Tech. Tuesday- Nov. 27-Looking for a Good Read

This week's post is dedicated to blogging.  Type in anything in a search engine today and chances are you will find at least one blog post dedicated to your topic.  Blogs are everywhere about anything, and some writers are even making a living at this form of social networking.  They are also becoming a favorite teaching tool.

Wikipedia (yes, I actually think there is merit in using this resource) discusses blogging in the following way:  "Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries; others function more as online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important contribution to the popularity of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blogs), photographs (photoblogs), videos (video blogs or "vlogs"), music (MP3 blogs), and audio (podcasts). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts. In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources. These blogs are referred to as edublogs."

I happen to be a fan of blogging.  This probably comes as no shock to you.  Blogs impact my life in a variety of ways.  First, I subscribe to a number of quality blogs on topics related to my profession (i.e. education, technology, professional development, etc.) as well as those related to my personal life and interests (i.e. Adoption, photography, etc.)  I am also the author of several blogs.  Obviously, I write this blog relating to my profession.  I also maintain the school's photo blog (albeit not as well as I would like to) and I have just started a blog related to my own adoption experiences and my funny child's witticisms.  All of these help me to stay informed and give me an outlet for expression.

Many of you have blogs as well.  I highlighted educational blogs by John Richardson and Ingrid Boyd a few weeks ago.  I know that Sheri McCready also has a fitness blog.  I am sure there are others and I would love to read them.

If you have not really considered the benefits of blogs and blogging, I invite you to explore it.  Today, there are all sorts of easy sites to set up a blog in less time than it takes to drive through and get coffee at Timmy's.  Some free ones include:

Blogger-  www.blogger.com



WordPress-  http://wordpress.com/



Blog.ca-  www.blog.ca
Live Journal-  http://www.livejournal.com/
Edublogs-  http://edublogs.org/
Check out how Ingrid Boyd used blogging with Edublogs to document a class project and give her grade 4 students some authentic creative writing experiences.  She also used this activity as a vehicle for exploring digital citizenship and internet safety.  http://iboyd.edublogs.org/

Blogs (and blogging) can be great teaching tools.  You can create a blog for your students that focuses on your course material and provides resources.  Your students can also create blogs for a variety of reasons including:
*To promote a form of journaling
*To promote discussion on controversial topics
*To encourage a different format and forum for creative writing
*To display educational portfolios
*To explain concepts
And the list goes on...
Check out this blog about using blogs in the classroom.
http://elearningindustry.com/subjects/general/item/384-blogs-and-education-what-is-the-big-deal?
I hope you will take the time to watch Will Richardson's clip about blogging in the classroom.

By chance, yesterday's edition of Education Week Teacher included an article about the benefits of blogging.  The author of this article states, "Blogging can offer opportunities for students to develop their communications skills through meaningful writing experiences. Such projects not only motivate students to write, but motivate them to write well."  He also explains the unique feature of having students blog: "I believe it's important for students to have their writing read by more people than just their teacher. When they know that their families, their classmates, and people from around the world can read what they write, the impact is measurable. Students pay closer attention to everything from the mechanics of writing to word choice to structure to clarity."

Here are suggested steps for beginning a blog project, by Education Week Teacher:
1.  Choose a purpose:  How can the blogging project support learning objectives in the discipline(s) you teach?
2.  Decide on the format and platform:  Will all of your students' work be posted on one blog that you own and manage or will the students create their own blogs?  Each option has pros and cons related to the amount of control that you have over the content.
3.  Prepare & Practice:  What do your students need to know about writing for an audience?
4. Go public:  Once students' blogs are up, require them to read and comment on one another's work, and require individual bloggers to reply to every comment they receive. You could also invite parents, other teachers or community members to read the blogs and post comments.

If you would like to read the entire article in Education Week Teacher, go to:  http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/11


Here are some other interesting blogs that you might want to check out for your own learning:
Powerful Learning Practice:  http://plpnetwork.com/blog/
Mindshift:  http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/

If you would like to brainstorm about ways to utilize blogging in your own classrooms or if you would like assistance with setting up a blogging project, please let me know!