Discussion Forum #4 - The Student as a Scribe

 

Some of the benefits I see using student scribes in the classroom is that the students intentionally work hard to record accurate class lessons.  Other benefits include learning how to create a blog and all the new apps that students can use to create a visually appealing and informative blog, providing all students the opportunity to join in on lesson discussions, notes are together in one easily obtained location, increased confidence and feedback from those in and outside the classroom.  All of these benefits can lead to an active class participation and better grades.

I don’t see many downsides to having student scribes in the classroom.  Perhaps, some students could become lazy as they may feel they don’t need to pay attention or participate, because the notes will be provided to them later. 

According to our reading this week, there is a huge benefit for students who publish to a global audience.  Publishing globally instills an interest in the material and a powerful motivation to “get it right”.  Students know that their work is going to be online forever and that it has a purpose.  I believe that students are more motivated and more apt to work harder on classwork that is going to be seen by their peers, than by their teachers, as students care more about what their peers think, so they want to do well.

Teachers can model global sharing by creating a website to show what the class is doing; they can join a forum or create a blog and they can even create Youtube videos.  I’ve even seen teachers on Facebook and Twitter sharing their classroom.  There are many options to go global.