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A blog is a web page that any person with an internet connection can create and update. They are easy to modify and personalize with data, photographs, video or music (Richardson, 2009). It did not occur to me until very recently that I had technically been blogging for several years. Many years ago I would publish thoughts and comments to newsgroups from various internet companies. I would share a thought, someone would respond, I would respond back. The conversation could have been about anything. The important part was that I was publishing a written document. A small, yet valid audience was reading it and providing feedback.
A good portion of my education has been gained through this very practice. While attending institutions of higher learning such as Thomas Edison State College, Saint Leo University, Excelsior College and now Walden University, I have participated in online discussions. Usually an instructor would post a reading or research assignment. I would complete class requirements and provide comment based on the instructors prompt. Students would read the written work of others and provide comment. Conversations would ensue, and learning would take place.
Today, an entire generation of young people has grown up with weblogs. Millions of easily created and updatable personal pages on sites such as Facebook and My Space have been created with the purpose of social networking. Our students communicate with each other, plan activities and sometimes attempt to harm each other on such sites. I believe it is our responsibility as educators to demonstrate the potential of these capabilities as more than mindless entertainment.
How can I, as a fifth grade teacher, with my particular population of students and work circumstances, use a weblog to improve student learning? For starters, I could introduce them to quality blog pages, written by learners their own age. I would like for them to see what is possible if they apply themselves. My students may enjoy commenting on the work of others, and could even receive a response. We could form a class web page, complete with a schedule of upcoming events, assignments, copies of documents and links to relevant resources. If the page was updated regularly¸ it could increase parent involvement, particularly if the students are involved in the page maintenance. Another possible activity would be for students to write responses to, or share feelings on a provided prompt, much like an online classroom. Students writing may improve just to prevent embarrassment. After all, nobody wishes to appear stupid (Martin, 2008). Other options include journaling, posting class writing assignments or attacking problems young people face today.
There are many creative people out there who can come up with other methods of applying weblogs in the classroom. If we can engage a student by using technology to do different things to promote learning, then we should do it. Our students deserve it.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program number 6. Spotlight on technology: Blogging in the classroom (Motion Picture). Understanding the impact of technology on education, work, and society. Baltimore: Author
Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (2d ed.).Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press
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Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteI think the way you are going to introduce blogging to your 5th graders will help set the tone of how you would want them to blog. I know I am learning so much about this form of technology just by viewing our classmates creative blogs. This process is fairly easy once you have started but the use of examples is definitely beneficial.
One potential problem that I fear with my ninth graders is posting comments that may discourage others to participate. We know kids can be inappropriate, sometimes unknowingly but this can be a form of bullying. Do have suggestions for ways that this will not be an issue with 5th graders? Do you find that it will be challenging to get parents on board with blogging in the event that this can be an issue?
I look forward to collaborating with you and our group in upcoming assignments.
Hi Ken,
ReplyDeleteI am very much on the same wavelength as you in how I would approach using and introducing blogs into the classroom. I commend your attention to the safety factor in using web tools with children. The sooner educators can model safe use of these tools, the safer our students will be when they use web tools away from the school setting.
One problem I run into with my grade 7's is that they take forever to type anything. Our school gives students limited computer lab time and keyboarding is only introduced in grade 9. The grade 5 teachers in my school cetainly do wish that their students could achieve more in the lab. Is time and typing speed an issue with your students? I know that the momentum of a good idea sometimes fades with time.
I look forward to more collaboration.
Fellow Educators,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting your comments. I appreciate your collaboration.
From cmbelcastro. "Do have suggestions for ways that this will not be an issue with 5th graders? Do you find that it will be challenging to get parents on board with blogging in the event that this can be an issue?
To prevent inappropriate comments from my students I will try to take a preventive approach. I will go over appropriate conduct and expectations. We could have a class activity where students develop acceptable comments, and non-acceptable comments. My class members would each have an alias that I knew. If a student posted something inappropriate, I would know who it was. Parents would be contacted and an appropriate response from me would occur. I could also restrict comment publication to members of the blog (our class). This could prevent a random comment appearing from outside sources. I could also restrict comments from being published until I approved them. Finally, our class would discuss how to handle comments they may feel are overly critical. The goal is to improve our writing and expand our thinking, not argue online. As far as the parent portion of your question, I do not anticipate a problem.
From Rusty B. "Is time and typing speed an issue with your students? I know that the momentum of a good idea sometimes fades with time".
Absolutely! I have a huge spread of ability levels in my classroom. We never have enough time to accomplish everything planned. I do not anticipate anything changing. However, students will not improve unless we actually work on those skills.
I would like to thank both of you once again. Your comments were very much appreciated.
Respectfully,
Ken