an A+ Research Paper" also included a tutorial on plagiarism. The final product for each student was a personal, annotated list of resources for each aspect of the paper writing process. Students who completed the task walked away with a valuable composition resource that was available to them even when I was not. I still use this Webquest with every composition class I teach.

REED 660:615 Karen K. Lowry **Tweaking the Research Paper with Technology:**
 * Using the Webquest to Teach the Research Process**

As an English and composition instructor, perhaps my greatest challenge is teaching the research process and the research paper. For over thirty years, I have been struggling to present these skills and to help my students master them so that they may become proficient, academic writers. Although I have developed many units and procedures during my career, I am still searching for better ways to present and reinforce these methods.

Recently, I have been experimenting with alternate teaching methods, using technology to assist my efforts. Education experts encourage teachers to do this. Reading Marc Prensky’s article, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” reminded me that today’s students are digital learners who grew up on the “twitch speed of video games and MTV”(3). It’s not surprising that textbooks or teacher handouts are not their preferred methods of acquiring knowledge. Prensky advocates joining the digital world to teach this generation effectively. After all, the current generation of college students views the internet as the primary source of research and information. Therefore, I decided to heed Prensky’s advice and to embrace that technology and incorporate digital learning into my instruction on research and writing techniques. I prepared a webquest to introduce my students to online guides for the research process.

The research backing up this decision is both extensive and supportive. Diane Skiba and Amy Barton recommend designing learning activities that mesh with the learning styles of today’s higher education students. In their article, “Adapting Your Teaching to the Net Generation,” they advise teachers: “It is important to remember that the Net Generation seeks immediate information and knowledge not by finding it in a textbook, but by connecting to the internet (4).” They further emphasize that classrooms that do not contain opportunities for social interaction or student engagement tend to remain empty (6). It seems to me that a webquest activity could meet all of these needs of the digital learner in conjunction with satisfying the curriculum requirement of teaching the research paper and reinforcing research techniques.

While creating this webquest, I found an amazing number of sites dedicated to composition and the research process. Quite a few colleges and universities offer extensive guides to meet all of the needs of the academic writer. I decided to craft a task that would introduce students to some reliable and helpful sources for writing and documentation. In addition, I would incorporate some activities to encourage them to explore and discover sites they might find particularly useful or appealing. My goal is for my students to become more independent as writers, researchers, and students. In other words, I plan to start them on the path of taking responsibility for their own learning, determining which styles of information and presentation best suit their own personal needs. This webquest will also provide them with a list of “go to” sites which they can access at any time, for any project.

The order of the quest task will follow the order of the research process. First, the assignment will introduce the students to some sites that suggest topics and help them narrow ideas into a thesis statement. Next, the quest will take them to several sources that provide outline assistance. For some reason, I have always found that the process of preparing a formal outline is very difficult for some students. Most of them need help with the format, and the quest will give them access to a number of locations that will guide them through the process.

Next, the quest will lead students to a variety of sources that explain methods of taking notes, both by paraphrasing and writing summaries. This step will also require students to search for a definition of plagiarism to reinforce the importance of proper note-taking techniques. I am confident that finding these references themselves will make more of an impact upon them and shape their behavior better than any teacher’s lecture ever could.

The last portion of the task section will direct students to sites that specialize in citation and documentation procedures, perhaps the most difficult part of the entire paper. Before the age of digital information, I could only give my students a style sheet to use as a guide. This required a painstaking process for students involving looking up and duplicating complicated (and often confusing) bibliographic styles. Now, sites such as Easy Bib.com and NoodleTools actually format entries for students; all they have to do is type in the proper information. The procedure is instantaneous and accurate, an attractive characteristic to today’s students. Most of the research available on digital learners reminds us of the importance of immediacy to their generation (Skiba, Barton 3).

As part of the conclusion for the webquest, students will have to evaluate specific sites and create an annotated list of addresses for their own personal use. In addition, they will have the opportunity to post their opinions and share their discoveries. This should appeal to another learning style of the Net Generation, the proliferation of strong opinions and the desire to express them freely (Skiba, Barton 3). As a composition teacher, I always include a reflection as part of a project. In conjunction with providing students a chance to contemplate and evaluate their learning experiences, I gain insight into the learning process and the effectiveness of the lesson. Using the technology of the computer and the internet allows students to publish these reflections, making them more authentic and valuable.

Obviously, this kind of project requires a lengthy amount of preparation, but the educational benefits of this activity will be enormous. First of all, students will be directly engaged in this activity as opposed to listening to a lecture. They will be active rather than passive learners. Secondly, I plan to allow students to work collaboratively on the task and process part of the quest which will not only motivate some students, but will also enhance their learning since cooperation almost always improves understanding. Thirdly, students will be able to choose their information sites according to their personal learning preferences which will increase their knowledge of the material. Fonts, text features, and presentation styles directly affect comprehension for most readers. Most digital learners should respond favorably to a colorful, graphic-enhanced web site format in contrast to the traditional, formal print layout of a textbook. Finally, students will be invited to share their choices and opinions with their peers, which will give them an authentic and personal product, as well as a personal voice.

According to educator Dr. Erdogan Halat in his article, “A Good Teaching Technique: WebQuests,” these educational benefits of motivation, engagement, and collaboration are the strengths of a webquest lesson (110). In addition to Dr. Halat’s recommendation, educational research indicates that the webquest has further positive outcomes. In an extensive study of the use of the webquest at the college and university level, researchers added the following attributes to its benefits as an instructional strategy: Dr. Robert Zheng and his collaborators stated that a good webquest developed critical thinking skills, helped students apply knowledge, and enhanced their social skills (“WebQuest Learning as Perceived by Higher-Education Learners” 42). This study also suggested that the webquest can be an effective tool for scaffolding and differentiating instruction for diverse learners (42). However, Dr. Zheng and his fellow researchers strongly cautioned that the effectiveness of a webquest is dependent upon its design and implementation (43). In other words, like any educational technique, the webquest relies upon the educator, the lesson, and the classroom to be successful. Hopefully, my webquest on the research process will meet all of these variables and will provide a positive learning experience for my students.

In conclusion, I plan to introduce this webquest in the beginning of the research process, when I make the paper assignment. This way, students will be able to use these resources throughout the entire paper writing process. Although I will still require a traditional method of composition, asking for the individual components of the paper in a logical order, the students will have a set of web sites to visit for additional help during the whole endeavor. Many pupils find writing a research paper to be a daunting and overwhelming experience. To address this issue, I have always given my students a clear set of expectations and deadlines, along with paper models and required conferences, but the webquest will provide them with new opportunities for success. Not only will the experience meet their needs as digital learners, but the webquest product will give them a personal bank of teaching resources that are always open to them, even when I am not available.

Works Cited Halat, Erdogan. "A Good Teaching Technique." //ERIC//. EBSCOhost, 2008. Web. 2 Dec. 09. Prensky, Marc. //Marc Prensky.com//. Web. 5 Dec. 2009. Skiba, Diane, and Amy Barton. "Adapting Your Teaching to Accommodate the Net Generation of learners." //Academic Search Premier//. EBSCOhost, 2006. Web. 2 Dec. 09. Zheng, Robert, Bradd Stuckey, Matt McAlack, Mike Menchana, and Sue Stoddard. "WebQuest Learning as Perceived by Higher-Education Learners." //ERIC//. Ebsco host, 2006. Web. 2 Dec. 09.

You'll be glad to know that I received all 50 of the points equated to this assignment. I know I was proud to receive an A+.