What seems to be holding true for many Web 2.0 tools, the exact traits of blogging in the classroom that make it attractive for students and teachers, also present problems. For example, in Noelene’s classroom, her students are publishing their work within LiveJournal, which gives them the immediate feeling of being a published author. As the young girl in Downes (2004) article states, “blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment.”
But this very well may be the exact thing that worries parents. The idea that their children are putting themselves out into the wild unknown world of the internet is a real concern for personal safety. Noelene will have to follow any and all safety precautions when having her students work on their blogs and respond to strangers who are reading their work. The student need to know and understand the consequences for opening up their learning community to the general public, and while the concept has some incredible aspects, teachers do need to take cautions. One precaution Noelene can take, is not to use last names for her students. Also, being a presence on the blog site itself will help to deter issues from arising. This way all the contributors know that you are on, watching, and reading.
I think one of the most important things that Noelene can do, is include the parents…right from the beginning. Send information home about what the project/blog will look like. Invite parents to follow, read, participate, and most importantly, talk to their kids about what they like about blogging. I think most resistance from parents is based on lack of knowledge and fear, but if parents are included, it really goes a long way to smoothing the edges of the fear.
In one article we read in class, Will Richardson brings forward some doubts on how blogging is working in the classroom, and while I agree that teachers need to check in frequently to make sure that blogging is reaching their ultimate goal, I do think that there is some merit in just introducing students to another writing option.
When I teach poetry and have my student try their hand at writing a poem, I don’t go into it with the expectation that all of my students continue with their poetic expression, but it might just pique the interest of one or two?…okay, maybe none…but is that not the same for blogging? Might there just be one or two kids that like the idea of writing their own blog enough to start one simply because they have some experience with it. And that can never hurt, right?
I don’t think that blogging is going to change the world, and yes, it is just another tool for the classroom, but it sure does change a few things…one of them being the world inside the classroom. This seems to be a sentiment that I am echoing over and over within my MET degree, but as a teacher in a small rural town I am very intrigued, excited, and maybe a bit wary, of the idea of opening my students up to writers their age from outside of their world.
References:
Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review. September/October 2004
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920
Fisch, K. (2007). “Blogging: In Their Own Words,”The Fischbowl.
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/blogging-in-their-own-words.html
Support Blogging. “Links to School Bloggers” http://supportblogging.com/Links+to+School+Bloggers