As with any new communication method I have had my frustrations here. I find most of them are caused by failure to communicate the basics, taking too much for granted.
I can see my students using this to interact with the entire class using asynchronous communication. Once the novelty has worn off I can see ways they would use this venue for their gee-whiz moments, and to remind eachother of the important class assignments.
I find blogs to be a great resource when you find bloggers that are deeply involved in a topic of interest to me. I have few favorite ed tech blogs. http://www.techlearning.com
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog
http://www.modelintelclassroom.com/blog
And the very best is a Walden student http://edtechlife.com
Collaboration on a project might also be enhanced by blogging. Blogging seems to be similar to text-messaging, which students seem to want to do constantly. Consequence is phone confiscation at my school, and yet risk doing it anyway....hand in the purse or pocket.
I also see tremendous potential and importance for this medium in my class. It needs to be monitored and the students must be reminded of their committment to the acceptable use policy. Their language and decorum must be appropriate and correct. Otherwise it is great and will open up new and exciting channels of communication.
Reflections: I love what emmanuel had to say about commitment. I would extend the thought not just to aceptable use but also the commitment to use the blog.
This could be a great vehicle to emphasize the point that every thought can be valuable, provide thoughtful post, and post post post
I have learned this week, that setting up a blog is a collaborative effort. The obvious becomes the sublime; you are trying to communicate with others, hence the need for others. thanks to all who have jumped in and slapped me upside the head until they got in. (in other words thanks everyone)
Kent, What is the purpose of a blog? The ones that I am familiar with are teaching blogs that share some tidbit of interesting news with the reader. The reader develops the thought by adding comments that help everyone learn more about x, y, and z (that math thing again).
Do you have a delicious site?
Do you RSS feed?
Do you tweet?
This is a class about all such things, are you with us? :-)
Rose Ann raises some interesting points. Why blog? My metaphor for this would be compatriots, companions, and collaborators keeping a collective train of thought in a digital realm. Instead of vague memories of last night's conversation there is solid evidence of having shared, perhaps built upon each others thoughts.
Chat sessions are fine for fleeting encounters, blogs provide asynchronous, lasting scrapbooks of interaction and thought.
Yes I have twittered, or tweeted; and have explored, but not yet embraced, other online venues for expression.
Knowing how to write a letter, extolling the virtues of letter writing, and teaching others how to write letters does not make one an exceptional letter writer. Finding a mode of communication that works for you and using it often is a beginning. Finding one's voice takes a lifetime.
If I am to follow a blog, it needs to be worth my time. I need to develop something, as you mentioned, or pass along something useful or helpful to others. I want to come back to a blog and find an nice surprise waiting there for me too. I want to learn, to grow, to think things through to help other do the same. Which KAM does that fit in? KAM 3 I think!
I keep monkeying with the settings but I can't get the blog to show the newest comments at the beginning of the list instead of forcing everyone to scroll down. Any hints?
13 comments:
As with any new communication method I have had my frustrations here. I find most of them are caused by failure to communicate the basics, taking too much for granted.
I can see my students using this to interact with the entire class using asynchronous communication. Once the novelty has worn off I can see ways they would use this venue for their gee-whiz moments, and to remind eachother of the important class assignments.
I find blogs to be a great resource when you find bloggers that are deeply involved in a topic of interest to me. I have few favorite ed tech blogs.
http://www.techlearning.com
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog
http://www.modelintelclassroom.com/blog
And the very best is a Walden student http://edtechlife.com
So much for agreement on my pronouns. I think you get the point though.
Collaboration on a project might also be enhanced by blogging. Blogging seems to be similar to text-messaging, which students seem to want to do constantly. Consequence is phone confiscation at my school, and yet risk doing it anyway....hand in the purse or pocket.
I also see tremendous potential and importance for this medium in my class. It needs to be monitored and the students must be reminded of their committment to the acceptable use policy. Their language and decorum must be appropriate and correct. Otherwise it is great and will open up new and exciting channels of communication.
Reflections:
I love what emmanuel had to say about commitment. I would extend the thought not just to aceptable use but also the commitment to use the blog.
This could be a great vehicle to emphasize the point that every thought can be valuable, provide thoughtful post, and post post post
Hey, I am finally on your blog! hurray!
I have learned this week, that setting up a blog is a collaborative effort. The obvious becomes the sublime; you are trying to communicate with others, hence the need for others. thanks to all who have jumped in and slapped me upside the head until they got in. (in other words thanks everyone)
Kent,
What is the purpose of a blog? The ones that I am familiar with are teaching blogs that share some tidbit of interesting news with the reader. The reader develops the thought by adding comments that help everyone learn more about x, y, and z (that math thing again).
Do you have a delicious site?
Do you RSS feed?
Do you tweet?
This is a class about all such things, are you with us? :-)
ttfn,
Rose Ann
Rose Ann raises some interesting points. Why blog? My metaphor for this would be compatriots, companions, and collaborators keeping a collective train of thought in a digital realm. Instead of vague memories of last night's conversation there is solid evidence of having shared, perhaps built upon each others thoughts.
Chat sessions are fine for fleeting encounters, blogs provide asynchronous, lasting scrapbooks of interaction and thought.
Yes I have twittered, or tweeted; and have explored, but not yet embraced, other online venues for expression.
Knowing how to write a letter, extolling the virtues of letter writing, and teaching others how to write letters does not make one an exceptional letter writer. Finding a mode of communication that works for you and using it often is a beginning. Finding one's voice takes a lifetime.
If I am to follow a blog, it needs to be worth my time. I need to develop something, as you mentioned, or pass along something useful or helpful to others. I want to come back to a blog and find an nice surprise waiting there for me too. I want to learn, to grow, to think things through to help other do the same. Which KAM does that fit in? KAM 3 I think!
I think the blogs would be a useful place to post questions or comments, especially about our projects. Might as well pool all of our resources.
I keep monkeying with the settings but I can't get the blog to show the newest comments at the beginning of the list instead of forcing everyone to scroll down. Any hints?
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