Creating, Modifying, and Using Newsletter Templates as a Low-Stakes Way to Improve Student Writing Skills and Enhance Classroom

Eighth Annual
Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Challenge Continues
March 30-April 1, 2003

2003 Conference Proceedings

By: Jeff Hoyer
Track 4 - Policies, Standards, and Issues
Interest: General :: Lecture/Presentation :: Level: Beginner

Abstract

Since 1999, and as part of an Ameritech grant, the author has systematically investigating use of streaming media to enhance face-to-face classes. Technology invites experimentation but raises questions about such things as student acceptance, student use, academic performance, and what to do with class time when lectures are put on-line. Students appear to easily master the technology, and today software is available to help the instructor with the task. The harder issues to deal with relate to instructional and pedagogical issues. For technology to be used to its full advantage, it should be used to create an active learning environment.

Proceeding

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to describe a case study where a newsletter template was used to support the instruction of writing in a university classroom setting. Additionally, the author explains where to find templates, the various formats commonly encountered when selecting a template and the process involved in selection of the template to meet the instructor’s specific needs. Modification and design of an initial template are also discussed as is the application of this approach in a typical class setting.

With organizations such as the CEO Forum on Education and Technology, the Milken Family Foundation on Education Technology, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, and ISTE increasingly focusing on integration of technology in teaching, recent trends suggest that teachers are more comfortable with the use of technology in the classroom (Charp, 2003). There are also distinct advantages for the students in using computers in learning. Research has shown that instruction via computers results in longer retention of material and in higher test scores compared to the conventional methods (Beerman, 1996). Bork et al. (2000) note that computer-based learning is much more individualized, interactive, and accessible for most students. These authors note that students are able to learn at their own pace wherever they are when the teaching is computer based. Another researcher suggests that computer technologies sharpen knowledge management and collaborative learning skills among students and helps them in problem solving and decision-making (Bates, 2000). Although there seems to be positive support for use of computer-based technology such as the use of templates, some authors have identified some disadvantages for students using computer-based learning solely as a teaching approach without the classroom to support the teaching. These do not relate so much to learning of the content, but to lack of socialization or feelings of isolation (Bork, et al., 2000). However, most of the literature supports technological support of education. Use of templates in teaching writing also enables the instructor to approach writing from a perspective that deviates somewhat from the historical traditional teaching paradigm. In the past, the dominant leaning paradigm and one that is still frequently encountered today is the one of information transfer. Even when computer technology has been introduced, many courses have continued to follow the information transfer paradigm (Bork, 2000). The teacher has been seen as the authority figure and the source of all knowledge. Although some elements of that paradigm exist in the approach taken using newsletter templates as a teaching tool, the teacher becomes more of a guide within the framework of a tutorial teaching paradigm.

Template Format and Sources

Newsletter templates can be obtained from a variety of sources. Providers commonly include word processing software companies, promotional providers who provide the templates as a way to attract customers to use their products, and lastly, commercial designers who sell usually a set number of templates they have designed for a package price. One of the best ways to find templates for use and modification is to surf the internet using some of the more popular search engines. The author has found google.com and dogpile.com to be particularly effective in locating templates. As you search you will literally find hundreds. A few samples are given below just to illustrate the diversity of sources:

Free Microsoft NewletterTemplates

http://search.officeupdate.microsoft.com/TemplateGallery/ct89.asp

Forty newsletter templates ($19.95) in Word Format

http://www.newsletterguides.com/

Free HTML newsletter templates

http://www.sparklist.com/services/htmltemplates.html

http://www.homebiztools.com/enews.htm

http://www.free-newslettertemplates.com/

http://www.netatlantic.com/templates/

http://www.newz2me.com/templates/newsletter-templates.htm

You may find the links given above sufficient to meet your needs. However, if you do not find exactly what you need in the list of links above, type “newsletter templates” in the search engine of your choice and you will find hundreds with most being available free. One thing you will want to consider before selecting a template is the type of file format best suited for your particular situation. The three most common newsletter template formats the author has encountered include word processing templates such a Word, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) format, and the Adobe Acrobat pdf format. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, word processing formats are generally easy to edit and manipulate. However, the person receiving the newsletter as an attachment must have the particular word processing package the template was designed in to open the file. HTML files on the other hand generally are fairly easy to edit with a text editor and will open with the browser on the receiving computer’s desktop. Adobe Acrobat pdf files are more difficult to edit, and frequently seem to take up more space, but the wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) means that the “look” of the publication is very stable as it is sent to the recipient. However, the person receiving the document must have the free Adobe Acrobat reader software installed on his or her computer to read the transmitted newsletter file. Although, downloading the free software is easy and once it has been done the file will open automatically, some users are still hesitant to go to a site and download the required software. For each of these reasons, the author chose to use the Microsoft Word format in selection of the newsletter for use in the case study. Word is probably the most common word processing software on computers today; especially in educational institutions and for the author’s use it seemed it would create less confusion with the students since they were familiar with it.

Approach and Application

The author selected the initial newsletter template from the Microsoft Template Gallery (http://search.officeupdate.microsoft.com/TemplateGallery/ct89.asp). Based on the needs of the class, the author determined the two-page template was too short for his class needs and the six-page newsletter template was too long. Therefore, he determined that the best approach would be to modify the longer one and reduce the number of pages rather than to increase the length of the shorter one. Two pages were deleted from the six-page template to provide the modified completed newsletter template shown in Attachment 1 to this paper. During the remaining stages of development, the author wrote sample stories to illustrate the type of writing the student was expected to generate and placed these in appropriate locations within the sample template. In addition to creating stories to illustrate the various style and format requirements, the author added text blocks so that the student could see the nomenclature for each of the stories developed to reinforce the students’ identification of each story with the style it represented.

Because of the construction of the template, each column is anchored to the next so that text can be deleted and other text flowed into the vacated space. Also, heading and art style elements were included as text boxes, so that all a student had to do to include his or her story elements into the newsletter was to highlight and delete what the author included and type the new headline into the vacated space. Once the sample text in the columns had been deleted in the sample by the student, he or should could block copy the new text to be inserted and paste it in the appropriate space in the newsletter. Since information was provided in each story regarding the story length based on number of words, students were also exposed to specification writing. Students knew before writing their story how many words would be allowed and if done appropriately flowed text occupied the vacated spaces exactly as the previous article had done.

Students were given a copy of the sample template at the beginning of the semester and told to select an umbrella topic in an area of personal interest around which to write stories throughout the semester. Lectures and practice time was given during class throughout the semester to learn the style and format requirement for each type of story represented in the newsletter. After each type of story was covered, students were told to develop that particular story type within their personal area of interest to be placed in their personal newsletter. The author reviewed the submitted stories and provided input and then had each student “build” his or her personal newsletter using the corrected stories. The instructor collected the completed newsletter disks near the end of the semester and printed off two copies of the completed newsletter for each student and returned the copies and disk to the student who owned them. Additionally, near the end of the semester when all newsletters were done, the instructor loaded the newsletters on his laptop and through use of a projection unit displayed each newsletter on a screen in front of the class so students could see and appreciate the effort expended throughout the semester by each student. Samples of the first page of some of the newsletters developed by students are given in Attachment 2 to this paper.

Conclusion

Following a semester using the newsletter template approach to teaching writing, there appeared to be a marked improvement in the quality of work handed in by the students carrying out assignments using the newsletter template. Additionally, the students appeared to identify more personally with the assignments, express a greater interest in evaluation of their work, and assume more responsibility for correcting any errors before delivering their products for the final critique. Also, since the focus was on the writing rather than design of the newsletter, the students could focus all their attention on the writing craft while still being able to generate something that had a high aesthetic appeal.

There are few disadvantages associated with use of the approach described in this paper when used to support the teaching of writing in the classroom. However, after using this approach for a couple of semesters, the instructor found it beneficial to warn students to use Gif or jpeg formats rather than a TIFF format for any pictures included in the newsletter. The storage of a single newsletter on a disk worked fine when jpegs or Gifs were used, but when the larger TIFF files were inadvertently used in a couple of cases, the students using that image format found their disk overloaded and crashes and data lose occurring.

References

Bates, Tony, (September/October 2000). Teaching, learning, and the impact of multimedia technologies. Educause Review, Vol. 35, Issue 5, Boulder, pp. 38-43.

Beerman, Kathy, (January 1996). Computer-based multimedia: New directions in teaching and learning. Journal of Nutrition Education, Vol. 28, Issue 1. p. 15.

Bork, Alfred. (Jan/Feb 2000). Learning Technology. Educause Review, Vol. 35, Issue 1, Boulder, pp. 74-81.

Bork, Alfred; Balestri, Diane; Berger, Carl; Hess, Jacqueline; et al., (January/February 2000). Panel on the future of teaching and learning. Educause Review, Vol 35, Issue 1, Boulder, pp. 82-85.

Charp, Sylvia. (March 2003). Technology Integration in Teaching and Learning. T.H.E. Journal, Technological Horizons in Education. p. 8.

ATTACHMENT 1

ATTACHMENT 2