Engaging students with technology

1. Engaging students with technology Recorded oral rehearsal

2. Recorded Oral Rehearsal • Recorded oral rehearsal allows students to work with their writing in a new way; specifically by recording their writing progress in some way and working with it through the drafting and revising steps of the writing process. • Many believe that this approach to the writing process “may reduce the cognitive load associated with translating ideas into written text.” In other words, it “could free up resources students could use to enhance the quality of their writing. • The obvious choice to properly convey the efficacy of this idea rests in the use of technology. Technology allows the material to be recorded and reflected upon. Here are a few examples:

3. Apple software photobooth • The PhotoBooth software by Apple grants students the opportunity to record pictures and videos to be reviewed later. Students have a dual capability of both hearing and seeing themselves present the writing, which can give them more information about the writing to evaluate, like the specific facial cues associated with different sentences and paragraphs. • PhotoBooth comes standard with Mac computers other Apple products. • If one is lucky enough, they may even find a free download of a similar degree online through a simple web search.

4. TuneTalk Stereo • Working with TuneTalk, a small recording device that students plug into the bottom doc connector of an iPod, allows the use of two types of technology: the TuneTalk Stereo and an iPod product. By plugging the stereo into the iPod, students just choose the “Voice Memo” selection on the main menu and begin recording their piece of writing that they review by listening to rhetoric, diction, and transitions. • The TuneTalk Stereo costs about $40.00.

5. Livescribe pulse smartpen • The Smartpen houses a camera and a microphone that captures what a writer says and draws. The pen uses a special kind of dot paper to create illustrations. With the Smartpen, students can sketch imaged associated with their stories as they talk through their plots. A USB connector cable allows the information to be transmitted between devices (pen and computer). This tool is another good tool for working through transitions. By mapping out the scenes using the pen’s speak and draw feature, the story’s transitions have a life to them lost in only audible revision. • A 2GB pen and 150-page dot • paper notebook with perforated • pages costs approxiamately • $120.00.

6. Works cited • Bogard. Jennifer M., and Mary C. McMackin. “Combining Traditional and New Literacies in a21st-Century Writing Workshop.” Reading Teacher 65.5. (2012): 313-323. Education Research Complete. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.