Margins
  Donovan A. Landers

"'HE SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE,' SHE WHISPERED SILENTLY." [1]

Take your treasure,
Place her behind frost-swirls
And lumpy glass
And whirling snow
In whirling wind
In death's white desert ...

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From Passive Note Taking and Lectures to WebQuest in Higher Education:
Understanding the Importance and How to Create One
  Susan L. Jones

Many "educators" find themselves tired of doing the same thing day-after day; year-after-year. Many teachers are worried about how to integrate technology into the curriculum (Liu, Theodore, & Lavelle, 2004; Kelly, 2005; Jones, 2005). Many are concerned about whether or not their students are learning? And, many agree that they would like to add a little excitement to their life that might transfer to students and improve their learning potential. One trend that appears to be catching on is the WebQuest--began primarily with secondary schools and lower grades and has crept its way into the halls of higher education where students often sit passively taking notes and listening to their instructors lecture.

A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity that is self-contained on the web. Professors and instructors in higher education are creating opportunities for their students by combining technology with inquiry-based learning. This arouses excitement, curiosity, as well as active participation and student-decision making in the learning process which subsequently provides educators with an often much needed change. WebQuest can be modified from the traditional text-format and turned into multimedia activities. Opportunities for students to interact with the course material and their instructors are naturally created. This article will explain the importance of, and how to create, a text-based or multimedia WebQuest.     full text >>>

Humanizing the Virtual Classroom
  Kyla Heflin and Mary Dillow Stewart

Humanization of online instruction in higher education calls for a "re-presentation and re-fashioning" of our concepts of virtual orality and textuality as they impact content and contact. The process involves "re-conceptualizing" course content; "re-tooling" our oral and textual discourse in such a way that humanizes the virtual environment; and "re-formatting" our method of delivery in attainable, realistic exchanges of knowledge and information within the "virtual" frame. Ultimately, the purpose of this "re-presentation and re-fashioning" is to preserve the dialogic to build literacy through enhanced virtual orality and textuality. The dialogic, then, is the agent of humanization and represents the true value of online learning. This article provides a "Re-thinking" these issues.     full text >>>

Critical Pedagogy as Transformative Micro-level Praxis
  Benedicta Egbo

A challenge facing educational practitioners in diversified societies is the adoption of inclusive educational practices that are cognizant of the cultural, linguistic and differential learning styles of the various groups that make up the student body. Progressive educational policies provide useful theoretical frameworks for equalizing educational opportunities for all students, however the success of such policies depends on the micro-level pedagogical practices adopted by educators (Ramanathan, 2002; Cummins, 2000; Corson, 1998; Shor, 1992; Giroux, 1992). Unfortunately, research shows that some educators are reluctant to adopt progressive policies, opting instead to stick to the old ways of doing things even though current understandings of classroom dynamics favour transformative rather than orthodox pedagogies.

This article explores the concept of critical pedagogy--the critique, interrogation and challenge of educational orthodoxies that privilege certain kinds of knowledge over others, as transformative action. I begin with the view that positive educational outcomes for students, particularly those from nonmainstream backgrounds, depends on the degree of teachers' commitment to inclusive practices that embrace and value difference. The article also aims to revisit and re-problematize the idea of transformative pedagogy in contemporary classrooms in the context of the resurgence of neo-conservative ideologies and policies within the educational arena. As a framework for changing practices that are premised on inflexible world views which reinforce dominance through education, critical pedagogy aims to improve educational outcomes for all students through classroom practices that are not only cognisant of the diverse background of learners, teaching, and learning styles but are also grounded in a sound understanding that education is a political project in which some discourses are privileged and others are devalued often through symbolic power (Bourdieu, 1991).     full text >>>

Cognitive Science, Technology and Narratives: Towards a Model for a Pragmatic Approach
  Liza Das

Two teaching episodes resulting in students producing computational algoritmic analyses of significant narrative texts prompted me to wonder: is that the technological way? What about the complexity of human thinking the stories exhibited? For a person who had come to a technological institute from "pure literature" training, I was left confused. I also had a nagging suspicion, though, that even as my brilliant students made these analyses, they were all too aware that they were applying fun computational concepts to a human artifact. And yet, these were attempts at "technologizing," or interpreting through technology, the creative text.

Sometimes we enter new knowledge-terrains in unexpected ways. These two experiences were partly responsible for propelling me towards a new and fascinating field: Cognitive Science. I am going to now quickly make a few general observations about Cognitive Science before plunging into my main focus, i.e., narratives and systems.     full text >>>

Journalism Ethics Education from the Students' Perspective: A National Examination of Print and Broadcast Students' Perceptions of Journalism Ethics
  Andrea Tanner and Jennifer Wood Adams

"And that's the way it is," declared CBS new anchorman Walter Cronkite every evening at the end of his news broadcast. And, amazingly enough, during the 1960s and 1970s, the American public believed him (Koch 15). It has now been more than 20 years since "Uncle Walter" relinquished his seat behind the anchor desk, and during this time, Americans' view of the press has declined dramatically. According to a poll conducted by the Times Mirror Center for The People and the Press (now the Pew Center), "two-thirds of the public believe reporters are no more ethical than the politicians they report on" ("America's View of the Press"). The survey also found that reporters are held in the same low regard as undertakers and insurance salesmen, and only slightly higher than politicians ("America's View of the Press").

Not only has the public's attitude toward journalists eroded over the past 20 years, but the explosion of technology has given consumers access to massive amounts of news and information every waking moment of the day. Local and national newspapers, cable television stations devoted entirely to 24-hour news coverage, tabloid magazines, television "infotainment" and on-line news resources, these are only some of the news "sources" available to consumers. It is not difficult to understand why the American public is skeptical of today's journalists when it is practically impossible to determine what news organization is deemed "credible" or which journalist is considered "ethical."     full text >>>

Eileen's Polluted Waterways' Tours
  Jennifer Kilgore

Under the Michigan Avenue bridge, next to the spot where Du Sable's trading post once stood, twice yearly you used to be able to take Eileen's Polluted Waterways' Tours. Reservations and payment in advance required. Watch out for Eileen in the red beret, chatting up the Wendella boat man and the first arrivals. Did you have time for breakfast? Did you bring your windbreaker? A day out gets chilly, spring and autumn, and there is a spell on the Lake.     full text >>>