My Fourth Week of Blogging

Hi everyone:

My blogging adventure continues into it's 4th and (perhaps) final week.

In the past several weeks, I have tried to think of ways that blogging, and the other tools that we have discovered, could be useful in education. Through my research, I have discovered how blogging could be tied in with things we already could be using in our classes. In addition, it makes a wonderful collaboration tool between colleagues. It amazes me how a growing number of schools are getting into the blogging phenomenon. I appreciate the flexibility and creativity that tools such as blogging give me in my lesson planning. I am not sure if I will be using it this year but I appreciate the fact that I know how to use it and, hopefully, use it effectively. One thing is for certain, I will be showing my fellow teachers about these tools. Hopefully by doing so, I will help the drumbeat for change get a little louder.

I think I’ve learned quite a bit during my time here in class, both from John and all of you guys. Blogging, invisible internet, wikis, webquests,… my, the list does seem to grow. Workshop speakers like to call these items Web 2.0 tools. I did not appreciate the term until I had a chance to use them these past several weeks in this class. It is truly amazing what is out there for us to use in our classes if only we know about these tools, how to use them effectively, and have access to them as well.

As I once had said, if it is out there, I want to learn it. Well guys, after 20 + years in this business, I’m still learning.

My Third Week of Blogging

My blogging adventure continues… (week 3)

I am still marveling at all the various ways that blogging can connect with education. I had previously mentioned that it could be used as an online discussion for books. Perhaps a separate blogging site could be set up for parents or other relatives who want to read the same book their child is and respond in their own discussion forum. I like the idea that blogs could be substituted for created web pages. Teachers could spend more time concentrating on the content and not on the mechanics of putting it together. This always seems to be a concern to teachers with little technological training. Templates available on free blogging sites make the process easy. We like to collect students’ work at the end of the year for a reflection. Perhaps, blogging could be used as an e-portfolio that would essentially do the same thing.

After reviewing some of the ideas that we discussed on scavenger hunts and webquests, I was curious how those ideas could be integrated into blogging. Instead of handing out those endless worksheets, I could have my students read the project directions on my blog. After completing sections of a webquest or scavenger hunt (that could be linked from my blog site), students would be responsible for leaving comments or some type of response on my blog. At the conclusion, students could summarize their findings in their own blog entry.

I look forward to finding even more ways to incorporate blogging in education.

The Second Week of Blogging.

Hi Everyone:

Blogging-week 2

This is week 2 of my blogging adventure. I’ve had a chance to learn how to create my blog, post my entries, and comment on others’ blogs as well. My next challenge is to further delve into the question on how blogs can fit into the educational setting.

Throughout my research, I have found it to be a very powerful teaching and learning tool for both teachers and students. Teachers could use blogs to share ideas for teaching activities and provide “how-to’s” on using specific technological tools in their classroom. I have seen instances where blogs were used for student reflections, professional development, and much more. Teachers could post class related information such as special events, homework assignments, writing prompts, and perhaps even create an online book club. Other sites have shown teachers using blogs to provide online readings for their students to read and react to. I just checked out a site where a first grade teacher made an audio book collection where her students read stories they had written using elements from podcasting. I would think that a main benefit of blogging would be that many students are already doing it and are familiar with the concept. In addition to that, it's free. The one difficulty I might foresee is searching through many comments to find opinions on a particular topic. Perhaps that will become easier as I learn how to use my blog more effectively.

I look forward in the weeks to come to finding even more information on possible ways of using blogs in education. If you find any additional ways blogs can be used, please let me know.

Welcome to My Tech Blog

Hi everyone! My name is Lori and I am a middle school computer science teacher. I am presently working on my certificate as an Instructional Technology Specialist at Clarion University with plans to further my education in this field.

This professional blog is going to be dedicated to the use of blogging as another means of communication in my middle school 7^th & 8^th grade classes. Additionally, by using blogs, I want to encourage my students’ interest in technology and what it has to offer. I also want to foster a sense of teamwork among my students when they need to work together on various projects. A general thought of mine would be to have the students treat these blogs as “workspaces” with reflections on daily activities and then finally, as jumping-off points for future classroom interactions.

Since this is my first professional blog, I would welcome any suggestions on how to incorporate this into a middle school environment. Any experiences you have had or problems you would foresee would be most appreciated. Also, I would like to see our teachers, parents, and administrators use this as a productive tool in communicating to each other. Any thoughts or experiences with this would also be welcome.

Finally, please share any blogs that you come across that you might find interesting.