Tuesday, April 29, 2008

What About Blogs - April 30, 2008 Class

What About Blogs?
Welcome to the Eighth Floor class about blogging in education. As a collaborative and constructive tool, blogs have found their place in education. As educators, we are using them as learning tools not only for our students, but also for ourselves.

Blogs in Plain English





Lee LeFever of the Common Craft Show

So What’s a Blog?
Let the
6 & 7 year olds from Room 9 at Nelson Central School educate you about what they think a blog is and why they love using them!



Let’s Talk About Blogs
How is a blog different from a website?
What does it mean to blog, be a blogger?

Why do you think you or your students might be attracted to this as a form of expression?
The first step to being a good blogger is to be a good blog ____________?

Education Professional Development Blogs
Weblogg-ed - A blog by Will Richardson
Moving at the Speed of Creativity - A blog by Wesley Fryer
Blog of Proximal Development - a blog by Konrad
Blogs about Educational Blogging - a wiki by Support Blogging.com



Classroom/Student Blogs
Arthus - NewlyAncient (high school student blog)
The Good Habits Blog (blog for students)
Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog (elementary)
Blogical Minds (This is a blog created to explore what happens when 5th graders blog and converse about literacies in class and beyond)

Google Search for Blogs
http://blogsearch.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wb

Check out the following education/safety focused postings and articles:
MySpace Education
Change Agency
BlogSafety.com
Blogs, Fair Use, and Paying to Play

Blogging Tips and Tricks:
Web Blog Basics
Blogs - Anatomy
Blogs for Learning
E
valuating Blogging
B
logging Best Practices
Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
___________________________________________________________________

QUESTION!
Since this is a class about blogging, we thought you might want to do a little, well, blogging. So, what are some advantages to using blogs? What are some disadvantages? What can you do to minimize the disadvantages?
____________________________________________________________________


Add your comment to this post. Take a minute to think about the above questions. (Or share something else, if you choose, like an idea your already have for using blogs) Click on the "comments" link below and then type your answer. You can comment as "anonymous or other." Be sure to include your name somewhere so we know who you are. Read others’ comments and feel free to comment on their comments!

Thanks!
Lee Anne

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think their good qualities are limitless. It is a perfect way for students to share their creativity in the classroom with other students. It allows children to see what can be done in a specific area of learning.

Anonymous said...

Advantages to blogging:
*Can share information
*Provides another level of engagement for learner
*Allows for self-expression
*Allows learner or blogger to be creative in presenting information

Guitar Chris said...

I have already experienced the use of blogs in the classroom. Tied to a discussion thread they are very useful. The instructor can make them part of the learning process by communicating with the students in a format they understand.

Outside of the classroom they provide a vehicle for expression and a forum for people around the world with similar interests. With the use of search engines such as google, a person can find a series of blogs that pertain to their passions.