Blogs

Hello

Well, like many others in my course, this is my first blog. I have already come across one problem, which I managed to fix. I had actually created two accounts, without realising, and could not figure out why my blog was not there. It is alright now though!! A good way to remind me that while technology does have it's faults there is a solution. So time the solution can be staring you in the face, you just have to look.

I think blogs would be a wonderful tool to use inside the classroom. Firstly, students would need to be educated on web safety and how to uses a blog. Children can be exposed to a number of unsuitable material on the Internet (Aldred, 2010). They can be exposed to cyber bullying, strangers with harmful intent and other dangerous material. Nevertheless, the students risk of exposure does not just go away because they are not using full access to the Internet at school. Students have this free access to web 2.0 from home and if we do not educate them on the dangers, then they truly are at risk.

Having students use technology (blogs) to record their learning journey is a great idea. Today’s students according to Presky (2005) are digital natives, that think differently because technology is such a part of their lives . By using blogs we are catering for students’ ways of thinking and allowing them to create through a medium they understand.

Being a Language and IcIs teacher I can certainly see how blogs would work to help students with their learning journeys. Especially for IcIs when students have to reflect (using higher order thinking) on their third place. Students can do this effectively and be able to comment on each other’s reflections. The time I have for IcIs students for is limited, so they would be able to do more work from home. The final task in the IcIs assessment usually requires students to develop something displaying their knowledge of both countries. This is usually done for some one like a sister school in the target country but only pretending it is authentic. Blogs would make it possible for students to really share their blogs with the sister school. Having a blog as the assesssment piece would really be good in creating an authentic activity. Thos also allows students to receive feed back from their peers on this assessment. Blogs are also able to be seen by the world and as such students will see the importance of the task. Real people will get to see their blogs and it won't just be chucked in the bin after being marked.

In senior Japanese, I myself can remember how, when I got stuck on homework or assessments how frustrating it would be. I could not ask anyone because no one at home can speak Japanese. With a blog students can collaborate from home and ask questions from their peers or the teacher. In this way students would be working collaboratively and teaching each other. The learning pyramid suggests that student retain 50% of discussion groups and 90% of teaching others.

Image from ACU Adams Center for Teaching Excellence

For those of you that don't know what IcIs is I will explain in my next post.

Reference
Aldred, S. (2010). Internet safety: the issues. Retrieved from CQUniversity Moodle,
FAHE11001 Managing E-Learning,
http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/resource/view.php?id=44151

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001.