Thoughts on blogging…
Weblogs provides students with an outside space to synthesize and conceptualize discussions and learning covered in class. They allow for deeper thought and discussion and continuation of learning beyond the classroom. Weblogs do not have the time constraints typical of a regular f2f classroom, and students are afforded time for reflection within the world of blogging.
Public vs Private
Weblogs can take place in either public or private spaces. The implications this has for K-12 teachers vary from that of teachers of adult learners. With K-12 learners, online safety is a very important factor and one that is regulated very closely within school divisions. In our school district, students are not allowed to sign-up for Web 2.0 tools using their own name or any indicators of who they are when they are working in public spaces. This can be a dangerous because any misjudgment or poor reference within a student’s blog could potentially give away important student information and in a day-and-age where youth are accustomed to constantly publishing personal updates, this is a concern. Within private spaces that are restricted to include only students who are part of the class (or who have been granted permission to combine classes) there is not as much cause for concern. Online predators cannot enter this space and although there is still a possibility for cyber-bullying, it is in a contained environment and such issues can be more easily rectified by the teacher (and hopefully preemptive digital citizenship discussions are had prior to students getting online to deter such actions).
Ownership and Responsibility
Weblogs promote collaborative practices and foster an online learning community. Students can post comments on each other’s blogs and provide feedback as to their like and dislikes (in a constructive manner) regarding their peers’ posts. As others will be viewing their work, students are more likely to take ownership of their writing and will return back to their work and make adjustments based on peer feedback.
Outside Influences
As a K-12 educator, I shy away from including the world in students’ daily lives. If there is work they have completed in class and they want to publish to the world after they have completed it that is their prerogative, but not a requirement of mine. I have seen student project published on YouTube and know that there are videos on facebook of final projects from my Spanish classes. Students enjoy promoting themselves to the world, but from a liability standpoint, that is not something I would require of my students
Blogging Summary
I have used this strategy with wikis in my high school Spanish classes (restricting the access so that only students in the class can view, edit or comment on the site… requiring a sign-in prior) and my students did great with this (plus there weren’t any phone calls in regards to parent safety concerns).
Students would be able to have just as much interaction within the class using private spaces so that only classmates could view their entries. Students should not be required to publish their work to the world, that is their own prerogative. The online classroom has the potential to expand beyond normal classroom constraints, but there are student and parents that would not feel comfortable with this. Student safety should be forefront in all educators minds and there are no need to take unnecessary risks.
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