Blogs….. Confusing or not?
Wow, I never knew setting up a blog site could be so confusing. Although once I had set up my own site I definitely felt like I had achieved something, as computers are really not my thing! This is one of the main reasons why I am doing this unit, as I feel I have basic computer skills but I am no Bill Gates. However, I think computers have a lot of potential in the classroom to help engage students. I felt that I learnt so much in this lesson but got lost so many times. I understand that we were trying to get through a lot but I just felt that if we had slowed down a little I might not have been so confused. When teaching I think we need to consider everyone’s rate of learning and prior knowledge so all students can feel successful.
As I am new to blogging I never knew that people could leave comments on what I have written. I always thought that only the blogger could write on the site. This is a great feature as it’s always helpful to hear other people’s opinions too. When using blogging in a school setting this would enable teachers to comment on their student’s blogs. I still feel I have a lot to learn about blogging and this unit is definitely going to help me gain a better understanding.
on August 23rd, 2008 at 1:06 am
Kate, I’m pleased that you feel that technology has the potential to engage learners, even though you say computers are not your ‘thing’. I have designed this unit in the hope of engaging students to explore and experiment with technology.
I appreciate that many of these technologies are new to many of us – I believe that the only way we can truly understand and appreciate their value is through using them ourselves. One such example is blogging. I hope you feel more comfortable with the process of setting up a blog now that you have spent more time creating your own. I am looking forward to reading your future posts. Lina
on August 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
The balance between getting through material and maintaining the right pace to ensure students don’t get confused is hard. And it is important to remember when you plan any lesson (whether you are using computers or not).
Congratulations on setting up your blog and remember there are lots of manuals, and how to guides on the Getting Started with Edublogs page of the Edublogger.
When you use blogs with students in classrooms you will need to gradually introduce them to how to use them. Generally most educators start off by first setting up their own blog and learning more about how to blog themselves. Once they feel comfortable they then set up a classroom blog and get their students to first respond by writing comments to posts.
While working through the process the teacher will introduce cybersafety and gradually educate them on the process. As each student demonstrates they are responsible they then may be allowed to write posts on the class blog or may be given their own blog. Often educators will set the student blogs so that comment moderation comes through to the them and so that they approve blog post before it can be posted. They do this using a range of mechanisms one of which is to use gmail + accounts when setting up the student blogs.