Ok so chapter 2 gave me the background information that I needed to better understand Weblogs. Now to get started! YIKES! Chapter 3 helps you to get started. Starting small would be best for me. I would like to possibly start a weblog but I have some concerns. Will my school allow it? What about security and privacy concerns? Will it work with my grade 6 students? What about parents' reactions? How will I be able to manage it? One way to overcome and deal with my concerns is to maybe start a classroom blog. I might have to try it...We'll see.
This chapter had a great resource to get started with blogging support. It was very helpful to me. It is a great blog spot. I used this site to find out more about blogging. This can be useful to help me to set up my own Weblog. I just need to overcome my fears. Stay tuned!!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Chapter 2: Weblogs
I had a general idea about weblogs but the definition made it more clear for myself. It is easily created and updateable website that allows an author(s) to publish instantly to Internet. There is lots of text and not much bells and whistles. You can post your opinion and people can respond to it. It is an easy way to share resources and ideas locally and globally, you have an instant audience and it is easy to do.
Dean Shareski's blog shows how you can view his latest post at the top and then you can see what he has posted previously. Readers can post comments, it is a great way to get feedback from other teachers. I think it is a great way to collaborate! You can adapt the Weblog and make it look professsional. There are many variations on blogging, some of them include using Facebook, MySpace and Beebo.
The good news about blogging, is that it can have a positive impact on students. Learning specialists Fernette and Brock Eide's research found that blogs can:
1.) promote critical and analytical thinking,
2.) be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive and associational thinking,
3.) promote analogical thinking,
4.) be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information,
5.) combining the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.
Weblogs in school can be a flexible teaching tool. It is easily accessible and a great way to access class materials. There is no need to make extra copies, it is a great way to communication with peers who are teaching the same course. The students don't lose their work, for the most part! It is organized in one place. Parents and teachers can track student's progress: online portfolio and collaborate with others. It is a great way to record learning for students. I could see using a Weblog in my classroom.
Dean Shareski's blog shows how you can view his latest post at the top and then you can see what he has posted previously. Readers can post comments, it is a great way to get feedback from other teachers. I think it is a great way to collaborate! You can adapt the Weblog and make it look professsional. There are many variations on blogging, some of them include using Facebook, MySpace and Beebo.
The good news about blogging, is that it can have a positive impact on students. Learning specialists Fernette and Brock Eide's research found that blogs can:
1.) promote critical and analytical thinking,
2.) be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive and associational thinking,
3.) promote analogical thinking,
4.) be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information,
5.) combining the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.
Weblogs in school can be a flexible teaching tool. It is easily accessible and a great way to access class materials. There is no need to make extra copies, it is a great way to communication with peers who are teaching the same course. The students don't lose their work, for the most part! It is organized in one place. Parents and teachers can track student's progress: online portfolio and collaborate with others. It is a great way to record learning for students. I could see using a Weblog in my classroom.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Chapter 1 Read/Write Web
I was amazed at how quickly technology via the web has progressed since 1989 when the Internet started. Tim Berners-Lee saw the potential to create a vast "web" of linked information, built from people around the world. This allowed people to not only share data but to share personal talents and experiences in new and powerful ways. In 1993, many people were "surfing" the web. It was limited in its capabilities but quickly became an essential communications and research network connecting people locally and globally.
Fast-forward to 2009 and we have many capabilities and possibilities. The one major problem I see as an educator is that we are challenged with keeping up with technologies. The world is constantly changing and "educators are very, very slow to react." I think more time and training would help me to overcome my personal struggles with technology. Many of our students are exposed and adept at the evolving technologies. Their abilities far surpass their teachers' abilities. Our students use more complex and flexible digital information with minimal or hardly any instruction. Today's schools are faced with the difficult dilemma that pits a student body immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less skilled in these tools. Students are by and large "fearless" in the use of technology. Personally I am trying to catch up with my students abilities with technology.
Fast-forward to 2009 and we have many capabilities and possibilities. The one major problem I see as an educator is that we are challenged with keeping up with technologies. The world is constantly changing and "educators are very, very slow to react." I think more time and training would help me to overcome my personal struggles with technology. Many of our students are exposed and adept at the evolving technologies. Their abilities far surpass their teachers' abilities. Our students use more complex and flexible digital information with minimal or hardly any instruction. Today's schools are faced with the difficult dilemma that pits a student body immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less skilled in these tools. Students are by and large "fearless" in the use of technology. Personally I am trying to catch up with my students abilities with technology.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)