Online Adventures with Jules Verne

Response to Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days

Verne, Jules. Around the World in Eighty Days Jr. Ed. Classic Literature Library online. http://www.jules-verne.co.uk/

Grade Six Language Arts

GLO: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to enhance clarity and artistry of communication.

SLO: Present and Share

• Present Information – use various styles and forms of presentation, depending on content, audience and purpose
• Enhance Presentation – emphasize key ideas and information to enhance audience understanding and enjoyment

Activity: In groups, students will read and discuss Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. The class will discuss the purpose of online texts and novels. The students will then respond by writing an alternative chapter about one of a place that Phileas Fogg did not visit on his adventures. These adventures will then be posted online in a blog format which is similar to that of the novel. The students will add photos of the places that they are writing about.

ITC GLO: Students will become discerning consumers of mass media and electronic information.

· Recognize that graphics, video and sound enhance communication

· Describe how the use of various texts and graphics can alter perception

ITC GLO: Students will compose, revise and edit text.

• Create and revise original text to communicate and demonstrate understanding of forms and techniques
• edit and format text to clarify and enhance meaning, using such word processing features as the thesaurus, find/change, text alignment, font size and font style

I believe that an assignment like this will allow student to understand the uses of technology to share literature and to publish their own writing. It is a common type of assignment for Language Arts but there is no reason that a teacher cannot involve technology. Students will read the text online, research their chosen location on line, use a publishing program such as Microsoft Word and then post their stories on line. Over all the use of technology makes this assignment more interesting for students and meets a larger number of course learning objectives.

Absolutely Acceptable Additions

I believe, after the readings, that there is no reason or even excuse to be against technology integration in education. I was particularly struck by the excerpt from Moursund's book in which he discusses the "laptop for every child" project. Although I am normally more comfortable with traditional teaching methods this project made a lot of sense. With one initial investment in the technology an entire world of information is opened up to a child. Book, lessons, teachers, tutorials, almost anything can be provided for less online.


Technology integration is not just teaching about the technology, but teaching with it, and how to use it, why to use it and when to use it. Technology integration is successful when it enhances and adds to the learning experience. If technology is successfully integrated it will not stand apart from regular classroom activities, but will cause disruption if it is removed. For example if a SMARTboard is installed in a classroom the students should use it every day for assignments, presentations and even for the mundane activities like attendance.

Technology integration is not successful if it can be removed from the classroom without being noticed in daily lessons or if it distracts from the learning. It is a waste to see a SMARTboard used as nothing more than a glorified overhead projector. Another example of unsuccessful integration happens quite often on campus when a professor spends half of the class attempting to get the technology to work because he or she was not properly trained.


The biggest barrier to technology integration is most likely the initial financial investment. If this is not the case, one should probably look at the administration and staff; people are afraid of new technologies, especially established teachers who do not want to admit that their pupils know more about something than they do.

Amanda's Abstractions: Blogging and Teaching

I believe that there are many possibly practical applications of "blogging," especially in Language Arts. While in high school, I had the opportunity to participate in debates. These activities took place in English class, stretching across breaks, days, and sometimes even weeks. It was an enjoyable and educational experience but, on a whole, not overly cohesive or effective. The problem was time, a 45 minute class does not provide enough time to form teams, discuss arguments and defenses, and finish a debate. Often people would be present one day and absent the next, creating imbalanced teams and inconsistencies. Blogging would provide a cohesive way for all students to express themselves, even those who are not comfortable addressing the class. Students would be given the chance to think through their arguments without being inflamed by the heat of the moment. The class could then discuss the overall process of debating, what they learned, how they came to personal conclusions about the subject and their general opinion of the debating protocol.

Before a teacher would be able to involve their class in an activity like blogging, there would need to be some ground work done. The students need to be made aware of the open ended nature of blogging. Rules need to be in place about appropriate use of a class blog, limiting personal information, and respecting the atmosphere of the online classroom. Also before a teacher can begin an activity like this he or she needs to know the students. If half of the class brings their own laptops to school while a large number of the students are from disadvantaged homes, without computers, this assignment may need to be modified. Teachers also need to know all of the ins and outs of the program that they are choosing to use so they can properly instruct the students.

Although this is my first experience with blogging I do believe that it can have application in the classroom. It may not be my first intuition, but seems to be a relatively easy way to integrate technology into the regular curriculum without taking away from the basic required skills such as communication, cooperation, language and literacy.

All About Amanda

Hello all! My name is Amanda and I am an English major. My family was slightly nomadic but I spent most of my childhood in Moose Jaw and my high school years in Calgary. I have one older brother who also resides in this windy city. I, as a general rule, seldom indulge in any literature published after 1900 and, therefore, have little experience with technology. I must confess, I have never used a "Mac." I am also married to an English major. Between the two of us we own one functioning computer, one cell phone, three copies of The Scarlet Letter, sixteen "Norton" anthologies, and not one "ipod." This is my first blog and I was slightly shocked to discover that "blog" has been an excepted word in the Merriam-Webster's dictionary, and more surprised that it had been declared 2004's "word of the year" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#2004.E2.80.93present).


This is Me and my husband...
What a summer!