Blogs in Education

Blogs in Education

1) Discuss your search results and why you feel they were similar or different.

When I searched for “Educational Blogs” on Google, the first three results I was shown were “Educational Weblogs” (educational.blogs.com), Kathy Schrock’s home page (www.kathyschrock.net/edtechblogs.htm) and the “Top 100 Education Blogs” (oedb.org/library/features/top-100-education-blogs). Searching the same key phrase on Yahoo, my results were slightly different. Though the first result was the same for both sites, Kathy Schrock’s page was moved to the fifth result and the “Top 100 Education Blogs” to the tenth. This time, sites such as “EDUCAUSE Review” (www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0450.asp) and a “Teacher Blog Community” (teacherlingo.com) were listed. The same was the case for MSN when I searched the phrase there. The three main sites were still listed on the first page of the results even though the order was moved around and other new sites also appeared within the results. I am not sure why the results were different, but I assume that it has something to do with the way the queries are processed by each search engine and by the specific web sites that the search engine is associated with.

2) Identify and describe the 3 interesting ways you found to use blogs in K-12.

The first blog that really interested me was “The Junk Edublog.” I really liked this teacher’s blog because J. Blake posts many of the ideas actually being used his science classroom dealing with technology. Many of these assignments and activities are very creative and engaging. For example, the students are putting together their own digital videos of birds rather than just learning about birds from the textbook. I also thought it was interesting that Blake has the blog set up to be viewed by the parents of his students. This seemed like a good way of including the parents in what his students are experiencing in his classroom and getting them involved. On “Ozblog” by Tom March, students find many postings on current events and news articles. March calls these “teachable” moments. Using March’s blog as an example, I think that blogs would be a good way to get your students interested in news when they may otherwise not be. Reading headlines through your blog may be less intimidating to them than actually going to CNN.com. Lastly, in a blog called “Teachers Teaching Teachers,” the hosts have created safe blogging spaces for students to use that connect them with students all over the country. Many other internet tools such as wikis and google documents are also utilized in connecting the students to “school-based social networks”. This also becomes a social network and support site for teachers suing technology in their classes.

3) Describe your search on RSS readers/aggregators and how you could use them.

When I searched for RSS readers/aggregators, I found that you can use what is called a “reader” which is sort of like a news feed that gives you updates from all of the sites you are interested in and saves you the trouble of having to go to each site and check for new postings, etc. Some of the examples show that you set up a reader page and connections to your favorites websites (such as blogs or news that you keep track of) and then you will be able to read the updates from your reader instead of from each individual site. These could be used in classrooms to save both the teacher and the students time and energy. If you’d like your students to read the postings on your blog, they will be able to see whether or not you have updated and they won’t have to continuously check. Likewise, if you are having your students keep blogs, you can use an RSS reader to see the updates of all of their pages without having to check each blog one at a time.

4) Discuss the impact you think blogging may have on K-12 classrooms.

In my opinion, blogging has the potential to be very beneficial as a means of communication. Blogs are a way to connect teachers and their students, teachers and parents, or even teachers with other teachers for advice and encouragement. I have personally had many classes where I was required read articles and post blogs, and it provides instant feedback from the instructor and a way to see what my peers are thinking about the topic. Depending on the way they are used, blogs can be a very good tool. I also feel that as a new generation of teachers, who understand the use of technology in their classrooms, enter schools, it will become very common.

5) Describe at least 2 pros and cons of using blogs and RSS readers in education.

Using blogs and RSS readers is a very good way of creating an instant connection between you and your students. If you require your students to keep a blog, you are able to peek into their minds and better understand their lives and what they are experiencing in your classroom. If the blogs are made available to the entire class, your students can also see how their peers are responding. Secondly, blogging provides an alternate method of educational discourse which can be used to break up the monotony of a regular classroom. On the other hand, teachers who rely too much on blogs will ruin its effectiveness because of over-use. Students who found it interesting in the beginning may become bored if they are blogging every assignment. Another con of using blogs in your classroom is that you are possibly opening up your student’s work not just to the scrutiny of you and their classmates, but also to everyone else browsing the web. It may be unlikely, but depending on what you or your students write on their blogs, they may receive feedback from sources that are not trustworthy.