I am teaching a new technology class
this year and have thought about using a blog but was not sure if a blog would
be an effective tool for my students. I found a lot of information that was
helpful especially the article from teachersfirst.com. I like the idea of parents
commenting on their own students’ blogs and think that would be an effective
tool for parents to see what their students are doing. However if a parent does
not have access to the internet that could pose a problem also there are a lot of
parent who are not as computer literate as their students so I am not sure how
many parents would actually go and do that.
Blogs can be a useful tool for
students and can be considered like an online journal but in the article by Jeff
Utecht “Blogs Are Not Our Enemy” the
article stated that blogs are not just about writing but also about
communicating. I had not thought about this before but I can see how using
blogs can help with student’s communications skills. I like how he stated “If
you are blogging with your students, or thinking of blogging with your
students, I encourage you to not think of blogs as writing assignments, but
instead as conversations that invite feedback from a variety of quarters on any
topic.”
After reading the articles and
watching the video, I am going to incorporate a blog assignment into my
technology class but I do want it to more than just another writing assignment.
There were so many different ideas that I read about that I am sure I will be
able to come up with an engaging assignment and not just for my technology
class but hopefully for my other classes as well.
Having parents comment on student blogs is a great way to increase parent involvement! Parents can then easily see what their student is learning in class and I bet it would be a great way to engage parents and students in educational discussions at home.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I work in a rural, farming community and I don't think a lot of my students have internet at home. I could see how this could pose a problem for parents viewing student blogs. Maybe the local library has internet access or, at the very least, students could print out their blogs at school and take it home to look over with their parent.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of parents acknowledging students' blogs, since it opens the lines of communciation not only for the students, but also the teachers. I think it would be interesting to have a family blog week once a month, where all members of the family could share comments relating to classroom activities. Then again, internet accessibility would probably roadblock this idea, unless the school would allow some type of evening program for family members to use the computer lab.
DeleteConnie
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning the fact that blogs really are conversations and not writing assignment. The interactivity of a blog is the most important reason to use one in a classroom. And you seem ready to get that conversation started.
Thanks for sharing!
Maureen
I see that you wrote about parents being able to comment on students work. I would say that if parents have internet then it is a plus, but I wouldn't not use a blog just because the parents can't comment on the blog. Students will write more and read more of what others say in the blog.
ReplyDeleteI was having the same debate about blogging with all my students not having access at home either. You make a great point about the parent participation. I know in my classroom I am heavy on ELL, my parents would not be able to participate due to not being able to read the blogs or type in English.
ReplyDelete