Sunday, January 18, 2009
Week 2: Blogs and Blogging in Education
By now you have seen several examples of how educators are using blogs to transform teaching and learning. Share one or more integration ideas you have stumbled upon or thought of that seem transformational to you. Be sure to explain why you believe it/they are transformational.
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Like a good teacher, I envision all kinds of uses for blogs in others classes, but few for mine.
ReplyDeleteI see social studies teachers having students search blogs for differing political viewpoints on some current event to debate both (if not more) points of view.
I also see a blog as a way to discuss such views among several different classes of the same course, and sneakily helping the English department as students practice their writing skills.
I am finding more limited uses for my Algebra/Calculus type classes. As a former engineer I can tell you that more mathematically inclined students need improved skills in writing, social interaction, expression of opinions and persuasiveness. These sound like skills which could definitely be honed using blogging.
The blog could not only be a place where a teacher provides information to the students (homework assignments, test dates, web sites which can provide another way of learning the current topic, etc), but also a place where students could learn to express in words the mathematic ideas they are learning, explain to others shortcuts and the reasons why they work, etc.
Bruce! You should have your students do a photoblog showing the concepts visually! I make students do this all the time in English class (old school version = flip through a magazine and find pictures showing a metaphor/setting/atmosphere/characterization/whatever). You will be shocked by the great and unexpected things your kids come up with.
ReplyDeleteBut now to the question originally posed: transformational blogging. My number one goal with students is for them to leave my classroom with an increased ability to think analytically and to express those thoughts clearly to others. I see blogging as a way for them to be challenged in their thought process by more readers than just me. If other students are holding them accountable for both content and clarity of expression, then my goal just became that much easier to achieve. So, do I have students grade each other on blog postings? Comment only? Comment, correct, and edit? I want to figure out where it moves from being another "to-do" on their homework list to being something they look forward to doing. I think monitoring the tone of the blog is important from a teaching standpoint, as well. Keeping a level of professional and polite dialogue, while still allowing for extreme disagreement.
As an administrator, bolgs can greatly enhance the connections, communication, and collaboration that is possible with our staff and community. They can become transformational when we openly encourage and allow the simultaneous participation of people who have never previously had such opportunities to contribute to the decisions that affect them.
ReplyDeleteOne of the areas for which I have responsibility is policy development. Generally, I synthesize a preliminary policy for Board of Education consideration with our legal counsel then respond to questions raised by the BOE. Once the BOE approves the policy, we advise staff and the community.
With a blogs we could completely transform the way we approach the process. Submission to the blog could become an intermediate step. By making the content available for staff, parent, student, or resident comment, I could anticipate areas of misinterpretation or misunderstanding in advance. Even the "wordsmithing" of the policy could be improved by encouraging others to critique vocabulary or phraseology in advance.
I really like what Jacqui had to say in her post. And her idea for photo blogging is great. Not only is that a great project that incorporates technology, but it moves us to a different level of assessment. I'd like additional details on how to photo blog!
ReplyDeleteAs an English teacher, I use blogging to enhance and sometimes make sure (!) that student discussion is taking place. Many people use discussion boards for this process, but I find that I can more easily grade this type of assignment and add the necessary directions. I am also able to model the writing process for my students. Telling my students that I am a life-long learner can finally be proven!
I also teach several plays in a literary circle format each year. I believe that through the blog, the students can more easily learn about each other's plays. They can provide the necessary information and take ownership -- my favorite part of blogging.
Particularly at the Honors level, I think it would be interesting to have the students create a personal blog and keep it update for a certain period of time. I know that many of the students would love to do this because they are writers. For the students who are not as verbally expressive, they can add podcasts and videos to support their comments. This is definitely a possibility with endless outcomes.
All of these are transformational because it takes the typical method of teacher teaching and student learning and changes it. Learning becomes a two-way street that is intercepted with stop signs along the way (other commentors adding to the blog). Teachers need to trust their students and students need to have the confidence to complete and create the task at hand.
Blogging seems almost like peeking into someones personal journal. To some extent I feel invasive in the process yet I am learning a great deal too.
ReplyDeleteBlogging seems to take the best of a variety of communication tools and work them into something extra special. The transformational aspect comes from how different types of media can work together. For example, you can add links to video, other websites, etc. In this way blogs are interactive journals which have taken traditional journal writing to a new level.
There were many suggestions on how to use Weblogs in the classroom to make transformational connections. I would like to use weblogs to connect with parents. I think it would be great to have a place where parents can view information concerning my classroom. Parents very rarely interact with me. I think this would improve communications. I would also love to have students use weblogs to comment on a reading assignment. I am sure that I miss interesting thoughts from my students who chose not to speak-out in class. I am anxious to get started.
ReplyDeleteTom Manning Comments.....I feel the use of blogs should be an extensive part of English and Social Studies curriculum. The big push in our school district is for more critical thinking and articulating those thoughts. English teachers should have blogs setup for every book they have students read. Social Studies teachers should have one blog topic setup for every chapter they teach. Not to limit ot just those subject areas, but the content in those areas is cusom built for blogs,....or should I say blogs are custom built for those subject areas. Integrating this will be a transformational step as blogs right now are just "supplemental" in nature whereas I propose they become as reuqired as the textbook.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas and insights are just fantastic, everyone! I love the photoblogging idea! Thank you for sharing that, Jacqui! I remember someone telling me that blogs are just containers. It's kind of misleading when people call them "online journals." That is just one form the "container" can take. I have a personal blog that I use to collect inspirational quotes and other pieces of media that I want to keep for myself and also share with the world-wide community.
ReplyDeleteBruce, there used to be a math teacher who had an AP Calculus blog. He made each of his students co-authors on the blog, and then each day he named a scribe to take class notes. Any other ideas for Math would be much appreciated. Please share!
Susannah
One of the integration ideas I stumbled across was a class wiki where the students had a 'scribe' that posted the notes. Then the students themselves added more notes, links, pictures and other things to expand on the originally taught ideas. The instructor then used diigo to highlight the concepts that would be on the test, with comments in sticky notes. The students apparantly have become very engaged in their own learning, and have expanded the topics originally presented beyond the 'fishbowl' of what the instructor had to teach.
ReplyDeleteAnother integration was where students were divided into groups, and each group made their own wiki page about the subject being taught. Then each student developed test questions from their wiki page that they thought would be included on the end of unit exams. The instructor who tried this in my school found his exam scores for his lower performing instudents increased by a 19% average! Now that's transforming learning!
I've also read the ideas about a photo blog. I would be interested in learing more about that
One of the ideas for blogging that I had was to have a teachers' blog. I think that the use of blogs could help with the interactions between teachers. Generally, the teachers meet once a week in either grade level or subject level groups, for a set period of time. By using a blog, the teachers could be interacting continuously, not just once a week for 30 minutes. If they discover something that really worked, or didn't work, in their classroom, they could immediately share it with the other teachers, not wait until the next meeting. The unique thing about this sharing is that it would be written and all could see it, not just the small group they talk with. With this use of technology that could benefit the teachers, those people who are "resistant' to new technology just might begin to want to use it.
ReplyDeleteBlogging in every science class would be a great integration of RWW technology. I found both an online reference and a text reference to "Extreme Biology", a blog by Stacy Baker for her 9th grade Biology classes and her AP Biology class (http://www.missbakersbiologyclass.com/blog/) It won Edublog's 2008 "Best Class Blog". She goes way beyond just listing class assignments and uses her blog to do authentic collaborative science by immersing her students in the world around them and "making connections in online environments" (W. Richardson).
ReplyDeleteI can envision blogs being used in any science class to find and share information, share experimental results, debate ethical issues, relate past scientific discoveries to current knowledge, talk to experts and to explore the ideas of futurist thinkers - to name just a few things.
Guys - these are all good ideas! Jacqui, I too would like additional info on the photo blog. Tricia came up with the idea of having our 10th graders do a figurative language portfolio and this would be another way that they can express themselves. Transformational -yes! I have my students do either an entrance or exit slip (what they learned the day before/what they learned today) and I was just thinking that this could be done as a blog and they could comment on each others pieces - student-to-student. I find they are more willing learners with each other and sometimes are able to explain a concept better than I. I enjoyed and picked up many tips from "anne's" edublog for ways to blog other than just journaling.
ReplyDeleteI see the use of a blogs for teacher communication with so many benefits. As a 5th grade English Language Arts teacher, I have very little time to meet and collaborate with others in my grade level who teach the same subject area. We get to meet every 5 weeks. So I can see that a blog would enable our thoughts to flow and exchange all the time. We could all have access to each other even if we only have a moment or two. Our district is facing severe cuts among the teaching ranks. A blog could provide an excellent means for the union, the administration to offer support as we move into a very dark and uncertain future.
ReplyDeleteI would like to use blogging to get my students and parents involved. Posting writing prompts, photos, showcasing student work would provide a positive avenue and hopefully result in support for education in their homes and their community.
If we could transform the communciation barrier and get our classrooms, our schools, out into the community there is bound to be a positive spillover of support.
Cheri,
ReplyDeleteI love the bio blog you shared. Just subscribed and plan on sharing with a teacher in my school. Thank you!
Susannah
Transformational blogging ideas...as I read the posts and Susannah's comments I can see how transformational can mean many different things; the transfer of information, new thinking, paradigm shift, as well as transcontinental communication. Will Richardson's blog about "The News According to Twitter" gave me the idea to use blogging with my closed circuit crew. Also, within my technolgy classes using blogs as learning tools for things they are working - reading other blogs (is the information correct and can be used or not) as well writing blogs and connecting with others outside our four walls.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to connect with peers, teachers, professionals...well everyone on the net...allow students to grow and learn. Isn't that what teachers are suppose to do?
Wow so many ideas, not enough time in a day! Lots of great ideas out there. I shared the biology blog with my Biology teacher.
ReplyDeleteI like the ideas of having teachers in departments having a blog. My school has 2 high schools and 2 middle schools and we rarely meet or talk to discuss the Computer Curriculum. I could see having a blog to share the new lessons that worked and to ask others for help. We use email now but a blog would allow the others to read and add to.
I found the Classroom 2.0 blogs to be very helpful. On the lower right, it has subject areas and a place to post requests for more information and a way to respond to others requests. I found it as a link on the SupportBlogging.com
I also forwarded the "The News According to Twitter" to my journalism teacher.
Sue Ann Miller
Wow! Have you noticed that this blog is the very example that the question posed?
ReplyDeleteI would like to see our school setup a technology instruction blog/wiki that could be used to share ways to incorporate technology. Many teachers have excellent ideas on how to transform their class. Sometimes they just need some help making it happen. If teachers could share their ideas and experiences, many of them would not have to reinvent the wheel.
I agree with Jennifer in that I would really like to utilize blogs to talk with parents. Of course many parents will claim not to have internet connection, but I think we should push them toward this concept. I am constantly trying to find time to make phone calls to speak to parents, but it would be much more convenient to email or post on a blog so both parties can answer when they have the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteOn the college level, I think it would be interesting for education majors to keep a blog of their experience while teaching at different schools. I tried to keep records on Microsoft Word, but that was nothing compared to what it could be on a blog, where other education majors or supervisors can make comments and suggestions. This would also work for all teachers in a school building to collaborate and share ideas.
I also really liked the scribe idea mentioned by a few people above. Having one person take notes and keeping a record for the entire year or years.
Great comments by everyone! Although I am not a teacher, I do participate in the teaching process at the college level by assisting our professors in setting up their courses. As Tricia(?) noted, many people utilize discussion boards to allow students to get engaged in the content. The content management system utilized by The Ohio State University has a very robust discussion board which is course specific. Our professors utilize this to get students involved in their own education. The only problem is that the discussion boards are 'course specific'. I could see blogs being utilized to transform the student discussions allowing them to not only talk about specific course issues, but also bring course content to other courses, as many courses being taking concurrently deal with subjects that go together. This would allow students to pull pieces and parts of each of their courses together to help in the understanding of medical situations in the animals they are studying. We actually do this in our canine anatomy course but with a wiki (more about that when we talk about wikis).
ReplyDeleteI can also see blogs being utilized in language learning i.e., foreign languages. I would have loved to have a blog available when I was taking Spanish to be able to talk with native speakers of the language.
Since I work with SLD high school students, many whom are reluctant readers and writers, I’m hoping blogging will help motivate them to step out side their comfort zone and try a new approach to writing. Also, I’ve been trying to find new ways for students to find books that they will like and read independently, so I am going to begin a book review blog by having students make suggestions on books and authors that they like. Since this is a new 9 weeks, now is a good time to jump into the fire and see how this goes!
ReplyDeleteTo me, one of the important skills the 21st century student is going to have to have, is a proficiency in collaboration...
ReplyDeleteLet me amend that statement. Students are already proficient in the art of online collaboration. They just don't label it as such. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, message boards, Ning, cell phones, AIM, and on and on, are all examples of how kids are collaborating everyday, on myriad issues, most of them of a social nature
If kids are already using these tools, then why aren't more teachers tapping into them to engage kids in and out of the classroom. This quote says it all:
"We now have powerful and inexpensive computers we can sling over our shoulder or carry in our shirt pocket. (Yamamoto, 2006) These computers are connected wirelessly to the internet at bandwidths sufficient to allow instant multimedia communication anywhere on the planet. These computers will only improve in the years ahead, becoming faster, slimmer, and more affordable. And we are not at the point where we are seeing the possibility that education may be deeply personalized." - Stephen Downes
As I see it, blogs are an excellent way to celebrate kids' work, allow students to bounce ideas off of one another, critique one other and collaborate with one another. Where blogs get really exciting, though, is by having an infrastructure in place to allow ideas to flow back and forth to and from the outside community. The potential to expose students to an expertise that they would not normally get in the classroom, could be invaluable.