Communicating in the Information Age:
This section of the text looks at oral communication, creating media products, and preparing for tests. We found this section to be very informative and helpful for both teachers and students. Chapter 28 of Language Network breaks down the different components that shape effective communication such as the different types of communication (Oral, one-way, two-way) and the barriers that sometimes arise when two(or more) people are communicating with each other. Not only does this section provide both teachers and students with helpful definitions and examples, but it also provides charts with suggestions on how to go about breaking down any barriers in order to communicate effectively. The practice guides that the text provides asks students to connect the material to their own lives in order to make learning relevant for students which we think is really important! Not only are students simply learning about a subject, but they are also being encouraged to apply it to their own lives. Chapter 28 also educates readers on how to prepare a speech. What was great about this section was that it compared planning a speech to writing a paper. If students already have prior experiences with writing papers then they will be able to connect that knowledge to preparing a speech. The text provides generic steps on how to plan a a speech which asks students to: identify the purpose and audience, focus content to fit occasion, research, and organize and outline. These steps could be useful guidelines for students to refer to during the beginning process of preparing a speech. Chapter 28 also discusses communication among groups and the best way for both teacher, and students to go about preparing students for collaborating in groups. The text provides different roles that either students or teachers could assign with in groups and there responsibilities. Something great about this text is that it offers many suggestions as opposed to statements saying "This is how it must be done." It is clear that the authors of this textbook wanted to provide students with a foundation to build off of and take ideas from but the authors also seem to understand that these steps or processes might not work best for everyone. Therefore, they provide these ideas as mere suggestions.
Chapter 30 of this text provides insight to readers on how to go about choosing different mediums for different projects. We thought this section was useful because it encourages students to use technology in order to further enhance a project or presentation. Technology has become such a large part of the learning environment that it is important that teachers get themselves, and students familiar with how to incorporate the use of media into classroom instruction. The text also provides readers with questions to consider when in the process of selecting a medium to utilize. The questions presented throughout the chapter encourages students to really think about the medium they want to use and why it would best suit their project or presentation. We found these questions important because they encourage students to critically think about different mediums and why one option may be better than another. The emphasis on evaluation and revision are also prominent throughout these chapters. The text encourages students to participate in peer reviews in order to receive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their project. We really loved this emphasis on revision and evaluation because it is one of the best ways for students to receive feedback on their work and helps them learn how to build upon and develop their ideas or product from there.
In Chapter 32 of Language Network, the text guides students on how to deconstruct an essay prompt and how to plan and write an essay. The authors offer "Tips for Success" for which they give bullet point guidelines on how to go about effectively answering an essay question. One thing we really liked about this section was that it provided students with a list of common key terms that are usually found in essay prompts such as : discuss, explain, analyze, etc. along with a strategy for deconstructing each of these terms. This is a great chart for students to utilize because it gets them familiar with different terms as well as what to do with those terms. This section also encourages students to evaluate their own work (since it is a test.) Evaluating one's own work is so important because it lets students see components of their essay that might need to be revised. Students often rush to hand work in and sometimes fail to even reread what they wrote which could really cost them on a test. The texts emphasis on evaluation will hopefully encourage students to read through their written responses before actually handing them in.
This section of the text looks at oral communication, creating media products, and preparing for tests. We found this section to be very informative and helpful for both teachers and students. Chapter 28 of Language Network breaks down the different components that shape effective communication such as the different types of communication (Oral, one-way, two-way) and the barriers that sometimes arise when two(or more) people are communicating with each other. Not only does this section provide both teachers and students with helpful definitions and examples, but it also provides charts with suggestions on how to go about breaking down any barriers in order to communicate effectively. The practice guides that the text provides asks students to connect the material to their own lives in order to make learning relevant for students which we think is really important! Not only are students simply learning about a subject, but they are also being encouraged to apply it to their own lives. Chapter 28 also educates readers on how to prepare a speech. What was great about this section was that it compared planning a speech to writing a paper. If students already have prior experiences with writing papers then they will be able to connect that knowledge to preparing a speech. The text provides generic steps on how to plan a a speech which asks students to: identify the purpose and audience, focus content to fit occasion, research, and organize and outline. These steps could be useful guidelines for students to refer to during the beginning process of preparing a speech. Chapter 28 also discusses communication among groups and the best way for both teacher, and students to go about preparing students for collaborating in groups. The text provides different roles that either students or teachers could assign with in groups and there responsibilities. Something great about this text is that it offers many suggestions as opposed to statements saying "This is how it must be done." It is clear that the authors of this textbook wanted to provide students with a foundation to build off of and take ideas from but the authors also seem to understand that these steps or processes might not work best for everyone. Therefore, they provide these ideas as mere suggestions.
Chapter 30 of this text provides insight to readers on how to go about choosing different mediums for different projects. We thought this section was useful because it encourages students to use technology in order to further enhance a project or presentation. Technology has become such a large part of the learning environment that it is important that teachers get themselves, and students familiar with how to incorporate the use of media into classroom instruction. The text also provides readers with questions to consider when in the process of selecting a medium to utilize. The questions presented throughout the chapter encourages students to really think about the medium they want to use and why it would best suit their project or presentation. We found these questions important because they encourage students to critically think about different mediums and why one option may be better than another. The emphasis on evaluation and revision are also prominent throughout these chapters. The text encourages students to participate in peer reviews in order to receive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of their project. We really loved this emphasis on revision and evaluation because it is one of the best ways for students to receive feedback on their work and helps them learn how to build upon and develop their ideas or product from there.
In Chapter 32 of Language Network, the text guides students on how to deconstruct an essay prompt and how to plan and write an essay. The authors offer "Tips for Success" for which they give bullet point guidelines on how to go about effectively answering an essay question. One thing we really liked about this section was that it provided students with a list of common key terms that are usually found in essay prompts such as : discuss, explain, analyze, etc. along with a strategy for deconstructing each of these terms. This is a great chart for students to utilize because it gets them familiar with different terms as well as what to do with those terms. This section also encourages students to evaluate their own work (since it is a test.) Evaluating one's own work is so important because it lets students see components of their essay that might need to be revised. Students often rush to hand work in and sometimes fail to even reread what they wrote which could really cost them on a test. The texts emphasis on evaluation will hopefully encourage students to read through their written responses before actually handing them in.