Using Blogs in Education

Using Blogs in Education

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  Using Blogs inEducation
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  Using Blogs inEducation Article 1: Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice Article 2: Learning with Blogs and Wikis Article 3: Learning with Technology: Using Weblogs in the Classroom Conclusion
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  Using Blogs toEnhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice A blog is a useful tool for students to reflect, but they are also useful in the classroom by giving teacher an opportunity to reflect on their methods and practices. Basic ideas of community and reflection In order to be professional and progressive, teachers must be willing to reflect upon their teaching, and provide constructive criticism to make teaching as effective as possible. Reflection is the best way to truly see if teaching is effective. In order to have reflective teaching, reflective practices must be in place, and it is not always easy for everyone to do a mental self reflection, so a journal or blog is helpful. “ Stiler and Philleo (2003) report the successful use of blogs for reflective practice among pre-service teachers based on their findings from self-report questionnaires.” “ According to Zeichner and Liston (1996), by means of a community of practice teachers are able to 1) examine and attempt to resolve their teaching problems 2) realize their teaching beliefs and goals 3) take responsibility for their professional development through continual participation in the community. “ Menu
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  Using Blogs toEnhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice The use of a blog as a reflective tool is two-fold Obviously, act as a means of reflection Integrate usage of new methods of technology into the classroom (internet, social networking, podcasting, blogging, etc.) “ A blog is an online journal that users can continuously update, in their own words, online (Matheson, 2004).” Because a blog is interactive (meaning that users can comment on posts), it is possible that the use of blogs can stimulate students who do not take an interest in reading to read more. A blog is likely to be about a topic they are interested in, as opposed to a boring, required reading for a class. Blogs can be used as discussion forums for classrooms Article Citation: Yang, "Using Blogs to Enhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice." Journal of Educational Technology and Society Volume number 12. Issue number 2.(2009) 11-21. Web.26 Apr 2009.
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  Using Blogs toEnhance Critical Reflection and Community of Practice A personal reflection… I never thought about how helpful a blog can be for a teacher’s personal reflection. It makes perfect sense that a teacher would need to continue to reflect on their performance in the classroom to ensure that their methods are effective. If students are not learning, something is likely wrong with the teacher’s teaching. Writing something down and having it in black and white makes something so much more concrete and real and easier to believe. I think a personal reflection blog is a good idea for anyone for that reason, but especially for educators. I think that the blogs we have used in this class have been very helpful and have given us an idea of who our classmates are even though we do not see them in person. The only thing I think could help build community, as this article points out, would be to have us all be connected though the blog. If I wanted to see a classmate’s blog, I had to go through an Oncourse Forum to find the link. If we were all “friends” on the site, or members of a group for the class, it would give a better sense of community. I really like the idea of using the blog as a means for the teacher to provide hyperlinks to worthwhile material and articles. We are moving to a period where the majority of students have internet access at home and I think that a class site, similar to Oncourse would be a good idea for high school students or their parents. Of course, to accommodate those who do not have the access, paper copies would be available, but I have always liked the idea of being able to find assignment descriptions, syllabi and perhaps even grades online at the high school level. Click on my picture to visit my own blog for W200!
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  Learning with Blogsand Wikis A school is a hostile learning environment for adults, thus it is hostile for children to learn. Meaning that educators are so caught up with the work of teaching, they do not have a chance to step back and analyze their professional careers and reflect on their teaching. If their teaching is ineffective, students are not learning, thus a hostile learning environment for students “ Digital tools now help fulfill Elmore's desire for fresh ‘portals through which new knowledge about teaching and learning.’” Menu
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  Learning with Blogsand Wikis Wikis and Blogs provide teachers an opportunity to read the blogs by other educators This information is available at the tip of their fingers because it is free online. Many teachers ARE busy and the reason these blogs are so effective is because through an on- line aggregator, readers can select to see infor- mation that has been updated on a group of blogs they have selected. The author suggests trying to make time to read 2-3 of peers’ articles/posts per week and to discuss them with colleagues. Article Citation: Ferriter, "Learning with Blogs and Wikis." Educational Leadership Volume 66. Issue 5(2009) 34-38. Web.26 Apr 2009.
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  Learning with Blogsand Wikis A personal reflection Using an aggregator seems like a great idea because I know how frustrating it is to log in and check a site often just to find it is not updated. An aggregator cuts down on that time spent searching for something that isn’t there. The author talks about how he had learned more from the blogs than he did in 10 years of professional development. I have found that you can read all of the professional articles in the world, but sometimes the best advice or experience comes from someone who is writing fairly candidly and is currently going through that issue. I really like the authors idea of sharing the blogs with colleagues and to spend a few minutes talking about them. When I read a piece of literature, I don’t necessarily fully understand it until I have discussed it with peers. Discussing it is like having a book club and not only are you sharing the ideas of the author, you can swap ideas and theories of your own and of your colleagues’. Click on my picture to visit my own blog for W200!
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  Learning with TechnologyWhy are blogs so great? Often integrating technology into the classroom is difficult because the teacher will have the knowledge of what he or she wants to do with the technology, but no idea how to use the it. A tech expert knows how to use the technology, but does not know how to convey the ideas the teacher wants to through the technology. The solution to this problem is a blog, which is simple to use for someone who is not exceptionally technology savvy. Menu
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  Learning with TechnologyWeblogs can be used in the classroom to: Act as a bulletin board Make round the clock updates and posts Allow sharing amongst students Act as personal journals Hold images and other file uploads Link to other journals and create a community amongst students and teachers In addition to the great features, there are other things to consider before bringing them into your classroom Is it too public for students’ work since the internet so easily accessible? Would it be necessary to obtain administrators’ permission and then parents’ permission? Is the technology being used for the sake of using technology, or does it serve a greater purpose in the classroom? Article Citation: Weiler, "Using Weblogs in the Classroom." The English Journal Vol. 92. No. 5. (May, 2003) 73-75. Web.26 Apr 2009.
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  Learning with TechnologyA personal reflection: There are a lot of factors to consider before assigning a blog to a class, most of which I hadn’t given much consideration. My content area is journalism, and it would be great for students to be able to post the things they have written and have other students post their feedback and editing of sorts. Hopefully it will be possible through the school I work for to get something like this set up. I thought a really good point was not to use technology for the sake of using technology. I will be teaching journalism and I do believe it would be sensible to use blogs, but I see where in some fields, like a math class where it would not necessarily be effective. I also like the idea of using the blog as a bulletin board for the class. One of the better things about college compared to high school is usually the amount of communication can be higher. I have a professor this semester who I can text message and through Oncourse, a lot more communication is possible. Since things like Oncourse are generally not available at the high school level, a class blog could open those lines of communication. Click on my picture to visit my own blog for W200!
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  Conclusion Blogs forclassroom use are not always just for students. They can act as a medium for reflection and critical thinking for educators as well. Blogs for the classroom provide a sense of community for everyone who works on and with the blog. Blogs open the lines of communication between students, the community, parents, teachers and administrators Blogs give teachers an opportunity to network and see the struggles and successes that fellow teachers go through daily. They can learn how someone else dealt with an issue and use it for their own classroom. Menu