Blogging is a great idea and can easily be utilized in the classroom...IF the environment is right. In my current educational setting, teachers are equipped with technology, but the students are not. Once each student has access to the Internet at school and at home....then teachers should be required to blog in their classrooms. Baby steps can be taken right now.
I think this would be appropriate in high school. Teachers could post blog questions as discussion points and the students could respond. They'd have to make the class computer available for those who didn't have access to one at home. Also you'd have to consider how to verify that the student's were doing their own work and didn't have someone else respond for them. I'm not sure how that would work out, but something to explore.
I would not require a blog or wiki, but I would encourage teachers to have one or the other by having them myself. By modeling the effectiveness of communication using this technology, I believe teachers would be more inclined to include them in their class. Having a faculty meeting that helps teachers set up each website would also give the teachers more confidence in using them.
I think it would be great for teachers to use blogs in their classes. I use them with my 6th graders. Rather than complete their reader response logs in notebooks, I post the questions on my blog, and my students respond. My students also have their own blogs about what they are reading so that their classmates can respond to their posts also.
Students today are a tech-saavy group. We teachers need to use the available technology to reach our students.
I'm generally not a fan of requiring things of my teachers, largely because they'll resist all the more if they feel they have no say in the process. With that said, I've heard nothing but positive things about wiki/blog use in classrooms. When used effectively, the students are allowed to take more ownership of their learning, and the teacher is able to take advantage of any number of unsuspected learning opportunities that would not otherwise have arisen.
Blogging is a great idea and can easily be utilized in the classroom...IF the environment is right. In my current educational setting, teachers are equipped with technology, but the students are not. Once each student has access to the Internet at school and at home....then teachers should be required to blog in their classrooms. Baby steps can be taken right now.
ReplyDeleteI think this would be appropriate in high school. Teachers could post blog questions as discussion points and the students could respond. They'd have to make the class computer available for those who didn't have access to one at home. Also you'd have to consider how to verify that the student's were doing their own work and didn't have someone else respond for them. I'm not sure how that would work out, but something to explore.
ReplyDeleteI would not require a blog or wiki, but I would encourage teachers to have one or the other by having them myself. By modeling the effectiveness of communication using this technology, I believe teachers would be more inclined to include them in their class. Having a faculty meeting that helps teachers set up each website would also give the teachers more confidence in using them.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be great for teachers to use blogs in their classes. I use them with my 6th graders. Rather than complete their reader response logs in notebooks, I post the questions on my blog, and my students respond. My students also have their own blogs about what they are reading so that their classmates can respond to their posts also.
ReplyDeleteStudents today are a tech-saavy group. We teachers need to use the available technology to reach our students.
I'm generally not a fan of requiring things of my teachers, largely because they'll resist all the more if they feel they have no say in the process.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I've heard nothing but positive things about wiki/blog use in classrooms. When used effectively, the students are allowed to take more ownership of their learning, and the teacher is able to take advantage of any number of unsuspected learning opportunities that would not otherwise have arisen.
Great comments. Thank you all for your thoughts. I will definitely use your feedback when discussing these issues with our staff.
ReplyDelete