Go to the blog, The Journey, and scroll down to the post, "Edublogging with Passion". The author of this blog post reflects on the use of blogs in education. She makes some interesting statements and has posted some links for you to explore. Please view the video, "About Edublogging".
Please comment on at least one thing that you found interesting about blogging or something you feel helped you better understand what blogging is all about.
OMG! It's 11:40 and I just spent 15 minutes posting a very large comment (that I thought was really interesting) but lost it due to selecting a profile. I'm not happy. Perhaps I'll try aging tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteOK, so I'm going to try posting my response again. After reading through all the blogs, I felt this was enlightening on how to utilize blogging in the classroom. I have to admit, I was put off by the authors comment stating, "the ones who endure the first stages of discoveries and experiments are the passionate educators". In one of the other blogs, Thinking about change on EduBlog Insight, the comment spoke about "The Business of Blogging" and that educators rarely venture out of their own networkds or jump into this world (blogs, wikis etc..) themselves. The comment goes on to that educators need to have the time set from their duties for reflection and learning. The schools should make reflection and learning time for the teachers a priority that nothing could interupt. I don't think that teachers are against new ways to reflect and learn, but I don't think it is a process and need to be worked on one step at a time. Too much at one time is overwhelming. We would never expect our students to learn and master an entire course in a few classes.
ReplyDeleteThat stated, after watching the video I have a new apprecitation for blogging. I liked how two different classes could be communicating regarding the same learning concepts, while also perhaps learning about a different culture, school environment, or teaching styles. She was upfront regarding that blogging in the classroom isn't easy but requires time and effort to form good blogging habits similar to managing and developing classroom routines. Guest bloggers is also an interesting idea. In one of the sites/blogs, I recall a guess the identity of the guest, where students can ask questions regarding the secret blogger.
I agree with the issue of blogging is not done for grading purposes, but rather for place to become a free thinker, further develop their identity, and find their own voice. Teachers and student can learn from each other, getting to know each other in a different forum.
One question I have...Is there any difference between blogging and a dicussion board? They both seem the same to me.
I've watched the video and have a better sense of what blogging is now and how I might use it in my course. I think my students might blog to communicate about the labs they are doing in class. I know a lot of phone conversations go on about lab write-ups, the part of the course that most of my students rate as the most challenging. I'm looking of new ways to help them with analyzing their lab data.
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