Watch this short video about Blogs from Common Craft Videos
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| Flickr Photo by DonkeyHotey |
What are the pros and cons of blogs for educators and students? How are they different from other Web sites? Do you have a personal or classroom blog? Have your students used blogs? For what purpose? Is there a blog you read? Tell us about it.
I AM NEW TO THIS. But maybe I should be checking blogs for some of my news feeds.
ReplyDeleteI have not utilized blogs in the classroom, but I do wake up every morning and read the latest articles from a few news and sports blogs. I will probably stick to using a website to maintain organization and communication with students and parents. However, I could certainly see students creating blogs for historical people and time periods as a project or assessment tool.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about blogs. My son's classroom teacher has a blog that she uses to inform parents of important dates or items she may need for the classroom, or any upcoming information she thinks would be valuable to us. That is my only experience with blogs. I do find them interesting, and could see how they would be beneficial in the classroom as a means of information for parent.
ReplyDeleteI know very little about blogs. I know that many of our classroom teachers have blogs. I also know that our media specialist aka librarian also has a blog. I don't know how many people visit her blog. It would be interesting to know since I am also a specials teacher.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used blogs either, but mostly because I can't imagine that I have things to say that others will want to read. I mean who would "follow" me? I am interested in exploring having a classroom blog that students write to update parents or the general public. A student written blog would be a great way to get authentic audience!
DeleteI agree with the video that blogs help communicate "news" in a personal way. I have enjoyed looking at the sample blogs that the NZ school children take wih them from year to year as an online e-portfolio. The flexibility is so much greater than that of a website. I hope to really do a great job with my CCSU blog this coming year.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I should use Blog or Google site for my 3 levels of French...we'll know by Friday.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if you can send an invitation to either of them to group e-mail?
I do have a blog for my work. The audience is for parents, families, and the community. I def. could be better at updating it, but I have not done a lot to promote it. There is a link to it through our school website, but I suspect it gets lost amongst all of the other links. I need to re-examine how I use it....
ReplyDeleteI have not used blogs in the classroom yet, but I think I will use it in a couple of ways this year. I would like to add "class blogger" as a new job to my weekly classroom jobs. This would be a rotating position. Students would spend a small amount of time each day or week writing a blog post about our learning. I would also like to use a blog as a way for students to discuss learning topics. We'll see how it goes!
ReplyDeleteThe notion that students are creating their identity not by what they wear but by what they create has stopped me in my tracks. The shift of product based learning brings our students to this end, not the summative assessments we have so diligently created over time. I find this appealing and worthy, and a bit daunting at the same time. OH...that structure/controlling nature of mine. Science class seems like my best starting place. Lots of space for independent investigations.
ReplyDeleteSo...I have used a class blog, but its content echoed our daily routine, it didn't lead to interactions. I would like to shift the focus to be more of that forum where questions are raised and ideas shared in order for kids to "stand on the shoulders" of others. To be honest, I get a little overwhelmed by what and where to begin. One step at a time. I
For several years, I kept a personal blog as a means of keeping my family up-to-date on the growth and milestones of my son. 3 years ago, I attempted to maintain a classroom blog. My primary reason for doing this was that I had no way to update my class web page from home (I had to be logged into the school server to do this), but a blog could be updated any time. I was often forgetting to post the homework to my website before leaving for the day, so keeping a blog gave me the opportunity for flexibility. It was a great tool for 2-way communication, a way for students to give and receive information, and also added a community feel to the class. But because of this community feel, I ran into a definite "con"- and that was comment moderation. I had some students (only a couple) who would very freely criticize me or other students in the comments. As we all know, written word can have a very different affect that spoken word. I was spending a lot of time int he evenings managing appropriate use (often to no avail)and eventually felt like it was too much trouble to maintain. My whole evening was dedicated to sitting at the computer- I felt as though my job never ended. I shut it down midway through the year. Blogs feel very personal to me. With the school-wide launch of a new LMS next year, I feel as though the benefits I was able to offer with a blog will be available again, and it will have a more "academic feel to it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, that you could be on the computer day and night with blogging. Good point that kids comments can appear critical, and could be damaging to class culture. But I do love your personal family blog!! Keep up the good work!
Deletehope I will learn to blog as well, from this Google Tools class, so I can share my own news to my family!
ReplyDeleteI come from a huge family, with sibs or their children all over the place. My baby sister was the first to post blogs, as she lives in France with her own family. It has kept us all connected to her and her growing children. Since then, other family have started blogs as well. Without blogs I would not get to know my 26 neices and nephews, cousins, as well as what my 10 brothers and sisters are up to! It has certainly kept us close!
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