I have created my first blog!
I found the creation process quite self explainatory, once I knew what site to use. I have never used a blog before as have preferred to just bulk email the people I wish to contact but I can see the benefit of blogging. My only reservation would be that it needs to be private and only available to the people I allow.
A blog is a one stop place, you publish what needs publishing and then you are done. You do not have to worry about sending it to seperate people or re-writing things, you only have to do it once and make sure the people you wish to follow your blog are receiving it.
In a school context I can see the benefit and some downfalls of using a blog in a classroom.
Creating a class blog is a way of capturing the interests of the students, it is on-line and getting updated often which captivates them. In order for it to be successful, strict rules need to be enforced. The teacher would have to monitor the posting and address any inappropriate postings. As well as the members of the class, I would open it up to the school community and parents of the students but not to the public. Instead of the students being on or wanting to check their facebook or twitter, they would move towards checking and participating in their school blog. In order for it to work well, it does need to be updated often with information that is relevant to the audience and that will spark conversation.
When seetting up a class blog I would profile and survey the audience to find out what they would like to read about on the blog. Therefore it would consist of relevant and informative data that keeps the students coming back and adding posts.
From a students point of view, it could really help with their learning. If someone is struggling with an aspect of their work, they can blog about it and their peers can post back to help not only the student that published their problem but also the ones that did not publish the problem but may also need help or benefit from an idea.
With their being millions and millions of blogs being created and followed in the world and even educational blogs available on secure and private sites such as The Learning Place, it is another form of communicating in the 21st century which is easy to use and easy to follow. As a learning manager this tool of communication should be considered if it fits with your intended audience and purpose (save paper and sending notes home, just blog about what you want them to know!)
B
PS- Information on on-line safety can be found in the third comment.
Since blogger, I am finding it a really good tool to be reflective. If allowed I could see myself as an 'over blogger' and blog about everything. How are you finding blogging?
ReplyDeleteAlso how good is it that you can transform your on-line blog into a book, what a great option to have available. Of course there is a price but if you were blogging while travelling overseas etc you may wish to have a hard copy of your travels and adventures.
ReplyDeleteSince I began blogging away and relating on-line tools to the classroom, I realised I really do not have a clear understanding of the policies and legalities of operating on-line in a school and with students. I hope to be working in a classroom one day therefore I need to be modelling safe and ethecal pracices. So I have decided to go back and find out the information I should know!
ReplyDeletePublishing images: Approval and credit needs to be given if re-pubshlishing a copyrighted image. Best to use a free site that allows re-publishing of their images, such as www.flickr.com. If publishing images of students or something school related it needs to be in accordance with the schools policy for the 'publication of private information or photographs' (each school may be different and may limit on-line publishing to their intranet). If publishing on a website you need to ensure it fits with the 'publishing staff and student information on a school website' policy (http://education.qld.gov.au/strategic/eppr/legal/lgspr001/)as parent/guardian permission will need to be obtained.
School policy: Ensure you have a clear understanding of what is required by Education Queensland (can be found on education.qld.edu.au site)as well as obtain a copy of and understand the school policy that you are working in.
Stranger danger/appropriate material: When working on-line students need to be critically literate. They need to understand that predators are out there and not everything may be as it seems. This is another site to find more information on being safe on-line for kids (http://www.nap.edu/netsafekids/). Most school networks should limit the sites students can assess which should limit the unsafe sites they view. But learning managers also need to be aware of the sites they take students to and the content that may be indirectly displayed. For example when viewing a youtube, it may have inappropriate material on the side bar adds.
Appropriate behaviour when on-line: When students are interacting on-line such as adding to a blog there needs to be set appropriate standards made by the learning manager such as the type of language used. If it is a formal piece of work 'typical' on-line language like abreviations of words, smiley faces etc may not be accepted.
As a learning manager I would encourage parents and have students view and understand the content of a very user friendly site like Cybersmart (http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/) (sorry you can't hyperlink in comments and I did not want to start a new post as prefer to keep all topic related information together).
With any learning experience or task that is being asked of your students it is important to scaffold the learning in order for them to be able to achieve the intended outcome to the best of their ability. Once you as the learning manager are well informed by the appropriate policies and understand what is and is not allowed when working on-line, it will allow you to appropriately transfer the correct on-line behaviour to your students. As technology is forever changing so are the policies so you need to ensure that you constantly update your skills and understandings of the CURRENT state and school policies.
B