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.
3 comments:
Hey Lori! I think all of your ideas are great. Sadly, I have never created a web page but as you mentioned, creating a blog site is extremely easy. I agree that all teachers have the ability to create one with ease. I also like your idea about posting the scavenger hunt or webquest on the blog. It saves paper (YAY - going green!). I also think students would enjoy creating a scavenger hunt and posting it to the course blog (maybe have groups do different topics, etc). Although I am not a reading teacher, I think creating a parent blog discussion would be great. Nothing is better than getting parents involved in what their students are doing. Any educator could do this, regardless of content. I could post my lessons or worksheets on my blogs so parents can re-learn the material and in turn help their child if necessary. The possibilities are endless!
Lori:
Great point about substituting Blogs for Web page creation and focusing more on the classroom content rather than the mechanics of Web page design. I also think it would ease teachers' minds who had little technological skills.
I just stated in my Blog I wasn't sure how I could use a Blog in my classroom. ( I am not sure my younger students could or should tackle this) You give a perfect example of how this could be completed. Would you have your students do this in your classroom or as homework?
I love the idea about not using worksheets. I am all about saving on hard copy.
Shantal
Hi Lori!
You made some excellent suggestions for ways to connect scavenger hunts, webquests, and blogging! I think that it would be very beneficial to have students reflect on their scavenger hunt or webquest experience using your blog! On Fridays, I need to monitor each one of my student's progress, so usually we have what's called "Fun Fridays" and my students are involved in some sort of fun, educational, interactive activity. I can't wait to get into the classroom to have my students complete webquests and scavenger hunts! For my older kiddos, I am going to use your suggestion and have them take it one step further by summarizing or reflecting in my blog!! Great idea!
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