Authenticity Online

Image from here

     Does something about this comic feel familiar?  It's easy to imagine how often students groan  when a teacher tries to bring internet instruction into a school setting.  After all, what in the world we could teach them about something that has been so central to their lives?  I know I've even been guilty of this king of moaning.   After reading and researching about internet use in the classroom, though, I started to suspect that a lot of these reactions stem from the way teachers are using the internet.  Teachers too often try to create internet experience out of curriculum that already exists rather than really tapping the internet for it's potential.

     A huge consideration rising in the English classroom is the need to incorporate more authentic writing for students - creating experiences that are real and useful.   It may be true that creating truly authentic writing is nearly impossible in the classroom, since we are still obligating our students to actually write in the first place, but certainly can do our best to get as close as we can.   In the book Authentic Learning in the Digital Age by Larissa Pahomov, she states very neatly that, "technology also provides constant access to both the information and the tools needed for authentic learning" (5).  I think she's right. In this age of digital information, students are no longer able to avoid reading and writing.  They must face it every day in real life situations as they engage with social media and other platforms on the internet.  We can take advantage of that need to expand their critical skills with the tools they already use.
      As technology effectively connects our students to the world, it also can connect our classroom to our students lives.  However, this is something that has to be done carefully or else you'll get just the response mentioned above.  Someone else said "our teaching can be more effective if we find ways to connect out-of-school practices with important language arts objectives"  (Hunt 1). The technology that we have today is not limited to being used as a faster way to get words on paper. If teachers are only using it as a post board for things that could normally have been done in class, then the assignment is really no different that any other and the teacher has failed to take advantage of the resources given them and the students will most definitely notice. 
     Dana J. Wilber also notes that, when it comes to writing, it is important to “choose the tool that fits the use” (43).  There are plenty of ways that the internet can be used, but it is important that we make sure we are using its in a way that is relevant to our students and actually increases student literacy.  Troy Hicks, and almost every other well-known authority on using the internet in the classroom, are concerned that teachers aren't using “new technologies for newer literacies, they are instead used to complete normal academic task in a slightly different manner” (27).  The tasks that we have students perform online need to be there for a reason.  Students will not learn any additional skills if they are just taking something written and transferring it to the internet.  It is important to both make use of the other tools offered by internet while also keeping in mind how our students are responding to the assignments.  We need to listen to them.  One student told a writer, “Typing a journal entry on a blog does not make it a blog post” (86).  Things that students found actually helpful or engaging were things such as using the blog format in following their interests and connecting with people. 
      The PIC-RAT model is a good way for teachers to evaluate their internet use.  According to this concept, there are numerous different ways to use technology in the classroom and each use has different implications for learning. Technology use can be passive, interactive, or creative  and it can be used to simply replace tasks that could be done in other ways, build off and increase the efficiency of traditional activities, or to introduce new learning activities.   Teachers can measure their assignments and use of technology according to these characteristics to judge how effective they are using their resources.  This kind of review is essential to making sure that we are actually helping students with our use of technology in the classroom by giving them some real world experience rather than just giving them more busy work.   I won't go into it too much more for now, but I highly recommend the video below, which explains this process in detail.  It would actually make a great follow up to the one I mentioned before.  

Through listening to our students and evaluating our use of technology, we as teachers can do a much better job than we're doing to create more authentic experiences with more transforming uses of technology.   If we are using technology to its best advantage, the methods and skills students learn about it in the classroom will be things that they can carry on in the professional world. One researcher said, "Tapping into the power of the read/write Web can only improve your practice while enriching students and preparing them for a world where they will be judged not on the amount of knowledge they possess, but instead on the information management skills that they demonstrate" (Hunt 1).  So, as we do develop a more authentic use of writing, we are able to also reach into several more authentic uses of internet writing.  Students will be able to approach real audiences and gain skills that will be necessary for their future - skills that will actually hold meaning for their lives once they have left school and have gone off along their respective paths.