Take a moment to write your final post about which PBA future emerging market tool (product or service) you have used and which one you would like to see more of. As some of the coursemates have mentioned in their posts, I would also like to see more of blogging. Blogging is the area that […]
Continue reading Final Post: Blogging and Cloud Computing are Ways to Go Posted in: Week 10: Product-Based Assessments
This week’s great outlined the opportunities for blogging very well and brought up some great points within each section of the page. My experience with blogging began very recently with the start of this course in September. Prior to this class I had never participated in blogging for personal or academic purposes. Regarding my own […]
Continue reading Day 4 – Concerns with blogging: a student perspective Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
Thanks Jay for your kind comments! You are right that blogging is an excellent avenue to include critical literacy in your classroom – what better way to teach students about internet safety, etiquette and digital footprint than by showing them great examples of student blogs that are out there. Thanks too for your link to the preservice teacher article.
Hey Jay, thanks for your insightful post! Like you, I had never blogged before this course, so I found it very different from anything I had experienced in the past. I agree that blogging can be very time consuming and with the overloaded days we all have, I know it is very difficult to find time to post a “good” blog. For me, this includes writing, editing, re-writing, proof-reading (maybe even having someone else read it) then finally posting. Do you think blogging will get easier with more experience?
I really like your closing statement, “What we must also be mindful of as educators is that students encompass many different learning styles and some may take to blogging as a learning tool more than other”. This is true in so many ways! As educators we must acknowledge that every student has different learning needs, and when it comes to blogging, this might just be the answer for some!
Jenaca
I definitely think that with time it would become easier. Just as writing your first research paper can be a very daunting task, over time we develop the necessary skills and are able to complete these tasks in less time and with greater ease. I think what I was trying to get at in my post is that if educators are going to use blogging as a teaching tool and incorporate it into the class, teachers have the responsibility to help students develop these skills so they can blog effectively. I found for this course the tutorials and the “How to use this blog” as well as the links to wordpress and diagrams showing how to perform certain tasks (embed images, video) very helpful and would have been lost without it.
Thank you for your thoughtful insights.
Although I’ve used a blog for teaching purposes I’ve never used it for my learning. I’m currently managing 3 different blogs for the 3 classes I’m teaching, plus this blog. I agree with you that blogging is indeed time-consuming, especially if you are not familiar with it. For some, they need time to learn and adjust to it. Just like us educators, students also need time to get used to blogging. As you mentioned, each person’s learning style is different. It took a few weeks for my students to get used to blogging because they’ve only used Moodle so far. My duty as an educator is to help them learn how to be a “good blogger”. Their cyberspace behaviour and responsibility can be determined by what they learned and didn’t learn from their teacher who introduced blogging to them. I feel responsible for their behaviour in virtual space. That’s why I spend time to go over “cyberspace” rules with them before I introduce blogging.
Deb
I first started blogging in 2006. In some ways it was an educational experience, where I was blogging about my trials and tribulations on building a sea kayak. From this, I turned my blog into a general purpose weblog, which is a bit of a no-no. However, I use my blog to communicate with friends […]
Continue reading Day 1 on Day 3: My blog experience Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
wow..you definitely have a lot of experience with blogging and the various products available to do that with! I like the idea of linking the blog (and some link a wiki) to the class website – adds another dimension to the site. I have not explored Drupal or Joomla yet , but from some of the blogs I researched, they are popular for content management. I too am a Twitter-for-professional learning fan – I have found more interesting blogs and articles from my network – maybe I should call Twitter my door to the world of my interests based on who I follow. Thanks for your post!
Doug,
Very informative. I need to check out a few of of those sites you mentioned. I also use my wordpress site as a CMS too. Using it for this purpose have given me more leverage to transform my space into more classroom-like setting. As a result, I am able to do more with my courses and even add things that are not a part of the courses.
Everton
Your considerable exposure to a wide variety of blog platforms gives you a valuable perspective, Doug. It reinforced my initial impressions of several plateforms, and will definitely influence my future blog forays. What is “microblogging” – the equivalent of a blog “tweet”?
Thanks,
KJ
Doug, thanks for your informative post! It definitely sounds like you have a lot of blogging experience, something I can learn from! Blogging is very new to me, so I will definitely be checking out your blogging sites, and hope to gain more experience on blogging!
Jenaca
Hi Doug,
Thank you for sharing your experience in using blogs. Joomla and Drupal are new to me and I intend to research on them. Your post has given me some useful ways of using blogs in my classroom
I have attempted blogging in both secondary math and science classes with some success. I am being broad in my use of the term ‘blogging’ here, since my math blog was officially a wiki (but was basically being used in the same way as a blog). A couple of years ago, my first attempt to […]
Continue reading Day 2 – A teacher’s reflection Posted in: Week 07: Blogs
Hi Emily, Interesting post. Two things that I’ve seen either on MET courses and my course blogs with my students that were successful for motivating them to participate were:
1. First: students portfolios were transformed in ePortfolios through the blog. So all their assignments would be published on the course blog.
2. Second: providing feedback and having peer evaluations through the blog was positive to promote students’ participation in this medium, because both activities allowed them to improve on further evaluations.
Blogging requires a huge commitment, but facilitates to check the progress of students.
Angela.
Thank you for your insights on blogging. I agree with you that “[i]n order to really be blogging, we are selecting what to talk about, how to present it, what swing to put on it, who to gear it towards, and are getting something out of it ourselves”. That’s probably why many blogs are discontinued.
Just like what you did for your math classes, I also created a course blog to post handouts, information on quizzes/tests, project information and rubric, and extra worksheets. It’s been working well not just for students with sporadic attendance but also for those who are usually slow at digesting what they learn in each class. I also gave username and password to parents so that they can monitor what’s going on in each class. My blog has agenda for each class, so it’s easy for them to follow. The course blog has become my “electronic lesson planner” as well.
Deb
Jarvise,
I agree with your recommendations for successful blogging in classrooms. I must add that we must be mindful when of using blogs since it cannot be used for all course content, hence we have to carefully examine the topic before introducing blogs. In addition, we must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of integrating blogging in our classroom practices for more efffective blogging.
Keisha
Hi Emily,
I am glad that you brought up the intention of blogging. I think that is an important thing to consider when introducing blogging in the classroom. Why are we doing this and what learning gains are we looking for in the student. I guess that is true of any technology that we do incorporate in the classroom.
As a venture do you see blogs being used more effectively in a classroom setting?
Juliana.
Definitely. If you were to provide a list of templates, with built-in structure based on use intents for beginners you could sell this service. Other value added features could be listing the to dos for getting started, links to topics such as dealing with appropriate use and privacy, might help with marketing too. Teachers want legwork done.
I like your recommendations; they are very useful for a new blogger. But I particularly like the way you used blogging with your mathematics students. I will certainly attempt to use your strategies with my math students. I think they are very good.
Before you publish your posting, please make sure that you select a category (eg. Introductions) as well as assign some meaningful tags (keywords).
verenanz 7:45 am on November 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hello Deb,
I agree that next steps could be developing rubrics and assessment for PBA assessment tools. Creating a Web 2.0 tool that offers examples. That would be an interesting business opportunity….
Verena:)
Everton Walker 9:43 pm on November 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Deb & Ver
Very interesting take on the issue. The rubric would certainly add some form of standard even the aim is not to standardized these assessment. The aim is to keep them as informal and authentic as possible.
Everton
jenaca 4:29 am on November 13, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deb,
I also agree that blogging should be used more frequently in classrooms for students to use. I think it’s a wonderful way for student’s to be creative and express their thoughts and learned knowledge.
Jenaca