Turn Texting Teens Into Published Novelists with TextNovel.com

Like most students, high schooler Krystal Swarovski was never given an opportunity to write for a real audience in school. Her work died with the teacher. An "A+" had no audience. A "B-" was not given a chance to improve. When a friend introduced her to www.textnovel.com Krystal experienced something new when she wrote. Unlike her experience in school, she had readers, she developed a large fan base and she was awarded the Text Novel Editor’s Choice award for her story Slices of Pie. Today, she’s excited to have a real audience reading and commenting on her work providing not only an authentic audience, but authentic assessment as well.

TextNovel.com is a social network for authors and readers of serial fiction and the first English language cell phone novel website, allowing members to write and read fiction with their cellphones or computers, using text messaging, email and online tools. Textnovel runs contests for fiction writers, allowing them to demonstrate the market potential of their work through its unique serial publication and voting format. The novels are rated (G, PG, PG-13 and R). Illustrations can be uploaded. Twitter can be linked and there are many settings to use to customize the experience and make it fit for your students.

Here is insight from Krystal from her bio on the site:

Um, yah. me. lol. fun stuff. :P i like reading and writing and music and drama (real life drama, not fake icky TV drama). I like fun and shopping and boys and good fantasy novels. I hate seafood, people who think they can win an argument with me (because they never can), and people who try to pretend they know more than they do. Um, other than that... I dance, i luv my boyfriend to death, and i do track and field. i debate, i'm in robotics club, french club, taking extra classes at MIT... what you might call a well-rounded person. or a nerd. :P
So, most people on this site put their writing career to date in their about me section, but since i'm in high school, my writing career to date has been a short story (B-), a collection of poems(A+), and many many many informational essays and literary criticisms, grades ranging from C+ to A+. More on the A side though... :) Anyway, point is, the only writing I have ever really done has been for school, with varying degrees of success. However, last year, a good friend of mine (whose pen name here is Anabelle) was telling me all about her story and this fabulous website during study hall, and she convinced me to get an account on textnovel, and that's where I started writing. I have to say I am surprised by the amount of votes my stories have received. I didn't think I would get over 20! ;) So thanks to everyone that's read what I've written. :D

When teacher’s want to encourage reading and writing, they can bring some of the excitement Krystal experienced into the classroom with www.textnovel.com available free through students' phones.



Here are five ideas for using Textnovel

1. Create a book group using one of the textnovel.com novels. Bonus - Students will never loose their books.
2. Encourage exploration of various styles and authors.
3. Challenge students to create a novel of their own with a novel that they could be made public
4. Partner with the art class for illustrations
5. Encourage group/peer editing inside or outside of class by inviting students to read and comment on one another’s work via cell phone

Here's How to Get Started:

• Sign up for and add your cell phone number.
• Wait for the confirmation email and click on the link.
• You are set up to login and begin.
• Familiarize yourself with all of the settings and choose the ones you want for your students prior to walking them through the setup
• When the student create their novel make sure they set it to a G rating.
• From your cell phone, send a text message to this email address add@textnovel.com. (you will want to add this to your contacts)
• The body of the text message should contain the text that you want to add to the story.
• The subject of the text message should be of the following format: storycode:chapter number.
• So for example if the story code is 12 and the chapter number is 2, then the subject should be 12:2

In the 21st century world in which our students live it’s no longer fair for educators to just say “hand it in.” Textnovel.com is a terrific option to let any student with access to a phone the opportunity to “publish it.”

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This post was written by Willyn Webb and Lisa Nielsen, co-authors of Teaching Generation Text. Webb and Nielsen are prolific and well-respected experts in the field of education and innovation with more than 20 years of combined experience working to support students, teachers, leaders, and parents. As frequent conference presenters, keynote speakers, and published authors, Nielsen and Webb are often the go-to persons when the media wants to know what works in educating today’s students.

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Why Using Interactive Whiteboards May Be Smart for Educators On Their Way to Becoming Innovative

Editor's note: Those who follow my blog know I believe that when it comes to educating innovatively, it's dumb to use a SMARTboard. Here's the best argument I've seen on the other side of the issue. I still believe that we can save tens of thousands if we ditch the board. I also believe we should try the less expensive Tablet/projector option. And, I still believe you can teach better without the IWB, but...for some teachers new to tech, the reasons stated in this post which was a response to my previous blog entry "may" make a case for purchasing an IWB.

TimeOutDad said...

@ Lisa - I love your posts on IWBs! It always makes for great debate and conversation! :) Funny thing is that some of the biggest protesters and critics of IWBs still USE them when they're around... ;)

I think I still kinda' like IWBs (despite all the bad press), namely because I use them and see MANY teachers using them who did not use ANY technology before they came along. And yes, computers and projectors were available before we got the IWBs. They weren't used because very few were willing to set them up. (Plus, we all know that anything that is constantly set up and put away has a much higher chance of breaking.) For a tech savvy person, setting up a projector, a set of speakers, and laptop is not a problem, but that convenience (one button) factor of the IWB has made all the difference in many of our classrooms, in terms of bringing technology into our classrooms.

Do IWBs always create great teaching and learning moments? NO WAY. But, are there times when we need our students to focus and pay attention to what we're teaching? YES! Does an IWB sometimes make for more effective teaching/presenting? YES! Aren't some of the highest paying people "Sages on the Stages." who talk, present, or perform for a living? YES! YES! YES!

WHY are we blaming the poor IWBs for ineffective teaching, presenting, or learning? Why are we demonizing a tool? Guess what? They cost a LOT less than an ineffective teacher or presenter. Poor IWB pales in comparison... Also, when you blamed the IWB setup in those classrooms at EdCampNYC, guess what? That was HUMAN error the way those poor IWBs were set up, not the IWB's fault. ;)

I think IWBs are the "Fall Guy" for ineffective teaching or presenting. It's like blaming a rice cooker for bad rice, blaming a hammer for poor construction, blaming a car for bad driving. We are blaming IWBs for being expensive, blaming them for poor teaching, blaming them for being misnamed. I don't think they named themselves, did they? Where does/should the responsibility lie?

It's similar to going into a kitchen, and blaming the microwave for the cooking that's going on in a household. Microwaves aren't evil, are they? We shouldn't use them for all of our cooking (although some might beg to differ), but even the BEST chefs use them sometimes, no? In the end though, let's not blame the microwaves for ineffective cooking...

If an IWB enables someone who is not so effective to be more effective in a classroom, a conference room, or a corporate board room, then that IWB certainly deserves to be paid a few grand, no? Personally, I'd take an IWB over an ineffective educator or presenter any day of the week. ;)

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Are Interactive Whiteboards a Smart Idea when they Make Even the Most Innovative of Educators Look Dumb? – 10 Reasons to Ditch the Board

I had the good fortune to attend EdCampNYC this past weekend which was attended by passionate and innovative educators. All presenters were placed in rooms equipped with Smartboards. As I’ve witnessed at every other conference I’ve attended with interactive whiteboards (IWBs), they either weren’t utilized (such as at Alan November's yearly Building Learning Communities conference) or they made the sessions more difficult and glitchy.

Because the conference was held at a school, it had the usual IWB configuration. The Smartboard was front and center and not near the CPU/keyboard essential to effectively operate all necessary controls. What some presenters resorted to was a rather awkward set up with one person at the front of the room and another controlling the keyboard/mouse from elsewhere. Of course, teachers don’t have luxury of a second person or assistant, but this was what seemed to be most effective. In each session the board made these tech-savvy presenters (present company included) rather flustered and uncomfortable as a result of the glitchiness of them and/or awkwardness of having either two people at the helm or needing to run back and forth between the front of the room and the keyboard. Additionally, let’s face it. Smartboards just aren’t that intuitive. Folks often get frustrated as they intend to point to something on the board but instead the point results in unexpectedly being taken elsewhere or something they didn’t want to have appear on the screen pops up so the facilitators found themselves running back over to the keyboard and mouse.

I know all those people who feel the need to believe in the magic of the board are going to jump up and down saying how great they are at using IWBs and they will explain how they have transformed teaching with them, but the reality is they are doing that either 1) Because they begged their principal to get an IWB so they better stand up for the benefits it is supposed to provide or their school wasted thousands of dollars that could have gone toward personal computing for students. Acknowledging Smartboards are dumb is as difficult for them as telling a child there’s really no Santa Claus and the real stars are their parents. For all of those in this category, like the myth of Santa, you are attributing the magic of the board to the wrong player. While the board has tales of legend and lore behind it in reality IWBs are Not the Stars. They’re the Overpaid Extras with A Great Agent.

Five problems with interactive whiteboards

1. The keyboard doesn’t get the respect it deserves
An IWB devalues the keyboard which for many is an important component in driving a computer. Innovative educators such as myself rely on the keyboard in our presentations and interactions and using the pop up one on the IWB screen is not a viable option.

2. The pen gets more respect than it deserves
More and more innovative educators their often digitally savvy students are ditching the pen in favor of producing text with a keyboard. Drafting more often done by typing instead of hand printing or writing. For many of the digitally savvy the keyboard is mighterier than the pen.

3. Our eyes don't get the respect they deserve
As opposed to a set up with a laptop and projector that would enable the person facilitating to face the people in the room, the Smartboard, like the traditional blackboard results in teachers and students who are at the board often having their backs to the audience, or perhaps their side, to the audience. Additionally, because of this the person at the front of the room is often blocking what is on either on the board and/or the presenter often gets in the way of the projector.

4. The Promethean Shuffle and Smartboard Slide don't deserve respect on the classroom floor
While the shuffle and slide may look good on the dance floor, they usually have no place in the classroom, but educators are often led to follow this dance when interactive whiteboards are used to lead instruction. If you’ve seen someone use an interactive whiteboard, you know what I’m talking about as they slide from side to side to access the information they want on the board and shuffle out of the way of the projector. While interactive whiteboards are great at making a teacher feel like they’re taking stage, the front of the class is just not a place they should be doing that type of song and dance.

5. The time teacher's have for professional development does not get the respect it deserves
Time and time again when I point out that I see money wasted on IWBS I hear, oh…teachers aren’t using Smartboards well because they don’t have the proper training. You know what? I don’t know of any technology that people get more training for then Smartboards and they’re still not being used effectively. This is a result of two reasons.

1. Useful technology doesn’t need all this training. Adults and students just figure out how to use cell phones, cameras, iPads, Wii’s, computers, televisions, projectors, etc. Sure, they may need help to get started, but then they’re off and running, at least with the basics…
2. They are a catalyst for ineffective teaching. When you drop the board and let educators use just the laptop and projector the following happens:

i. Instruction can become people, rather than place-based,

ii. Instructors can have eye-to-eye contact with the students

iii. The focus is off the front of the room and on the learning.

iv. The class becomes more interactive when learning is happening around the room rather than with the one (or sometimes 2 – 4) people at the board.

When cash-strapped schools stop wasting money on training people on a mistaken expenditure they can put those funds to something more meaningful

5 Reasons Ditching Interactive Whiteboards is a Smart Idea
While being able to tap a board that will react has an upfront “WOW” factor, innovative educators instinctively know that it’s NOT smart to teach in the manner dictated by an IWB. Instead, they know that dropping the IWB enables them to do all the following which become difficult with Smartboards.

1. Focus on the students, not the sage on the stage.
2. Learning should come from anywhere, not just at the board in front of the room.
3. When addressing a classroom it is better to look at students faces then have them look at your behind or side.
4. Have access to the keyboard and mouse and be able to see where you are typing and clicking.
5. Have access to any peripherals you are using such as when podcasting, Skyping, etc.

If you love your interactive whiteboard, enjoy, but if you are an innovative educator who hasn’t bought into the hype, don’t feel compelled to spend a lot of time learning to use something that many innovative educators believe just isn’t worth it in general and in particular because most people using IWBs look like those in this slide show I created.

Getting Smart About Interactive Whiteboards (Smartboards, Promethean Boards)

View more presentations from InnovativeEdu.

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