I just received an e-mail message from a teacher who would like to introduce blogging in his classroom — student blogging. He says…
I asked my supervisor if i could get the techno guy at my school to unblock a website so my kids can use blogs in my language arts class. I was told I need to write a letter to the superintendent to explain my justification for using blogs in the classroom.
Surprisingly, this is the first time I’ve received this kind of e-mail, and from certain perspectives it actually makes a lot of sense. Rather than just sending him my 2¢ Worth, I thought I would open it up to my readers. [[image ((Penn, Christopher. “Ted Demopoulos’ book Finally Arrives.” Financial Aid Podcast’s Photostream. 18 Jan 2007. 4 Sep 2008 <http://flickr.com/photos/financialaidpodcast/361533467/>. ))]]
- So why should students be blogging in the classroom?
- Are your students blogging?
- What’s the benefit?
- What’s the down-side?
- Are there other surprise impacts?
Please keep it short and sweet, as he’s only been asked for one letter.
Thanks from me!
Blogging as a tool for writing can be more effective for students’ learning for a multitude of reasons. A)Blogging can be a more authentic experience, especially if the students choose their own topics for posts. A teacher can direct how it’s written (critique, persuasive, etc.), but the kids feel more ownership. B)Feedback in the form of comments can be more meaningful to students. Traditional writing assignments are usually read only by the teacher (and how many teachers have the time to read and think deeply about what their students write?)or perhaps a peer reviewer. Through blogs, comments from multiple readers mean more. C)On the flip side of that, students can be taught how to write an effective and responsible comment. Students who are reluctant verbal commenters might feel more comfort in a blogging environment. D)Blogs provide an opportunity for self-reflection which might be overlooked in a traditional writing exercise. E)Revision after posting allows a student to reflect, revise, and improve a post, based on comments or self-auditing. A lot of students see writing papers or journals as an end product, rather than a journey. Blogging can be more fluid.
Down-side: extreme web filtering in the school might prevent or limit an authentic blog experience. If the blogs are stored on school servers, for example, the “outside world” might never see those blogs. The upside of this restrictive environment is that students, especially younger students, are protected from the flaming commenters. I advocate for a happy medium. 🙂
Depending on whether the super is research oriented or not would depend on my response to them. There is quite a bit of information on the benefits of discourse across subjects. I would point out some of the immediate benefits that the students, parents and school can get.
The students will have a new outlet to carry on discussions. These discussions, depending on the setup, may be able to happen globally, in conjunction with another school — think etwinning globally — or even with the students from another class within the same school. Students participating will learn how to participate cooperative or collaborative discussions. This can include those students who may not speak up during class for fear of mincing their words, or who just do not do well with public speaking.
Students will be able to share their writing with more than a single reader, and learn how to express their point of view and enhance their persuasive writing.
I would include a sample letter to parents explaining the process. In the letter I would have the parents select a pseudonym for their student to use. I would also look for a blog service that did not require an email address to post or one that allows the teacher to create email-less accounts for the students and be sure to point that out to the super and in the letter.
The super might also like to see that an activity such as this falls in with NETS for students AND teachers.
Finally, I would make sure that the super knows this is an OPT-IN format, not an OPT-OUT.
Blogging allows for a degree of self-reflection and processing that is difficult to get through passive activity or large-scale discussion. There is certainly a further benefit in the extension of ideas and subject matter into the public arena, but in the courses where I have seen blogging used previously, introspection seems to be a nice benefit.
The difficulty in using blogging stems from a release from more structured and regimented assignments. Just as blogging tends to extend the breadth and scope of the “expression landscape”, it is also a perilous situation in that it may allow a student to wander too far of course, often to detriment.
There are other pros and cons, but they have already been aptly stated.
This is my first year blogging, and I have had only positive results
in student learning and engagement. Blogging has opened up a new and
relevant form of composition in my classroom, one that requires
students to speak knowledgeably and authoritatively for an authentic
audience and one that encourages deeper research through hyper-
linking. Parents love that short blogging assignments keep students
writing regularly, and students not adept at academic essay writing
are finding an original and meaningful voice through blogging.
My advice is to encourage the doubting superintendent to browse some
blogmeister accounts to see real student products and exciting
teacher engagement. One of the hardest things to practice from our
teacher education classes is the admonition to “reflect” on our
practices. I for one have found blogging to be my area of teaching
practice reflection, and my students are energized when they see
me actively engaged in their education and my own professional
development.
Will Richardson just Twittered this link to me:
http://anne.teachesme.com/2007/01/17/rationale-for-educational-blogging/
It’s from Anne Davis’ EduBlog Insights…
— dave —
I will just offer my experience as anecdotal evidence. Blogging drew upon my students’ adolescent (read desperate) need to talk with their friends and turned that energy into an intellectual pursuit. (I firmly believe in the power of connecting learning and emotion.) Through their blogs, my sixth grade students carried on extended conversations about the books they were reading. Conversations that could be documented, shared, and re-visited. I’m convinced that blogging made them more reflective readers and better writers.
Pros- Students have a built in audience that is not the teacher and not the mommy. Students writings can be commented on by other students as well as the public (if desired by the teacher). Students enjoy using computers and sometimes kids that won’t write on paper will write on computers.
Cons- All of the above could be considered negatives. Computers are not ubiquitous, paper and pencils are. Most students can write with paper and pencil, while not all students can type.
I choose to have my class post on a blog because of the above pros despite the above cons and with the additional reason that my students probably will not have access to blogs and blogging or similar technologies at home.
I am starting my third year of blogging with fifth graders. I work in an extremely high achieving district on Long Island in NY. The expectations for our students are much higher than the average district. And I cannot say enough positives about blogging.
I have found that blogging has improved their writing abilities tremendously. Having a world-wide audience reading their work makes my students put more effort into their vocabulary use, their editing skills, and their ideas. They have also learned how to better communicate. They have learned how to make positive and constructive comments, while being respectful and considerate of the reader. They have made contacts with other students through blogs, learning how to use html code to improve the look of their site, learning about some online sites to view, learning about new books to read and movies to attend. And their reading skills have improved simply because they are more motivated to read. Many choose to read blogs during their independent reading time.
Now I will also tell you that I like the moderation portion of class blogmeister. (Other blogs have this ability too.) Nothing goes onto my class site without my prior approval..not a blog or a comment or a picture or a video. This assures me, parents, and administrators that no unsafe or unkind practices will take place there.
Good luck!
I think one thing missing from his question is why does he want to have his students blog. A lot of people have been writing about using blogging software for reflection and response. I think blogging software can also be used to create a publishing center. By publishing what students write you provide them with an authentic audience while still teaching the standards and skills they need to learn.
Also, it can provide a connection between parents and the classroom. Parents can see how the child’s writing compares to his/her classmates. Parents can share their child’s essays and stories with friends and relatives. I have always found this to build support of the classroom by parents.
He should be clear on what he wants his students to accomplish and what his educational goals are for using a blogging site.
My humble opinion.
Jim
Hello, I am a grade 6/7 teacher and I have found blogging to be extremely beneficial. At the beginning of the 2007/08 school year I had many at risk students who were not engaged in school. After introducing them to blogging their writing flourished. On a daily basis they were asking to write on their blogs. Every morning they would enter the classroom questioning how many people had read their writing. We started to document the number of places that were reading our writing on a huge map in the classroom. They went from not caring about their writing to becoming proficient at editing and revising their written work. So their audience went from a few individuals who read their writing on our writing wall in the classroom to thousands of readers across the world. I also feel compelled to tell you that I have students blogging that have physical and mental disabilities. For example, one of my students has Downs Syndrome and last year she had many individuals comment on her writing. Her audience did not know that she had a disability and she was delighted with the number of comments that she received about her writing. Blogging definitely evens the “playing field”. I cannot express enough the importance of blogging in the classroom. I truly feel that blogging is one way that we can meet the needs of the 21st century students.
The ICT PD cluster programme in New Zealand has compiled this resource for using blogging to support teaching and learning. Feel free to share it with any of your colleagues:
http://centre4.interact.ac.nz/382/68576
To me blogging is all about having an authentic audience. The possibility of having their writing viewed and perhaps even commented on by someone other than their teacher is very motivating for students. Even children as young as my first graders change what and how they write when they know that someone else will be reading it.
So why should students be blogging in the classroom?
It prepares them directly for the job market. Major corporations are now requiring their employees to maintain blogs. It teaches them the value in the global marketplace. It is an authentic activity (if the blog is viewable by the public) where they produce for a global audience, including their parents, other teachers, the principal. It is important in writing that students are not writing a specific number of sentences just for one person.
Are your students blogging?
Yes. Visit http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=56473 and click on student screennames (ones with initials we haven’t gotten onto our server yet for a myriad of reasons) and browse. Here is a good example of just a beginning 7th grade blogger. Feel free to leave them comments.
What’s the benefit?
Kids who won’t say anything out loud in class find a voice. “Special” learners are enabled (I know, I am handicapped) to fully participate in the class. There is also the capability to do classwork using a podcast instead, but despite several “special” people, never needed it yet.
What’s the down-side?
One needs one computer at least. My first year teaching I had one teacher computer. We blogged anyway – I assigned as homework and helped in real-time via IM. I had parents begging me not to post anymore assignments so kids would do their other homework. I also had a kid blogging on Christmas day.
Are there other surprise impacts?
Friendships – I have an 8th grader who did a project last year with a class in MO requesting to do something with them again because they IM’d all summer. I have a 9th grader who started her own blog. Composition is about more than writing a five paragraph essay and blogging kids learn this more easily. Parents can always check up on their kids’ work and the principal can always check up on mine.
May I suggest you dip into Will RIchardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for the Classroom? It has a sample blogger’s contract ( like an internet acceptable use policy – your admin. will like that) and has some good reasons and research for the use of educational blogging. I had to submit an application to my administration too, and I can send it to you if you like, along with my blogger’s contract. The reasons behind the use of blogs for me was to introduce students to web 2.0 software so that our students kept pace with current technology, to showcase student work online, to inspire staff to create new and engaging lessons, to work with students globally Here’s a nice piece of info: Studies from NCREL and CARET suggest t”hat the overall effects of technology on student outcomes may be greater than previously thought” and that “Teaching and technology processes either may directly impact student outcomes in a positive way”. Technological literacy is as important to today’s student and print literacy.
Good luck!
Lisa Casey
I use a blog as my class website. It works great!
But I had to spend an hour and a half, seriously, explaining to the tech guy for our district why I wanted to use blogger instead of SchoolCenter. Finally, while I was talking to him, I set up a blog from scratch on WordPress and posted why I hated SchoolCenter on it. It took ten minutes, and didn’t look like an Atari game in layout.
He finally shut up.