I agree with you, I think it is great that blogging is so safe for students. I think the hardest part about adapting to social media in the classroom is the fear of safety and also cyber bullying. I think that blogging can be done safely and effectively and actually prove to benefit students other uses of social networking outside of the classroom.
Students who are usually shy in the classroom but have many interesting ideas to share, often find that online discussions are a great tool for them to engage in discussions. We have all heard cases about students making poor choices when they have a wall that "protects their identity". However, when used correctly, blogs can motivate students to participate in whole group discussions, as you mentioned. Thank you for sharing and kudos on the Voicethread!
From my personal experience, I too have seen where some students dominate a class discussion. Blogging in turn would allows those students who did not get a chance to share their ideas to share their views.
Blogging also allows students to think through the topic and share their ideas that they couldn't think of during class time.
As such, I completely agree with all that you said about blogging. (ML)
The idea of equity is always a concern teachers have when thinking about class discussions. I really like your point of blogs allowing equity in a discussion. Also the ability for students to reply to each other is an important piece of a discussion.
Through the readings and videos, I discovered that blogging could become an effective tool if it used in the classroom. I personally do not have much experience using it; however, according to the video “Blogging in the classroom,” blogging could facilitate communication among teachers and students. One of the main benefits is that teachers are able to provide feedback to the students in a reasonable time. From my point of view, feedback is effective and contributes to learning if it is delivered promptly. Otherwise, it loses its effectiveness. Another important aspect about blogging is that students could create their own blogs and use their individualized spaces to create products and demonstrate understanding on any topic. I believe that it is important to allow students to make their own choices and allow them to employ their personal creativeness to complete assignments. Building and customizing their own blogs could help students feel that they have control of their own learning.
Hello Laura, I have heard that students need feedback within 24 hours of completing an assignment in order to have the most effectiveness. With that said, a blog would be a great way to have students write about different skills that gives the teacher an easily accessible format to respond and give feedback to students. I'm sure plenty of teachers would love not having to lug stacks of paper home from time to time.
I have recently latched onto the idea of blogging in the classroom. In Session 4, we researched Web 2.0 tools and I came across KidBlog.org. After exploring the website I became intrigued by the idea of having students blog to share knowledge, hold discussions, and incorporate technology in the classroom. I can see many benefits to using a blog in the classroom in these ways. I shared the site with the 4th and 5th grade teachers at my school, but felt there was little else I could do with it since I teach 1st grade. After reading "Blogging as a Way to Promote Family-Professional Partnerships", I felt that I could do something more with blogging in my classroom. I started a teaching/class blog in May of 2012, but used it more to record what I had done and share my ideas with other teachers. I had thought about sharing the web address with parents, but many of the students at my school do not have internet access at home. I like the idea of creating individual student blogs to share student progress with parents as presented in the article about FCLC. I also like how the teachers in the article focused the entries in a positive light, which encouraged parents to respond. In my teaching setting, creating an entry for each child each day would be overwhelming; I am expecting to have between 27-30 students in my upcoming class. However, perhaps a weekly entry would be a good starting point. As educators, communicating with parents is so important. Creating individual blogs for students allows for parent communication on a more personal level. It also creates an open, positive line of communication. I think it is so easy to only contact parents when there is an issue with a child, instead of when a child has done something great as well. I look forward to sharing this information with my teammates and looking into this idea further.
I completely agree with you, especially using blogging as a tool to communicate with parents. Tools like blogging really helps us out to reach out to parents and provide updates and resources.
Thanks for sharing and good luck to you in incorporating it more in the classroom!
Hello Elaine, I understand what you mean when you say that blogs may be too overwhelming to create an entry every day. With a class size of 27-30, one idea is to create entries beforehand, such as a standardized template and keep these entries as private posts. You can then choose to publish or make these posts public at the right times. This way during the school term you are not burdened with the work of planning entries on a weekly basis but just populating the template with relevant data.
https://voicethread.com/share/4717873/
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I think it is great that blogging is so safe for students. I think the hardest part about adapting to social media in the classroom is the fear of safety and also cyber bullying. I think that blogging can be done safely and effectively and actually prove to benefit students other uses of social networking outside of the classroom.
DeleteStudents who are usually shy in the classroom but have many interesting ideas to share, often find that online discussions are a great tool for them to engage in discussions. We have all heard cases about students making poor choices when they have a wall that "protects their identity". However, when used correctly, blogs can motivate students to participate in whole group discussions, as you mentioned.
DeleteThank you for sharing and kudos on the Voicethread!
http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=8339280&height=267&width=200
ReplyDeleteHi Kristen,
DeleteFrom my personal experience, I too have seen where some students dominate a class discussion. Blogging in turn would allows those students who did not get a chance to share their ideas to share their views.
Blogging also allows students to think through the topic and share their ideas that they couldn't think of during class time.
As such, I completely agree with all that you said about blogging. (ML)
Hi Kristen-
DeleteThe idea of equity is always a concern teachers have when thinking about class discussions. I really like your point of blogs allowing equity in a discussion. Also the ability for students to reply to each other is an important piece of a discussion.
Aisha
Through the readings and videos, I discovered that blogging could become an effective tool if it used in the classroom. I personally do not have much experience using it; however, according to the video “Blogging in the classroom,” blogging could facilitate communication among teachers and students. One of the main benefits is that teachers are able to provide feedback to the students in a reasonable time. From my point of view, feedback is effective and contributes to learning if it is delivered promptly. Otherwise, it loses its effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteAnother important aspect about blogging is that students could create their own blogs and use their individualized spaces to create products and demonstrate understanding on any topic. I believe that it is important to allow students to make their own choices and allow them to employ their personal creativeness to complete assignments. Building and customizing their own blogs could help students feel that they have control of their own learning.
Laura,
DeleteStudent autonomy is always effective. Do you think you will be able to use it in your classroom?
Thanks for sharing!
Hello Laura,
DeleteI have heard that students need feedback within 24 hours of completing an assignment in order to have the most effectiveness. With that said, a blog would be a great way to have students write about different skills that gives the teacher an easily accessible format to respond and give feedback to students. I'm sure plenty of teachers would love not having to lug stacks of paper home from time to time.
Kevin
I have recently latched onto the idea of blogging in the classroom. In Session 4, we researched Web 2.0 tools and I came across KidBlog.org. After exploring the website I became intrigued by the idea of having students blog to share knowledge, hold discussions, and incorporate technology in the classroom. I can see many benefits to using a blog in the classroom in these ways. I shared the site with the 4th and 5th grade teachers at my school, but felt there was little else I could do with it since I teach 1st grade. After reading "Blogging as a Way to Promote Family-Professional Partnerships", I felt that I could do something more with blogging in my classroom. I started a teaching/class blog in May of 2012, but used it more to record what I had done and share my ideas with other teachers. I had thought about sharing the web address with parents, but many of the students at my school do not have internet access at home. I like the idea of creating individual student blogs to share student progress with parents as presented in the article about FCLC. I also like how the teachers in the article focused the entries in a positive light, which encouraged parents to respond. In my teaching setting, creating an entry for each child each day would be overwhelming; I am expecting to have between 27-30 students in my upcoming class. However, perhaps a weekly entry would be a good starting point. As educators, communicating with parents is so important. Creating individual blogs for students allows for parent communication on a more personal level. It also creates an open, positive line of communication. I think it is so easy to only contact parents when there is an issue with a child, instead of when a child has done something great as well.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to sharing this information with my teammates and looking into this idea further.
Elaine,
DeleteI completely agree with you, especially using blogging as a tool to communicate with parents. Tools like blogging really helps us out to reach out to parents and provide updates and resources.
Thanks for sharing and good luck to you in incorporating it more in the classroom!
Hello Elaine, I understand what you mean when you say that blogs may be too overwhelming to create an entry every day. With a class size of 27-30, one idea is to create entries beforehand, such as a standardized template and keep these entries as private posts. You can then choose to publish or make these posts public at the right times. This way during the school term you are not burdened with the work of planning entries on a weekly basis but just populating the template with relevant data.
Delete