Now That I have critqued blogging in the classroom, i now understand that blogging can be really good for children as they have the chance to write heaps of things in their own blog. teachers need to understand that they need to draw limits to what children can or cannot do. If i was going to use blogging in my classroom i would have all the children's blog sites linked to my personal one so that i could keep track of what they are writing. this will allow me to post my own blogs on homework and even give feedback.
Blogging will be a geat idea to use for my classroom as i could download newsletters on my blog where parents can check them. This is because, from experience children either lose or throw away newsletters and parents mostly never get them.
In conclusion i feel that blogging is a great tool for the classroom and it is becomming easier to use. it is also free which makes it an easy tool to get hold of. i feel that teachers should consider using this blogging technique into the classrooms as it could motivate students to write and it could also make the classroom environment fun. Plus it's FREE!!! why not use this excuse as a way to lighten up a child's day at school (or home)?!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
E-Portfolios with Helen Barrett
"Welcome to my first entry into the world of blogging. I'm not sure I can get into the habit of posting to a web log on a regular basis, but I want to give it a try, since this looks like a technology that is being used in reflective portfolios." This is Helen Barretts first sentence in the world of blogging at E-Portfolios for Learning. Can you tell that she is going to be using this as a reflective portfolio? This shows that blogs can be used in many ways, including reflective portfolios.
In Barrett's paper that she is currently writing at Digital Stories of Deep Learning, she states that the purpose of a portfolio can be either summative or formative and both can sometimes conflict with each other. here is a table that shows the contrasting views of each form of assessment:
Barrett states that blogging makes porfolios more engaging for children.
"Since one of the main goals of a portfolio is reflection on learning, perhaps a blog is a good option, since it can be used as an online reflective journal and an environment that invites collaboration." So Barrett is stating that blogs allows for children to reflect as well as post comments on other childrens blogs. this shows that children can read their comments and use it as critical feedback to their reflective portfolios.
In Barrett's paper that she is currently writing at Digital Stories of Deep Learning, she states that the purpose of a portfolio can be either summative or formative and both can sometimes conflict with each other. here is a table that shows the contrasting views of each form of assessment:
| Portfolios used for Assessment of Learning | Portfolios that support Assessment for Learning |
| Purpose of portfolio prescribed by institution | Purpose of portfolio agreed upon with learner |
| Artifacts mandated by institution to determine outcomes of instruction | Artifacts selected by learner to tell the story of their learning |
| Portfolio usually developed at the end of a class, term or program - time limited | Portfolio maintained on an ongoing basis throughout the class, term or program - time flexible |
| Portfolio and/or artifacts usually "scored" based on a rubric and quantitative data is collected for external audiences | Portfolio and artifacts reviewed with learner and used to provide feedback to improve learning |
| Portfolio is usually structured around a set of outcomes, goals or standards | Portfolio organization is determined by learner or negotiated with mentor/advisor/teacher |
| Sometimes used to make high stakes decisions | Rarely used for high stakes decisions |
| Summative - what has been learned to date? (Past to present) | Formative - what are the learning needs in the future? (Present to future) |
| Requires Extrinsic motivation | Fosters Intrinsic motivation - engages the learner |
| Audience: external - little choice | Audience: learner, family, friends - learner can choose |
Barrett states that blogging makes porfolios more engaging for children.
"Since one of the main goals of a portfolio is reflection on learning, perhaps a blog is a good option, since it can be used as an online reflective journal and an environment that invites collaboration." So Barrett is stating that blogs allows for children to reflect as well as post comments on other childrens blogs. this shows that children can read their comments and use it as critical feedback to their reflective portfolios.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Blogging in Schools: The Negatives!
Yes blogging is a great tool that is used in schools and yes it helps children become motivated to write, but there are some negatives to blogging. "It seems clear that although blogging can and does have a significant and worthwhile educational impact, this impact does not come automatically and does not come without risks." This blog post is about the negatives to blogging.
The first negative is that children write about anything and everything, especially unimportant things. "Examples can be seen all over the Internet." this example comes from EDUCAUSE REVIEW. Childlren begin to write blogs and end up saying "What's the point" and thinking that it is all irrelevant to anything. they eventually give up and lose interest to blogging
This website also explains the importance to listening. "Good conversations begin with listening... "It's like arriving late to a party: the first act must be to listen, before venturing forth with an opinion." children need to have that skill of listening if they want to write about meaningful things. when blogging children do not need to learn anything from listening, they just go off and write about anything. It might even be unimportant things that they will not learn from. this is where blogging has gaps. this is because children see an opening where they can write about anything and get away with it. teachers need to make a boundary where children need to have something that needs to be written, not just "write anything you want but please keep on top of it". This will encourage children to write about anything that has nothing to do with learning or the classroom.
The first negative is that children write about anything and everything, especially unimportant things. "Examples can be seen all over the Internet." this example comes from EDUCAUSE REVIEW. Childlren begin to write blogs and end up saying "What's the point" and thinking that it is all irrelevant to anything. they eventually give up and lose interest to blogging
This website also explains the importance to listening. "Good conversations begin with listening... "It's like arriving late to a party: the first act must be to listen, before venturing forth with an opinion." children need to have that skill of listening if they want to write about meaningful things. when blogging children do not need to learn anything from listening, they just go off and write about anything. It might even be unimportant things that they will not learn from. this is where blogging has gaps. this is because children see an opening where they can write about anything and get away with it. teachers need to make a boundary where children need to have something that needs to be written, not just "write anything you want but please keep on top of it". This will encourage children to write about anything that has nothing to do with learning or the classroom.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Blogging in Schools - The Positives!
Click Here or on the picture to view a video about blogging in the classroom
As I was researching about blogging, I came across heaps of information about blogging in schools. It is becoming a very popular asset in schools in this century and it is helping children to become motivated in learning.
One website that I entered, I found that children are using blog sites to post their results of their work or even reflect on school, which they are calling personal communication zone. They can use it for many other things as well. For example a personal private space, reserved for students’ thought and teacher guidance. It is also used to publish announcements which can become very helpful for each and every student.
In this website (all websites researched in this blog are at the end of this blog) a student talks about the advantage of having blogs in school:
“The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and Motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment."
This shows that they can increase their learning from peer feedback – even if its someone from halfway around the world to where they live.
Another student in this website says:
“The impact of the blogs on my day to day life is that I write a lot more and a lot longer than the previous years. I also pay more attention when I write in my blog (especially my spelling) since I know anybody can read my posts.”
This also shows that they are increasing their learning skills and that they are having fun doing it. By blogging their learning they can focus on things such as spelling and the length of writing.
This website also goes on about how it is attractive in both educational settings and the internet. it continues to enhance the positives about having blog sites in schools. Firstly it is very easy to use and the blogger can edit their posts without worrying about page formats or HTMLs. It is also cheap as there are many sites to choose from and many are free to sign up to. This blog that I have signed up to was free and I was able to quickly get into blogging without thinking that I was in trouble with the whole HTML problems that I have not yet grown accustomed to.
In this website (all websites researched in this blog are at the end of this blog) a student talks about the advantage of having blogs in school:
“The blogs give us a chance to communicate between us and Motivate us to write more. When we publish on our blog, people from the entire world can respond by using the comments link. This way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like. We can then know if people like what we write and this indicate[s to] us what to do better. By reading these comments, we can know our weaknesses and our talents. Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our point of view with the rest of the world not just people in our immediate environment."
This shows that they can increase their learning from peer feedback – even if its someone from halfway around the world to where they live.
Another student in this website says:
“The impact of the blogs on my day to day life is that I write a lot more and a lot longer than the previous years. I also pay more attention when I write in my blog (especially my spelling) since I know anybody can read my posts.”
This also shows that they are increasing their learning skills and that they are having fun doing it. By blogging their learning they can focus on things such as spelling and the length of writing.
This website also goes on about how it is attractive in both educational settings and the internet. it continues to enhance the positives about having blog sites in schools. Firstly it is very easy to use and the blogger can edit their posts without worrying about page formats or HTMLs. It is also cheap as there are many sites to choose from and many are free to sign up to. This blog that I have signed up to was free and I was able to quickly get into blogging without thinking that I was in trouble with the whole HTML problems that I have not yet grown accustomed to.
Look at this cool website. Anne Davis has put a list of things that you as a teacher can do with a blog. It also has great ideas how to use blogging in the classroom. For example:
- create a literature circle.
- create an online book club.
- make use of the commenting feature to have students publish messages on topics being used to develop language skills.
- ask students to create their own individual course blogs, where they can post their own ideas, reactions and written work.
There are heaps more ideas as well!!
Anne also talks about the potential in blogging for encouraging student reflection
"You might like to create a reflective, journal type blog to..." and she goes on to suggest why. I had a few more ideas about this thinking how education has moved far more from tthe products to learning through reflection on the journey of making and the process of coming to understand. This matches well with changes to assessment and things like eportfolios. I'll save this idea for a separate new blog because there is so much we could link in here.
Links:
Introduction To Blogging
BLOGGING!!!
Hi my name is Maryanne and I'm a new blogger. This blog site is here to capture the world by surprise about Blogging in the classroom. Is it good? Or is it bad? I'm not sure yet but a bit of researching from the web will give me a bit of knowledge about what blogs are, what they do, and why people use them.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs.
An example of a blog - present in wikipedia
An example of a blog - present in wikipedia
Link: Blog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blogging has become very popular in this 21st Century. This is because people find it much easier to publish content online. some people find HTML web pages hard to create as most people are short on time to acquire new skills. Now there is a new way to publish online, and that is BLOGGING! It is so easy and the good thing is you dont have to know anything about HTML. there are many blog sites to choose from and sign up to.
The great thing about blogging is that you can link to other sites and blog entries. You can also receive almost-instant feedback as people visit your blog and comment on your posts and explore mutual ideas.
Link: Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services
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