Using Technology in Writing

This morning in the writing class, Gena chose "tea" as the topic and asked all of us to write whatever words and phrases that came to our mind which was related to tea. I couldn't believe I could write down so many words. I even wrote down Gu Hongming and his famous comments on Chinese concubine sysytem, comparing the wife to the tea pot and the many concubines to tea cups. This brainstoming did trigger my imagination. 

Gena herself had also written down some words. she asked us to categorize the words into different groups and chose three categories for our composition. What I chose was: China, the Silk Route, and Boston Tea Party. Gena suggested that I write around the topic of how tea changed the world.

To write  the composition well, I need to do researches on the Internet. I'll go to google or wikipedia to get information. Maybe I'll also blog my composition to ask my classmates to revise it. If possible, I'll attach maps of China and the Silk Route and also the pictures of Boston Tea Party and the American War of Independence. All these are impossible without the modern technology. 

Technology plays an important role even when we are learning writing.

Ideas about whether to use chatting in my class

    Though it's an exciting experience to have chatted with my group member on line, I don't think I will use it in my class. The reasons are as follows:
    1. My class (50 students)is too big to handle if every student chat on line at the same time. I am sure some of them will be distracted.
    2. There is a gap between different levels of English learners in my class. Some students have a good command of both spoken and written English, while others have difficulty in communicating in English. .
    3. A computer lab is a must.  In CUMTB, about 2,000 first-year and second-year students are currently taking  English courses. Course schedules will be very complicated if so many students are fit into the two computer labs we now have.

reactions to chatting

    Yang Xiaohua, Wang Zhenying and I chat on line this morning. It's the first time I had conversations on line. Very exciting. I think we communited with each other prtty well, because we figured out who the person was by asking questions. 
    I learned a lot from Xiaohua and Zhenying, who are smarter than me. When the conversation got started, my questions were unnecessarily long. They reminded me that I was chatting with, not writing to them. So I should shorten my questions to save time. It was great. I improved, and the chat moved on as if it was a real-life one.

Thoughts on Using Technology in Class

    whenever I hear the word "technology", I'll think of atomic bombs, fighters, bacteria wars, etc. Frankly speaking, I don't think technology has made human beings happier or freeer though it has improved our living standand.
    Using technology in class is better than using it to kill. But we always spend a huge amount of money on reserch and development of weapons and less money on education. Thus the problem arises that many students, esp those who come from the rural areas, have no access to computer or other facilities. Computer literacy is the first step towards the efficient use of technology in class.  Support and cooperation of other departments are indispensable. But it's not  easy to convince the university authorities that technology may be used in language teaching class.