I don't think I am really getting the power of blogging...can anyone help? Certainly interaction among students is powerful for learning, but how does the teacher use this to reinforce a lesson? I'm not quite making the leap here. Kathy S talks about an English class writing a critical lens essay and how she thinks blogging could help the process. What would a successful outcome look like?
Are we as educators happy with good process or do we need to be able to assess its effectiveness? As I am exploring ways to bring blogging into our classroom I continually hit the mental roadblock that asks "How can I determine if this has been successful?". The more I read other blogs the more I think I'm missing some key idea.
At Super Cool Science Brian talks about being very excited to blog casually with his students about science related topics. This use of blogging makes more sense to me, but I see it as entertaining and welcoming, not as a true instructional tool.
So... since everyone else seems to "get" this and I don't, please send me your thoughts. I want to be as excited about blogging in the classroom as everyone else.
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5 comments:
I think that the teacher and the students would gather and respond to information they see or hear in a blog about content material of the subject they are studying. I assume they would work as a team, with students analyzing the content, then they would discuss, edit and add to it. I guess the next step would be to present their response, as a blog from a class. ( I suppose it could also be done individually too, if the kids had their own blog address.) It would have to be planned carefully ahead of time by the teacher so as to reinforce the content he or she was trying to teach.
I think that entertaining and welcoming may be the catch that allows the teacher to connect with a student that may not be engaged. If the student is thinking about science, responding to the teacher and asking questions than the content is being delivered.
You both make some good points. If we can get students to engage and then bring meaning to their work we will have more success. I think I am still having trouble thinking of blogging as a natural flow in my classroom instead of add on technology. That might be generational. I think it might be starting to sink in though. Just this week I was reading an article in the latest NEAToday magazine (November 2007) about getting students to "publish" their works. The teacher was referring to students sending out their writing for essay contests and such. I immediately though why not put them on a blog if you want an outside audience? It was an Ah-ha moment for me. The logistics still scare me, but I'm beginning to see the value. Thanks for your input.
I think the difference is that it is learning through fun. We can use blogs to access other people and get input from them on different topics. I really like the idea of being able to talk to a teacher in, Chicago to get ideas for how to work on skills in resource or to find another way to teach different topics in Algebra or Earth Science. We can all learn from each other, and finding tools to meet each others needs is the best way to learn!!
While doing lesson 5 I found a cute video on Teacher Tube about the reasons for blogging in the classroom. It used elementary students to make the point, but the reasons apply to all our students. The video mentions key personal concepts like empowerment, collaboration and sharing. This short video condensed many of my random thoughts into a clear idea. Amazing, because I don't see myself as a person who learns comfortably from video. Maybe there's something to this afterall!
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