I think that blogging could change the traditional classroom in that it does not give exclusive control to the instructor but instead allows students to become more of a voice and gives them the opportunity to be in a teaching mode. It allows them to critique their peers and others and gives them more expressive opportunity. It also allows the instructor the opportunity to learn.
It also could change the traditional classroom in that blogging helps to link new and available resources. It aids both the student and teacher in the learning process in that information can be communicated in a much more expedite manner. Items such as times, deadlines, assignments, readings and projects can be placed in blogs as opposed to the traditional manner of having to put these forms of communication on paper. This saves time for the professor as well as the student. In terms of the student many times paper copies are misplaced or lost and we have to find other ways of retrieving these items. In terms of the professor he is able to link other internet items that relate to the topic. Using blogs allows us instant access to these materials together with useful resources and blogs by others on the topic. It makes it much easier for both student and instructor.
Traditionally the student would have to look up these topics either in books, magazines, etc. Blogging would eliminate some textbooks that are assigned. Instead links to resources would replace the need for books.
The blogging tool also helps develop a society of learners each sharing similarities and differences in a non-threatening way. This allows students who are less likely to participate in a classroom forum to become involved in a discussion and voice their opinion, something that would not be done in a traditional classroom. Blogging also is non-complicated. Students do not have to adhere to special formatting and style. It is easy to edit and update and this tool. This helps both support and collaborate learning for individuals outside of the formal classroom.Faith L. Faulk
Faith,
ReplyDeleteAs you have mentioned in your post, I wish that my children's school had a blog or a site where things like assignments, deadlines and readings/projects are posted. I am saying this because it has only been two weeks since shool started and i already made couple of trips to school after dismissal because the little ones forgot to bring their worksheet for the homework. If it had been available as a pdf attachment online i could have downloaded it and printed it at home. This is just a small example, but i do agree with you that not only we would help the environment by saving more trees but schools could be more efficient and organized when it comes to communicating with parents and letting them know what the students are expected to do.
It is interesting, as I read each of the comments written by the members of this class, I become inspired to use my class website to include more and more of these tools. In my class website, I currently have links to favorite curriculum-related sites in reading, spelling, social studies, math and science--and I have a newsletter that I update periodically, but as I progress in my understanding of what's available and listen to everybody's comments-I think I can create a site that is less static and more interactive. The problem is that inevitably there are one or two families that do not have online access, or who do not speak English as a first language--and that creates an undemocratic communication gap. Also, from a financial perspective, what we consider a necessity, some families consider a luxury.
ReplyDeleteI agree that blogging saves a teacher time when it comes to disseminating important class information- and it would certainly save us from copying off extra notes for all the times students lose them. The fact that it is easy to use is something that really attracts me to blogging (and it is new to me!)...I think my students could pick this up in 10 minutes or less!
ReplyDeleteI agree also !!! This will definitely help with notes and spelling. I also like the idea that students will not miss out on work if they are out sick .... I also like your background
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