A look into how blogging can be used in the classroom

Using Blogs to Integrate Technology in the Classroom by Mollie Crie Blogging from the Classroom, Teachers Seek Influence, Risk Trouble by Eddy Ramirez The Prose of Blogging (and a Few Cons, Too) by Rama Ramaswami Conclusion

This article discusses how a blog can be used to easily integrate technology into the classroom. The author states how blogs can be a powerful and effective technology tool for students and teachers alike. (Crie) The article also states how since blogs are easy to use and access they will work well for students because they can be worked on at any time. (Crie) Blogs can also be used to create a classroom that extends beyond the boundaries of the school yard. (Crie) A suggestion given on how blogs are excellent tools for communicating with students is that blogs are highly motivating to students especially to those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms. (Crie)

Also discussed are the functions blogs can serve in the classroom. These functions are: 1. Classroom Management- teachers can use blogs to post assignments and class requirements. 2. Collaboration- students and teachers can work together on assignments, and students can receive immediate feedback from the teacher and peers. 3. Discussions- students can share their opinions and discuss topics of interest outside of the classroom 4. Student Portfolios- since blogs archive and organize postings, students work can be kept in a sort of digital portfolio

This article was a very easy read. I believe that it is geared towards a teacher who may not have a lot of technology experience and may be considering using a blog in the classroom. The article does a really good job of presenting blogging in a truly user friendly format. It gives the Blogger website as an example of where to go to create a free blog and also gives definitions of key blogging terms such as what a blog is and who a blogger is. I think this article would be a good for a teacher who has been teaching for awhile and is new to the technological age in which we are living telling of one more avenue for teachers, parents and students to communicate with each other.

There are two underlying focal points in this article one is how teachers are using blogs as a way for venting frustrations about teaching and the other is how people who read these blogs can be inspired to change policies. A teacher who was mentioned in the article experienced this with his blog. Although the teacher resigned under the controversy that surrounded his blog posting when he referred to the students as “criminals who steal from the teachers, smoke pot in the hallways and have sex in the stairways”, his posting did cause a conversation about the problems at the school which led the school district to make changes. (Ramirez)

In mentioning how policies can be changed by reading blogs, a quote is given by Alexander Russo a former teacher who says that blogs “raise important issues and give the rest of us a peek into a world that we see and hear about very rarely and only anecdotally through the media”. (Ramirez) The author also mentions how can be essential reading for anyone who wants to look beyond standardized test score reports to see what really is going on in schools. (Ramirez) A few other teachers interviewed in the article have used blogs as venting posts and conversations starters. One teacher is Kilian Betlach a language art teacher in San Jose, California. (Ramirez) Mr. Betlach gave a quote from a viewer of his blog who told him “Reading your reflections this year has helped me through my first year of TFA. Whether they’re of the cheerleading or ranting variety, they’ve kept me motivated to try harder. Do better for my kids.” (Ramirez)

This article was an eye opener for me. I understood how blogging could be used in the classroom for students but I did not think of how teachers could use them for their “professional” venting purposes. Although there are risks involved in a teacher blogging, as mentioned in the article where a teacher resigned because of a posting, I still think this is a good avenue for teachers to use. It is really a way for people in the community who may not know exactly what is going on in schools and only gets bits and pieces to have an insider look into the education system.

This article discussed how using blogs as a teaching tool can help improve students writing. Also discussed was the distance between those who teach and those who understand technology. The first part of the article discussed a study conducted by Barry Bachenheimer. Mr. Bachenheimer conducted a study with five high school teachers to show how blogging could improve students’ writing skills by making them write more frequently and comment on one another’s work. (Ramaswami) One teacher used in this study was an English teacher who used blogging as a way to get her students to construct a research paper. (Ramaswami) The class had 25 students and when the study concluded 74% of the students felt the blogs helped them articulate the ideas better and 68% felt the blog helped them determine what to say. (Ramaswami) Also found was that 60% believed the blog helped them to start writing their paper. (Ramaswami) The study coincided with another study that found that students who blogged also write more and become better writers. (Ramaswami)

The other topic discussed in this article was how there is a gap between teachers and those who understand technology and the need for educators to experiment with new technology. A technology specialist is quoted as saying that if there is to be a complete integration of social networking into the K-12 curriculum there needs to be better communication between teachers and IT administrators. (Ramaswami) The specialist suggests that teachers begin to experiment with blogs and school districts should try new things, kick the tires and bring that knowledge back to technology and the curriculum. (Ramaswami) Educators feel that the software for blogging and other technology such as wiki’s are readily available and often are free. (Ramaswami) A professor of education technology at a college in Connecticut is quoted as saying how she uses free programs for blogs and how having a premade template is less time consuming for her as opposed creating her own template. (Ramaswami) One of the last things discussed was how a study conducted by the University of Florida concluded that blogging projects serve as an example of how to effectively integrate technology into an existing curriculum. (Ramaswami)

I found this article to be very interesting. The data given that showed how an English class improved their writing and was able to construct a research paper with ease by using a blog was a key point for me in proving how blogs can benefit learning. I also like how there was an affirmation from someone who worked in technology on how technology should be integrated into existing curriculums by school districts.

For me all three of the articles that I read only proved more to me how blogs can and should be used in education. Even though the first article gave a more general overview of blogs and how easy it is to use them. A quote that stands out to me from the second article that I did not mention was “The kids now the technology. What they don’t often know is how the technology can change them as students. For me that quote signifies the need for educators to learn, know, understand and be ready to implement new technology, blogs and other technology like it, into the classroom. Our children today are already learning it on their own and it is up to educators to give them a more productive way of using it.