Reflection 2- What are blogs? How can they be used in the classroom?

We have all been blogging for a few weeks now. At this point many of us have figured out how to insert 'pretty' pictures, informing videos and interesting links into our blogs . We have also edited our blogs to incorporate personalised backgrounds, various font styles and colours and 'witty' titles (unfortunately I'm not creative enough to think of any).  But the question is, how many people really understand what blogs are and their potential uses in the classroom?

 Image retrieved from: blog.zadrocommunications

Welcome to week 3!!

This week we were required to select a web 2.0 product and write a review on its features and possible uses in the classroom. But first what is web 2.0?

From what I understand web 2.0 could be seen as the second generation of the internet/ web pages. Before web 2.0 all web pages were unchangeable by the general public allowing only the webmaster (creator of the page) to edit. With the introduction of web 2.0 we have seen the rise of wikispaces, editable webpages (wikipedia), social media sites (including facebook and twitter) and of course the blog. All these websites have been made open for editing and commenting on by the general public.

 For the purpose of this review I have chosen to have a closer look at the blog and its possible uses in the classroom setting. Originally we had the option to choose between the blog, wikispaces and webpages. Out of these three choices I thought blogs would be the most logical choice, as I have had little experience with blogs before now.

From reading this weeks course material I have learnt a lot about what blogs are and what they they can be used for. Basically a blog is a website that has been created by an individual or a group of individuals to share their own thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Blogs can be about a variety of topics including global news, sports and various hobbies. Each time a person edits a blog they create a new blog post (similar to starting a new journal entry in a diary) These blog entries always appear with the most recently added blog post at the top of the web page (reverse chronological order). For more information on what a blog is feel free to view this video: Blogs in plain English (unfortunately it is unable to be  embedded due to owner restrictions).

Although this review manly focuses on the use of blogger, there are also a wide range of  other online blog platforms available for use by the general public. These blog platforms include wordpress, tumblr, thought.com and webnode. At the present time my own experiences with blogs are limited but from what I know, I believe that blogger is an excellent online blog platform. This is because it is free to all users, easy to customise and edit and allows feedback from readers. Blogger is also advantageous as it provides creators with their own URL (Universal Resource Locator which is otherwise known as a web address). By providing a web address for each blog, creators are able to have their very own online space and readers are able to access their favourite blogs with greater ease. Another advantage of blogger is its ability to be linked to gmail, google plus and blogger mobile applications. This makes it easier for users to stay connected with their readers at all times and avoids the use of a range of different passwords for various accounts (I'm notorious for forgetting passwords).  Many  of these online blog services offer the same  features to the public but often vary in presentation and 'user friendliness.'

 The blogger is advantageous as it can be easily edited to suit the needs of the audience and the creator.  Creating a new blog post is as simple as clicking on the 'new blog' button, typing in a clever title and writing in the blog. While creating a new blog authors are able to embed or link in a range of multi-media sources including; images (as seen on the top of this page), web pages, other people's blogs(linked towards the end of this blog) , youtube videos, screen shots (can be seen on the following link screen shot), popplets or bubbl .us etc. (Bubblus can be seen by the following link Bubblus)The blog page can then be edited by changing the design template, font, layout and settings. All of this can be done by clicking on the 'design' button. Blogger even allows the author to view a number of statistics including how many people have viewed their page and where they come from.

Traditionally blogs were created and edited by a single person but with the use of blogger additional authors are able to be added. This means that more than one person can add information to the one blog which could prove useful in a range of settings such as businesses and in schools. One of the greatest advantages of using blogger is the inclusion of a number of privacy settings. By accessing the blogger settings page the author can set their blog to private and allow access for certain people. The author can also edit who can comment on their blog. Both of these features would prove very advantageous in the classroom setting.

YES!! that's right schools. With the introduction of Web 2.0 many schools have begun using the internet and various ICT (Information, communication, technology) tools within their classrooms. Websites such as Wikispaces have been utilised for sharing information, online collaboration and assignment presentation in a number of classroom environments (Primary, secondary and tertiary  education). Blogs have been added into a number of areas of the school to assist in everyday studies, assignments and home-school relationships.

By creating a classroom blog teachers can provide students and parents with a way to easily stay in contact. With today's busy lifestyle parents are often unable to come in and see their childrens' teacher for information. In the past teachers have often sent home a weekly newsletter that more often than not got lost on the way home or not handed to the parent (I was often guilty for leaving it at the bottom of my school bag for my mum to find). By creating a blog parents can log in and see what their children are doing in the classroom. The classroom can add regular updates of what is happening, this weeks homework, videos of sports days and photos of this weeks science experiment. Students and parents can comment on things such as what do they need to bring to sports day tomorrow, their findings from the science experiment, any troubles with homework etc.  I believe that this would be very advantageous as busy parents would be able to become more involved in their childrens education and students would be able to easily contact their teacher if having difficulties with school work at home. The use of blogger would also be advantageous as parents would be easily able to contact the teacher privately through email (Gmail of course) on more sensitive topics (Jimmy won't be able to make it to school today as we are attending his grandma's funeral). The classroom teacher could then post the days work so students unable to attend school are able to catch up. The only downside to this may be that everyone on the internet may be able to view this page (I'm unsure if security settings are able to be created) or parents may not have access to the internet at home.

Another use for blogs in the classroom could be for research based tasks or group assignments. When completing a research based assignment (for example How did the settlers arrive in Australia) students can keep track of their research and their own ideas through the use of the blog. For example Susie found out that the settlers arrived in a series of boats and that the conditions of those boat were terrible. Instead of just copying that information into a word document for later use, teachers could ask students to create a short blog about their findings. This would allow students to consolidate their knowledge and show the teacher that they understand the new information. The advantage of posting it on a blog is that other students in the class will be able to access each others knowledge and add to their own knowledge. Students would be able to comment on each others work by posing questions, adding to each others work and suggesting further research areas. This is called collaboration and is supported by the social constructivist theory. Collaboration or discussion allows students to build upon their own knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning.

There are many ways that blogs can be used in the classroom which is only limited by the students knowledge of ICTs and the teachers creativity. For more ideas on the ways in which blogs can be used in the classroom. Check out this bloggers ideas:
Web 2.0 in the classroom

While reading up on blogs as a part of this weeks moodle information I created a PMI chart (positives, minuses and interesting facts). This chart let me weigh up the 'pros and cons' of using blogs in the classroom.

From this PMI chart it can be seen that the positives of using blogs in the classroom far out weighs the negative aspects. The use of blogs in the classroom are very effective as they encourage students to practice their reflective writing skills while sharing their own thoughts and opinions. Good reflective writing encourages students to participate in higher order thinking. During lessons or research students remember and understanding new information (The first two levels of Blooms Taxonomy) while completing their blog they are able to participate in the higher levels of blooms which include; applying, creating, evaluating and analysing ( Just like I am doing now with this weeks moodle content). Students often find working in these higher levels of thinking a little difficult. So by scaffolding these levels through the use of a carefully constructed and scaffolded blogs students will be able to receive the most out of their learning. 

When using blogs in the classroom, teachers should start students off with a scaffolded way of writing their blog entry. As students become more used to blogging (and in turn reflective writing), teachers can reduce the amount of scaffolding and allow students to use their creativity. The scaffolding used while creating a blog could include a PMI (this was the base used for this blog entry), de Bono's hats (like last weeks blog entry), Y charts (looks like, feels like, sounds like), KWL charts ( What I know, what I want to know and what I have learnt), venn diagrams etc. This will help students to get the most out of the task, engage in higher order thinking and will also make the use of blogs seem less daunting. 

Overall I believe that the use of blogs in the classroom is an extremely effective tool. This is because it is user friendly, engaging for students, encourages higher order thinking and can be used for a range of classroom activities.

Thanks for listening. Catch you all next week.

Michelle.