Here are some articles that I found on blogs in education.
Improving Interaction Through Blogs in a Constructivist Learning Environment – Cuhadar, Cem and Kuzu, Abdullah
Blogs in Education – Huette, Scott
The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities – Duffy, Peter and Bruns, Axel
Teaching With Authors’ Blogs:
Connections, Collaboration, Creativity – Johnson, Denise
Blogs have proved to be effective in the classroom therefore more and more teachers in collaboration with other teachers and students have been creating them for their classrooms. Teachers have been using them to support teaching and learning. Blogs create a community that create interaction, collaboration and improve communication. Blogs can connect individuals all over the world therefore create learning communities. Through blogs students are able to develop and strengthen their critical and analytical thinking skills and create their own learning environments.
Teachers can post class information on the classroom blog such as assignments, announcements, and helpful links. Classroom blogs create ownership and collaboration. Students can post their work and offer peer-review. Students reflect and respond to their own work as well as the work of others students.
Blogs create awareness, address issues, and create discussions. A class blog opens opportunities for students to discuss topics in and outside the classroom. Students have a voice; they are able to share their thoughts and opinions.
It almost seems as if the options are endless when it comes to blogging! I have noticed that there are more pros then cons when it comes to using such a tool in the classroom. I really like the fact that you mentioned how teachers can use blogs to post information about the classroom. It is a great way for students to keep updated when outside of the class. Blogs can be accessed from almost anywhere which makes things more convenient for both the teacher and student!
ReplyDeleteYou have some great articles there which really give blogging an upper hand if used in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMy sons attend middle school and high school here in Corvallis. We have a system they call "Pinnacle" that allows parents and students to see grades on class assignments and overall GPA. It would be so much nicer to be able to visit a teacher's blog to see upcoming assignments and suggested resources, along with understanding more about the teacher's background.
ReplyDeleteTrisha, I really liked this comment in the Huette article:
ReplyDeleteA ‘digital literacy’ exists where
flexible and mobile technologies
must be explored for collaborative
and (co)creative purposes, as well
as for the critical assessment and
evaluation of information.
There is a significant shift that is occuring in education (it's been happening since at least the 1970s, but the pace seems to be accelerating) where students will be helping their teachers "create" meaning. It's the academic eqivalent of "hands-on" or kinesthetic learning and it's very exciting! Given this shift, it's more important than ever to teach critical thinking skills so that our students become aware, if not skeptical, readers and infromation consumers and producers.
William, I don't know if you've visited my blog yet, but I posted a link to a first grade teacher that does this: MRS. CASSIDY'S CLASSROOM BLOG:
classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337
I think it's really terrific!
Sorry, that should have been to Pati, not "Trisha."
ReplyDeleteOK! I think after reading all the blogs, I'm convinced that blogs can be of value in education. So let's consider some other steps: what if this is a fad? What will be the next phase? What technology will replace blogging?
ReplyDelete