Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 28 Number 5

Edited by Diane McGrath

Volume 28 Number 5 Summer 1996

Using Email Within a Classroom Based on Feminist Pedagogy, Data

Arizona State University, West

Andy

F2: Read Mail
F3: Exit Menu
F4: Directory
F5: Send Mail
F6: Nicknames
F7: Notebooks
F8: Who is logged on?

F2: Read
F3: Quit
F4: Print
F5: Reply
F7: Scroll Up
F8: Scroll Down

It also lists all your messages so you can see who has written to you.
   I used ASU Mail to write to Alice, my classmates and my penpal. It was really fun! I hope you like the newsletter.
   Andy (1994,October). ASU Mail. Kids Internet Workshop News, Vol.1, No.2,8.

Boys Wrote About Friendships

Sample Messages
Boys defied gender stereotypes when they used email to build friendships with other children. Sample message of boys working on relationships with their penpals follows:

Boys Wrote About Family

Sample Messages
Some boys were more family oriented than their peers. These boys wrote briefly about members of their families, and by inference, showed their need for and interest in being a family member. Such discussions were more typically found in the girls' email messages, but they did surface in the boys' messages:

Boys Confirmed Gender Stereotypes

Map drawn in Kid Pix by one of the boys.

Sample MessagesSome topics boys chose to write about confirmed gender stereotypes: Boys wrote more about things and events than people and feelings.

Christi

First Alice and I went to her house and got the software. Then we went to my house and Alice installed my modem and software. Next we tried it out and it worked! Hooray!

That night I taught my brother how to get into gopher and how to use Veronica. We found out a little bit about comics. The next day I taught Amanda how to use the modem. We looked up dogs.

Learned how to write to Alice using ASU mail. I read my mail from home. I can also write to the other kids in my class.

At home, with my modem, I am going to write to Alice in the summer. And I am going to use Veronica and Gopher to explore more about dogs, Alaska, Charleston (South Carolina) where I was born, and other states.

Christi. (1994, July). Setting up and using my modem from home. Kids Internet Workshop News, Vol.1, No.1, 6

Girls Wrote About Computers and Communications

Several examples of girls using technical language follow:

Girls Confirmed Gender Stereotypes

Janet

I'm looking forward to my next session in TELECOMMUNICATIONS WORKSHOP!

I like the ASU computers because these computers are "brighter" than my computer at home. From ASU we can use asumail and the Internet and I can't do that at home. I also liked the way our class worked together!

Janet. (1994, October). KID PIXKids Internet Workshop News, Vol.1, No.2, 7.

Sample Pages From Learning Logs And Navigation Logs

Sample daily log.	Sample navigation log.

Daily Log and Self-Evaluation

Today, I did the following in our Telecommunications Workshop:

I learned:

Some questions I'd still like to answer are:

How I plan to find answers to my questions:

Navigation Map

Today, I discovered:

I followed this route:

Process Notes:

Profile One

Click here to see sample writing.

Two weeks into our second workshop, Janet is intent on drawing a map of Georgia. She is using Kid Pix (1991), one of her favorite programs. As she concentrates on drawing her map, she begins to think of her forthcoming trip to Georgia to visit her older brothers and sisters. She suddenly comes to me and asks if it's okay for her to write another letter on email. I respect her request and she returns immediately to her computer, closing Kid Pix (1991) and opening her email account. Later I discover she has written to me:

Dear Alice, the reason I am going to see my big brotheer Jason and my big brother Lee and my big sister NIKI is because last august my Dad died and so we are al going to get togheras a fami9ly even though I can't wait in a way I feel I don't want to go?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Love, Janet P.S. Don't tell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having sent her message and having verbalized some of her confusion about the death of her father, she returns to Kid Pix and happily completes her map of Georgia. I respond to her message:

Dear Janet, Thanks for sending me that special email message about your visit with your older siblings. I can understand that you may be feeling a little hesitant about the visit because it will seem strange to have your family together and not have your Dad there. I have the same feelings sometimes. My mother died about six years ago and I always miss her the most when the whole family is together. It seems she should be there too and that makes me sad. It was really brave of you to share these feelings with me. I won't tell anyone. I promise!
Love, Alice

The correspondence continues briefly:

Dear Alice,
Have a great day and thanks for the suppoort!
Love, Janet

Dear Janet, I hope my letter helped you to feel that you were not alone with your feelings. I felt honored that you wrote me.
Love, Alice

Profile Two

Christi is shy and beautiful. She peers out at the computer lab through dark eyes and long lashes, but doesn't speak. I stand to the side of the lab and watch Christi and the other children as they inspect the computers, the printer, and the room. In the noisy excitement of the classroom, Christi's quiet stance is noticeable.

We begin our first day of class. I notice that Christi is quite knowledgeable about the Macintosh and she quietly helps her classmates throughout the day. When class is over, she speaks to me in a barely audible voice.

"I have a Mac and a modem at home. But my modem isn't hooked up. Do you think you could fix it?"
"Of course," I reply with a smile, "You just name the day!"

The dance begins.

Christi and I have each been in classrooms a long time--Christi as a student and I, first as a student, and now as a teacher. We have learned the unwritten rules of school; we have learned well how a female is "supposed" to behave. We are two female dancers who know the dance so well that we don't need the (often male) choreographer to help us with the steps. We are so practiced, we do them without thinking. We move to the beat of an invisible tune. All girls know the words to this tune.

The refrain goes like this:

Good girls are nice
Good girls are kind
Good girls help out
Good girls don't pout.

I set the stage for the dance to begin:

We build trust in one another. Christi enters the dance and together we negotiate the steps--smoothly--because we know this dance deep within our souls:

And then we know the end of the dance is near.

Profile Three

Click here to see sample writing

Red-headed, bright-eyed Andy strolls into the computer lab with a smugness which the other children do not possess. He can afford the luxury of walking slowly while the other children rush because he knows he can take any computer he wants; Andy is a leader in the group--and what he wants, he gets. Class begins. All the children are reading and answering their mail. The room is quiet; the children and I are intent on our mail.

"Alice, I need help!" Andy's loud voice startles us.
"I'm reading my mail, Andy, I'm sure you can solve your problems on your own."
"No I can't. I'm stuck in some weird place; I don't know how to get out."
"I probably don't know how to get out either. I'd just have to keep trying different things 'till I got out. Why don't you try that strategy?"

Andy eventually figures out his difficulty and begins answering his mail. I receive the following note:

June 10, 1994

I am sending mail without you helping. I'm sending some stuf about me to you...

And I reply:

June 11, 1994

Thanks for sending me a message. I was very proud of all you did on your own without my help.

About 30 minutes later, I am giving a demonstration of how to use Veronica to search the Internet. I ask for ideas on topics the class might like to search for. Andy jumps out of his seat, wildly waving his hand. When I call on Janet, he loudly calls out, "Chess, lets look up chess." The other boys immediately echo his request and the girls silently nod their assent.

Andy continues his domination of the classroom. He calls out, demands help, and acts irresponsibly. He has learned over the years that he can engage in this kind of behavior: Bright boys can act in ways which would never be considered appropriate if the actors were slower boys or any girl. I determine that I should discuss this issue with him and send him a lengthy email message about three days later:

You have a real knack with the computer. You could be a real leader in our class, but right now you're choosing NOT TO BE.

Wouldn't it feel really good to settle down, learn alot, and then help your classmates if they need it. You catch on really quickly and I could benefit from having a good assistant. It doesn't help you or the class when you act silly, talk out and need me to help you.

Write back and let me know what you think.

Alice

I receive no response, but I do notice some changes in his willingness to try things on his own. He also voluntarily helps others when they ask for help. The following week I compliment him in several messages:

Andy and I learn to coexist. We both admire the other for our curiosity and love of learning. I learn how to channel some of his energy in productive ways and how to let the rest go with a boys-will-be-boys shrug of my shoulders. Andy learns that I will not enable his "I need help" behavior and that he can do well without help. As teachers and students, we have miles to go in our pursuit of an ungendered classroom, but Andy and I accomplished the first inch- and we both felt like that was quite an achievement.

Copyright © 1996, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.