Day 2’s post – blog use as a teacher/student
How have I used blogging as an educator?
It’s not useful for me for class management. I teach in a small school, with a relatively small number of students. Two or three classes don’t spark a need for me to manage them online – it would just be more work in my case.
I could use it for collaboration, but I haven’t yet. The only thing close to collaboration that my students have done is more of a discussion item – students viewing posts of others and leaving comments for them. I also will visit posts and comment on them in some form.
The main reasons I have used blogs in the past are:
– to create an e-portfolio for writing; to have a record of work and progress that can move and grow with them
– to motivate unmotivated writers and encourage them to improve the quality of what they do (or don’t do!). I had mixed results. I had one in particular who was a student on an IEP – he wrote so much better and so much more online. Conversely, I had a couple of high-achieving students who wrote poorer and wrote less because they just didn’t like technology or blogging.
I guess this would put me on the lower-quality end of what I could do with blogs, but for the simple tasks I wanted to do with them, it has suited my purposes.
As a student, the jury is out – I’m currently in this course, my first blog-based one. It is OK so far, but my main criticism is the discussion / posting. I much rather a bulletin/message board style, where threads are separate, and you can see when something new has been posted in each thread. I find navigating through posts (and especially finding who has replied to me) in our course to be more work than it needs to be.
Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
jarvise 12:42 pm on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi,
I think you hit on a good point in discussing how some students really enjoy it and others don’t. Hopefully, as managing students with technology improves (less time-consuming, more time-producing ?) we can allow students to produce their assignments using the formats of their choosing.
Also, totally agree on the discussion being hard to follow in this format. This is my second MET course I’ve done on wordpress, and it hasn’t improved any on that front. With this format, it seems like once the week is done, there is no looking back. Just like dropping your keys into a pile of lava, we just need to let it go 😉
Emily
Karen Jones 6:00 pm on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Ha! I totally agree about this WordPress environment. I am OCD enough to find the linear flow of posts and comments “messy”. I thought I disliked the Vista environment that most of the other ETEC courses have been hosted in, but now agree with you, Stephen, that threaded comments are easier to follow. I have been using the Manage Posts and Manage Comments menus, but am still not sold on this format for a wide variety of blog content, even when it is categorized and tagged. Call me old-fashioned…!
Juliana 5:50 pm on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I am glad that you brought up that there wasn’t a real need for you to use blogs in your class. I know that we are in a technology program, but I find that we often neglect to discuss those times where there really isn’t a need to incorporate technology. If your class sizes are small enough, you may get enough discussion and collaboration through classroom discussions.
I also find it very interesting that the high achieving students don’t seem to like blogging whereas the student who has an IEP did well. It is really amazing how some students like the opportunity to have their work published, while some students just don’t respond to it.
Juliana.
bcourey 5:51 pm on October 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree that not all students like blogging, nor does blogging work in all circumstances – but I do think that your use of blogs as portfolios could be very valuable – why keep a box of your school work in the basement for some future reference when you can keep it online for much easier access?
Deb Kim 12:07 pm on October 20, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I agree with you on discussion and posting. I also prefer bulletin/message board style just like Vista Blackboard. Blogs are more ideal for instructions and articles. If a reader wants to leave comments on what he/she thinks about articles, then blogs are better. But for courses like the ones in MET program, the message board style is more ideal. This one is my first blog-based course as well and it took a bit of time to get used to it. I still prefer Vista Blackboard.
Deb