Educational Blogging
Comments(4) | There are so many uses for Web 2.0 technology in the classroom. Blogs are a simple way to allow students to experience online communication in a protected environment. Though I have not yet used a blog in my class, I believe there are several uses for them.
In my classroom, my students are required to participate in an author study. Within that study, they are required review and reflect on a number of his books, study his biography, and write comparisons of his methods of writing. This is supposed to be done in a “reader’s notebook” with a table of contents and entries throughout the study. This could easily be done in a blog. Students would not only be able to share their own ideas with their fellow classmates, but would be able to comment and participate in diolague and questioning to further their interest.
Also, in our reading curriculum, students are required to read at least 25 chapter books for the year. They are supposed to record their summaries and opinions of these books in a notebook. Other students rarely look at these summaries and opinions and students are not very motivated to complete these entries. However, a blog would not only encourage students to be more diligent in their entries, but would actually create a forum for students to discuss the books they are reading. This would give a more authentic purpose to their entries and would, hopefully, get all students involved in reading a variety of books.
I do have a few questions about the practical management of blogging in the classroom, and I would love some input. First, with limited number of classroom computers, how do you structure your students’ blogging time? Are they allowed to blog during board work time, free time, or is it best set up as a required center? Second, if you get a number of students blogging on a number of subjects, it seems like it would be difficult to manage all the posts and comments. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it easier and less time consuming than it seems?
I think your idea of using a blog for your students’ author study is a fantastic idea and a very appropriate use of a blog as a teaching tool. It reminds me of the example presented by Will Richardson where he used a blog to create a collaborative space for his students to create an online readers guide to a book the class was reading (Richardson, 2009, p.23). I think a blog is an appropriate tool to use to supplement or even replace a class discussion. By using a blog, it is possible to include students who may not feel comfortable speaking their mind in front of everyone but enjoy posting their ideas instead. In the meantime, you are reinforcing good writing behavior, so you end up getting two benefits for the price of one.
I am in a similar situation in that I am also just beginning to venture into the possibilities of blog use in the classroom. I also have many similar questions about managing bogs. I have only two computers in my classroom and the students have access to them during a 50 minute time slot, once a week. Logistically, trying to get an average of 25 students access to these computers during that time period seems an impossible task. I have looked into using our school’s laptop cart which houses 30 laptops and a wireless router. Does your school have a resource similar to this that you could utilize? Or do you have a computer lab in your building that your students could access your blog site and make entries? I also think your idea of setting up a “blog center” where students rotate through the computers in your classroom on a schedule, would be a practical solution.
Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wiks, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hey there. It sounds like you have some wonderful ideas for blogging in the classroom.
When you conduct author studies, do you plan to try to have students communicate with any of the authors online? Our reading this week showed a perfect example of how this could be done.Blogs for chapter book summaries would be beneficial as it may excite the students a bit more to know they are sharing what they have done with the world. Having the students comment on one another’s summaries will be extremely beneficial to get more interaction among the students.
The questions you have posted regarding blogging are good ones. I think that if you can’t do blogging in a computer lab so the whole class can access the blog, it might work well to have it as a center. I have seen blogging in a whole class instructional setting but never as a center. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work as long as every student has a chance and enough time to complete their post with accuracy.
Karen,
I don’t think I will ever completely replace class discussion because I believe it is a great benefit to exchange, correct, and change our thoughts in an authentic and personal way. It is also a great chance to question students for understanding. However, there are so many times when I have to stop a great discussion because of time limits. Blogs are a great way to allow students to share ideas that they are excited about.
Melodi,
I think I am going to try to do a blog as a center at least once a week. The problem is, my computers are also needed for students to do several required educational testing programs, so they are often occupied by students doing this. I am just having some issues with time constraints. Thank you for your suggestions.