I have never even given Blogging a second thought for use as a teaching tool. However, after reading the chapter on Blogging and New Literacies I can see the value in a classroom blog. Besides having the students become responsible for the writing they are publishing, it is also an effective way to reduce your classroom’s carbon foot print. I am still amazed at the amount of paper each student uses and receives from the teacher and administrators. The Fresh AIRE page is a place to go for more information about becoming green. Hopefully, at some point in my career all students will have computers to work on and not have to wait for the few in the classroom.
I like the point that Diane Penrod makes about reaching the students who are on the fringe. Blogging allows the user to create what they want to say in a way that is uniquely them. Just look at all of our class blogs and how uniquely different we all are. In my search for a meaningful connection to add to this posting I came across Blog For Students. This site could be used in classrooms for students to post blogs. I think further research into it is important before a teacher allows students free range. The site is limited but it does restrict who actually sees the blogs which is nice for added some internet safety.
Hi Sarah! I LOVED your comment about reducing the carbon footprint by using blogs. I never even thought about it that way. Leave it to the ex-park ranger to come up with that! :) I love that schools are using email and blackboard more to connect with their students, and I think you're right, blogging is another way to reach our students in an authentic way while conserving our resources.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, our school ran out of paper yesterday and so no one could make any copies. The faculty were all in a tizzy trying to figure out what to do. It turned out everyone had to adjust their lessons so that they weren't using any paper. This could be a valuable lesson for every teacher. I think it would be interesting to see what would happen if we took away paper for a week. :)