Blogging Flat Stanley

Draft Manuscript for the 2005 Writing and Technology Retreat

Blogging Flat Stanley: Connecting, Communicating and Community-Building
 Danilo M Baylen, Florida Gulf Coast University Genaro Zamora, Mark Twain Elementary School It started as a routine response to a call for assistance -- a third grade teacher, Gener Zamora, from an urban elementary school in southern California looking for willing individuals to help out a class project using a Flat Stanley Project format as host. He sent out emails to folks he knew from around the world. Through connections from work experiences in southeast Asian refugee camps and interests on technology integration initiatives and writing skills development programs, Danilo M. Baylen, an instructional designer and assistant professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, and the technology liaison for NWP@FGCU local site, responded with enthusiasm for such an opportunity for collaboration at a distance. Spring break 2005 brought together these two individuals over phone lines, a teacher and instructional designer/assistant professor -- both are interested in motivating students to develop their writing skills through the use of technology. Given the time lag with the traditional letter writing format, the instructional designer/assistant professor proposed to harness the power of emerging technologies like a Weblog to support the letter writing activity as well as digital image sharing. This would allow almost a daily exchange between the host and the elementary students. Digital images of Flat Stanley's adventures in southwest Florida will be posted daily as webpages link to the Weblog. MAKING CONNECTIONS In return, Mark Twain Elementary students can post their responses and reactions to the letters, written by Dr. Baylen as host to Flat Stanley as well as other hosts, by using a discussion link in the Weblog. They can share this exchange of letters with their family members, classmates, friends, relatives, and neighbors. As part of the safety protocol, postings of student responses to the letters will only take place in their classroom under the supervision of Mr. Zamora, their teacher. Dr. Baylen, as the Weblog managing editor, reserves the right to block (and delete) members who do not behave appropriately in relation to the goals of this multimedia project and/or post inappropriate online messages. So enjoy reading the exchange of this traditional letterwriting project as supported by emerging technologies, by clicking the links below as the two American coasts (Southern California and Southwest Florida) connect, communicate and build a sense of community in tracking the adventures of Flat Stanley across America and beyond.