I realize I have not ventured on my blog for a few weeks but IST 611 brings me back as we discuss blogging through our blogs. Talk about first hand experiences!
RSS feeds were also a popular topic this week in class. I have been using Google Reader since this summer and I love it. I like being able to go to one place for all of my blogging information. I follow many professional blogs such as The Unquiet Librarian by Buffy Hamilton who is an amazing school librarian. I also follow a blog by Steven Anderson called Blogging about the Web 2.0 Classroom to see how Web 2.0 tool can be and are used in the classroom. Of course, I follow most of my classmates blogs as well. :)
I believe blogs like many other Web 2.0 tools belong in the classroom. Teachers and librarians can easily connect blogs to the standards. For example, simply creating and using a blog for educational purposes meets two AASL standards (1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community. AND 1.3.5 Use information technology responsibly.) There are numerous AASL standards that relate to blogging so I will not focus on all of the amazing things blogs can bring to the classroom and meet standards.
Many acceptable use policies do not allow blogging in schools. I want to be an advocate for using Web 2.0 technologies including blogs into schools. Think of all of the things we could use blogging for! Librarians can blog about new book titles, new resources, class projects, and upcoming events. Students can blog about a certain science topic or about a famous historical person writing in character or as themselves reporting on current events. The possibilities are endless. I definitely want to be a mover and a shaker in bringing these ideas into a school system.
Shannon-
ReplyDeleteIt is such a shame that blogging in the school is not allowed - you couldn't be more spot on with how many standards it can be connected to. A classroom blog has the ability to connect the classroom to the world - why does learning have to be so "in the box?"
Unfortunately, I think it just ends up being a problem when one or two students end up abusing their privileges. In my practicum last spring, the librarian and I did a blog with some second graders who had just finished up a project on Martin Luther King, Jr. We were both extremely nervous about 2nd graders blogging, BUT we decided to give it a whirl (they were a pretty advanced class). We all sat together in the library, gave each student a laptop and a username, and after some instruction, asked each one to post a comment to a blog prompt, and then respond to other peers comments (We asked what their favorite part of the unit was). They were loving it (oh look, someone responded!). The next day, we get word we have to shut the whole thing down. A parent called, saying their daughter showed them the blog, and they saw a post saying "I thought it was cool when the house blew up." Long story short - we probably could have kept things a little under control by moderating all comments (which we took into consideration!), but we initially thought that the posting / getting responses in one 1/2 hour class period would make it more of an actual experience for them (rather than post and wait...and wait).
I am glad you are finding Google Reader as much of a godsend as I am!
I agree with you about blogging in the classroom and I've actually just discovered a site that is super school friendly and would probably easy to take to the administration/tech people. I posted about it on our blackboard blog- but it's called KidBlog.org and from what I can tell everything we worry about, they've already thought of, which is great. Only the class can see the blog, although you can give parents permission to look at it through their own username/password (a generic one for parents- like username: parent pw: library1) they would not be able to comment, just view. We are currently doing it with 4th graders, so far we've just introduced them to it, but they seem incredibly excited so I'm hoping it all works out!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Denice's post, I feel parents can be far too sensitive about such things. The child was just expressing an interest in action. I really do not understand why any parent would be such upset over a small comment like that. now I know I am not a parent but I feel kids get coddled way too much sometimes. It is a shame though that there is not much anyone can do about it. The parents have the final say, it is their children, but it does ruin it for everyone.
ReplyDeleteBlogs should be used in classrooms. They are a wonderful tool that can help kids learn and express themselves. I feel that is the heart of most web 2.0 technology.
Denice- That is very unfortunate. It's too bad parents could not have compromised to have you moderate comments and remove the "offensive" comment.
ReplyDeleteKate- I saw your blog post and thought it was a great resource! I saved it on my Diigo as a great library resource.
Amanda- I often feel the same way. A lot of issues that came up in our summer class dealing with children being scarred or what not, I didn't find as pressing or as big of a deal. Perhaps when we have kids it will change. ;) I completely agree that blogs are a wonderful learning and expression tool.
Part of the problem is that you cannot evoke the same meaning in something you say in something you write. We talked to the particular student who posted the comment, and she didn't mean "cool" (yeah, rad!) - she meant that it was the most interesting. But she was never able to defend that comment. We did one thing right - by giving each student an alias, none of her peers found out she had posted (because let me tell you, did news spread fast!).
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on your post 100%! Blogs are an amazing tool and thanks for the two you mentioned you followed Buffy Hamilton and Steven Anderson I will add them to my RSS feed! I think eventually social media sites will be allowed in schools because there is no escaping their potential. We can step away from Facebook which is the "evil" in schools but I don't see anything harmful about allowing blogs, twitter and other web 2.0 systems in the classroom. Bottom line is, students are conversing and engaging in writing on a ever moving forward platform and their words can travel further then ever before, any innovative school who wants their students to excel to their upmost ability will be the ones allowing this to happen! I feel that we all should be advocates for this like you pointed out in your post!
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Denice's post, that is unfortunate and I am sure that happens all the time, but like in our readings the moderators, librarians and teachers can moderate the board and I believe with tools like "Disqus" all comments have to be approved first before ever being publicly viewed, giving educators the option to make sure the comments are appropriate without disturbing the flow of the conversation!
Good post Shannon!
Hi Shannon,
ReplyDeleteYou might want to look at simple, free blogging platform such as Kidblog -
http://kidblog.org/home.php - They do not require students to have an email address.
You can also remove the "Next Blog" area at the top of Blogger with a simple snippet of code -- some schools don't want students to use Blogger because that little "distraction"
Tips: Remove the Dashboard or NEXT BLOG:
Go to LAYOUT->EDIT HTML and paste the following line
#navbar-iframe {height:0px;visibility:hidden;display:none}
below the Variables section but above the Body section.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tips! I read about Kidblog in one of my textbooks and agree it would be an excellent resource for blogging in education. That's interesting that you can remove the dashboard and Next blog. I will definitely need to explore this more! Thank you again for the helpful tips.
Hi Shannon,
ReplyDeleteGreat job getting a good conversation rolling in this post.