6.2: Web 2.0 - Blogs

Web 2.0: Blogs

I have used blogs, in a limited capacity, in my classroom off-and-on for some time now.  As a MS ELA teacher, I have found them to have both a good side and a bad side.  

Let’s start with the positives first:

·      Global Access: Students can read/post from virtually anyplace they have internet access and are not restricted to school hours.

·      Collaborative Approach: Given a topic or discussion point, students can use the “Comments” section to reflect, interact, and collaborate with student within the classroom or across the world!   

·      Informational Push of Info: Post ideas to research and read from a variety of people, backgrounds and sources.

However, they do come with possible negative issues or consequences:

·      Students can post anything – as in anything! With the anonymity of the web sometimes unintended hurtful things can end up in the comments section.

·      Number of student responses could become overwhelming in larger classrooms. For example, I had 134 total students last year.  Students responded to each other on the blog many multiple times and it was nearly impossible to keep track or who said what.  However, students were engaged and into what they were doing (and that is a huge positive, too).

There are ways to combat possible negative issues:

·      To combat possible negative feedback and the like, teachers must moderate everything that goes on the blogs.  Not necessarily before it it is posted, but the teacher should be reading everything on the blog in a timely fashion.

·      Close the group; make the group private.  This is primarily for the younger students.  This not only helps keep students safe from predators, but may also keep out trolls looking to do nothing more than harass.

·      Participants must have a valid email or other means so the teacher knows who is whom!

For example:

One lesson I used a blog with was in conjunction with the book Night.  Nightis a deep read for most 8th graders; the subject matter and detail that Elie Wiesel goes into as he recalls the brutality of his stay at Auschwitzcan be overwhelming for even the toughest of students. The blog we used was a closed group consisting of the entire grade (123 students that were reading the book) and students from a classroom in another state (MI) that were reading the same book. I had met the teacher at a conference and we decided to try out blogging across states to see if the students would collaborate.  Students at both schools were given questions and prompts to address on the blog. Students had to make comments on at least one post; one post and comment on each prompt was required, but it was not limited.  The results were astounding!  Student from both schools interacted in a collaborative way and posted so many comments on each others’ works, both the other teach and I found it hard to get to all of them! Students were engaged in a way that mere paper essays and classroom discussions couldn’t achieve.  And that is why a blog should be a tool in every teachers’ tool box!

ISTE Standard met: Creative Communicator and Global Collaborator