Jul
12
Noelene: Blogging-Public or Private Discussion
Posted by: Thomas Kritikos | July 12, 2009 | Comments Off on Noelene: Blogging-Public or Private Discussion
I think that Noelene needs to thank the parents for bringing their concerns to her attention. Even though only two parents brought the concern forward, it no less is still vital that Noelene address their concerns. If parents feel that their voices are heard in true partnership with the teacher, they will be extremely helpful and supportive of their child’s learning, going forward.
I think that Noelene must explain to parents her rationale for using this blogging platform, and how it ties into her objectives. Clearly, one of these objectives is to have students increase the volume of their writings, while simultaneously reflecting on their work through blogging. Explaining to parents that it’s an educationally sound practice for students to receive feedback from their classroom peers, as this information can help students reflect on their work, and subsequently it can support additional growth in the process of their writing. Noelene must think about her reasoning as to why she has opened up the blog to everyone (web). First of all, does this open access comply with district policies? If it doesn’t, then she needs to rethink her activity to comply with school policy. If it does, she still needs to allay the fears of parents by explaining to them some of the safeguards that blogs have built into them. She can still have outside postings held offline until she clears them for appropriate content, before releasing the comments for publishing. Noelene can also relay to these parents that some anecdotal evidence exists that shows that students tend to write more when using an online blogging platform, and they tend to do this writing for longer periods of time (Downes, 2004). Noelene could use the above information to explain to parents that the feedback that students receive can have a dramatic effect on the quality and quantity of their writings.
I definitely think that there is justification for having students work in public spaces on the web. I have been involved in a Canada wide program called ‘Marsville’ for the past several years with my various classrooms. Essentially, it can be described as a mock mission to the planet Mars (to simulate habitation of the “Red Planet). Student teams work collaboratively within classrooms to design, build and present their planetary systems (communication system, energy system, water and oxygen purification system for example) to an audience assembled at a University. Schools in British Columbia presented their ‘planetary systems’ at the University of British Columbia in May of 2009. Each planetary team was assigned to a blog space on the National Research Council of Canada’s web site. From this site student teams were able to collaborate with other teams from across the country to support their own system development. Teams also communicated through the blog with scientists and with various Canadian astronauts to help them with their projects. As well, teams blogged their progress within a reflected format in hopes that their metacognitive entries would spur further knowledge and refinement of their project.
As Downes (2004) stated, blogging is about actively working with content, communicating with others who have blogged information, and ultimately reflecting and reacting to what they have said about your blogging. It is through this process of engagement through an online blogging platform that I believe students can construct meaningful, and personally relevant knowledge.
References
Downes, S. (2004). Educational Blogging. Educause Review. September/October 2004 Accessed online 09 July 2009.