The article Blogging to Improve Instruction in Differentiated Science Classrooms brings up a couple of good points about some of the ways that blogs can be a beneficial tool for educators. One of the benefits that is pointed out in the article is that teachers can use blogs to extend the classroom by creating a user friendly environment that can be used in multiple ways to either serve as a tool to help students who may be struggling with a subject and they can also be used to challenge gifted students. Both of these uses, I think, are great as they use technology to further a student’s learning by using a form of media that students today are comfortable with and familiar with.
Another good point the article brings up is that integrating blogs into a course can be difficult and time consuming and that an educator needs to carefully think about and assess the blog they set up and the content they post on it to make sure that it is relevant and that it is effective at delivering the needed information.
Michaela W. Colombo, Paul D. Colombo
The Phi Delta Kappan
Vol. 89, No. 1 (Sep., 2007), pp. 60-63
Vol. 89, No. 1 (Sep., 2007), pp. 60-63
Published by: Phi Delta Kappa International
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20442410
In the other article I read, A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking, the author makes a good case for using blogs to further a student’s educational experience. In the article I really like the points that were made about keeping an open mind about the structure and use of the blogs. In one of the examples that are sited within the article the author notes how in one circumstance the students shared ideas that helped make and keep the blog interesting and useful for the students.
One thing the author brought up that I had never thought of was how blogs would allow more people to see a student’s work. Normally the only ones to see a student’s work are the teacher and the student themselves, but by having the student’s work posted on a blog people like the students parents, other family members and friends could see what kind of work the student was doing.
HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking
Lisa Zawilinski
The Reading Teacher
Vol. 62, No. 8 (May, 2009), pp. 650-661
Vol. 62, No. 8 (May, 2009), pp. 650-661
Reading about that aricle you referenced that illustrates how blogs can be used in differentiated classrooms reminds me of another class I've just begun: ED 624: Teaching Special Populations. It has to be one of the biggest challenges for teachers to find ways to teach effectively to TAG, "regular," and challenged students. The article you reference in your post is exciting when one thinks of blogs as a very flexible tool that will allow teachers to effectively teach highly differentiated classrooms. One tool, but used in different ways.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of a wider, more immediate audience for the students' work which I think is a great motivator. I would like to have students post some sort of presentation of their research projects on their blogs, but am wondering whether blogs are the proper place for them.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, so many of them already make YouTube videos that they might be willing to help the few who do not. They could post them on their sites and their friends and families could see what they are up to...anyone have ideas about that?
In one of the articles I've read so far from these blogs, a teacher wrote that some students continued to blog about literature after the class ended--in one case, a movie of the story came out and they added some more people to the "circle" and just kept going. I thought that was a real tribute to the success of the blog. When I teach general education courses, my main goal is to get students so excited about reading that they continue to read on their own after the class ends. So I love that the blog made that happen for at least some students and that the teacher could track that!