Mrs Watt's 2nd Grade Computer Class Blog

FUN example of a classroom blog. Go look. (click here) I'm just sayin'.

Lee Anne

How to Use Blogs in the Classroom

Wow! You have to check this out. Exploring our Dynamic Earth - Using Blogs to Learn. I'm impressed by the creative and collaborative design of this site. Instructors are always asking how in the world would they ever use a blog for learning. Well, here's their answer. The blog is just one component of this venture.

Want to know more about blogs and the classroom? Check out Weblogg-ed - the read/write web in the classroom.

Kudos to both instructors.

Lee Anne

Understanding/Making an RSS Feed

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find this RSS Feed stuff a little confusing. I understand it is vital if you want your blog read, but how it all works is a bit mysterious - a bit. I generally manage to stumble through it, somehow.

I ran across an article that might help it make sense to you. There are several suggestions and a lot of explanation. Check it out.

Have fun!
Lee Anne

Are Blogs Really What is Meant by "Digital Literacy"?

I ran across a blog post that intrigued me. Wesley Fryer, the author of the post, speaks of President Bush's reference to blogs - more precisely, milblogs - as a primary source for information about what is happening in Iraq - a broader civil perspective.

Fryer used Bush's comments as a springboard into NCLB issues. His question is, are students getting the [digital] literacy skills they need for the 21st Century? Are students getting skills that will help them solve the real problems, the problems that are not prefabricated and solvable by rote? Fryer does not feel NCLB is properly preparing students for anything important, especially not for the digital age.

I'm gonna let that whole NCLB discussion sit - interesting article.

Here's my question: Are blogs really what is meant by "digital literacy"? Or, are blogs nothing more than open text messaging or IMing? I have heard countless teachers and parents condemn blogs. Faith in them as scholarly or righteous modes of communication is not wide spread. I completely understand why they feel that way. Blogs have certainly had a lot of bad press these days. On the other hand, I can't help think that there are blogs out there that ARE scholarly or righteous. There must exist some that are credible primary resources. One or two must be fine examples of citizen journalism? No?

Okay. If you had a student working on a project on current civil issues in Iraq, would you allow him or her to use an American military blog as a credible primary source? Sure, sure - it depends on the topic and the perspective. That aside, do YOU trust the resource? How would you discuss this with your student? How do you help your students solve the problem of evaluating credible vs. not in the world of blogs? Is this a skill that is important?

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this post.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

Student Decision Making - Digital Citizenship

I recently ran across this web page. It is chuck full of articles - some more interesting than others - but certainly a lot to think about.

Summary: Welcome to the Digital Citizenship Website
Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers and technology leaders understand what students should know to use technology appropriately. But Digital Citizenship is more that just a teaching tool, it is a way to prepare students for a society full of technology. Too often we are seeing students as well as adults misusing and abusing technology. The issue is more than what the users do not know but instead what is considered appropriate technology usage.

Digital Citizenship Today
Now is the time for educators as well as other adults to begin to evaluate how they are using technology. Within this website are many examples of how educators can begin the process of teaching their students how to use technology more appropriately. These resources can be used by any adults who are interested in helping students better understand appropriate technology use.

If you find an article particularly helpful or informative, please post a comment by clicking on "comments" at the bottom of this post.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

Megan's Blog Desk

I wanted to share a site that I found worthwhile - in a non-overly-technical sense. It is called Megan's Blog Desk (http://megansblogdesk.blogspot.com/). Megan, or Mrs. Perry, left a comment on the Eighth Floor blog (see "What About Blogs?"). Megan is an elementary teacher in Maryland and a graduate student working on an MA in Teaching and Learning with Technology. She is interested in preparing her students and other teachers for our changing global community.

I checked out several of her links -- they're good. She has everything from research articles on blogs in education to blogging resources to classroom blogs of all colors. In addition, she has several posts that clearly discuss setting up blogs, etc.

If you run across anything you find particularly useful, please share! You can comment by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of this post.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

What About Blogs - the Aftermath

Thank you all for your excellent contributions and questions in class Wednesday night. You definately made it an interesting and informative class. AND! Thanks for being the first class - sometimes risky, you know. :-D

Clearly, we ran out of time to answer all of your questions. If you have more, please feel free to leave a comment. I'm sure if you have a question, the same question is hopping around in someone else's mind.

Scott will post links to the tools he was talking about, so watch for those.

Question for you: What information did you find most useful from the class or would like to know more about?

Post by clicking on the comments link at the bottom of this post.

Thanks!
Lee Anne & Scott

What About Blogs?

We are offering a course on blogs through the Eighth Floor – you already know this. When we first started talking about the idea as an actual class, I struggled a little with its worthiness. What, exactly, were we going to share with participants in the class? “Do it, you’ll love it, here’s how?”

As a college English instructor, I have a gadzillion reasons to jump into blogging with my students. Clearly, a blog offers them more opportunity to write, more opportunity to get feedback from me, peers, or anyone for that matter. (Much depends on how you set up your blog.) A blog puts them “out there” on the web – makes them feel they are writing for a reason more significant than a grade. College students love blogs. Seriously, once they get the hang of it and buy into the collaborative nature of it, they are pretty good at it. Well, most of them – we ARE talking about teenagers still.

Blogs are more interesting to read than essays. It’s okay; we can admit that. It is one thing to know/observe a student in the classroom or via essay writing, but a whole new, more sincere, and often mature, persona comes out in the blog medium. BINGO! (Persona is the “bingo” word here.) Blogs are a fantastic way to demonstrate differences in voice, tone, credibility – persona. It’s not an easy concept for some – we ARE talking about teenagers still.

I can go on, really, and on about the beauty of blogs. However, even the most beautiful creatures have flaws. Alas blogs, like frogs, have flaws. (That one was just for me.) To avoid a lot of alliteration, I’ll call them warts. The most stubborn wart I deal with is getting students to write in a blog with the same high standards as an essay. They are quick to use slang, fragments, poor organization, and a bevy of other composition sins. My personal favorite is when they do an entire blog using text messaging script. Please! It’s not like we didn’t just have conversations, demonstrations, and regurgitations about my expectations (again, just for me) – but we ARE talking about teenagers still.

Anyway, so back to what do people do with blogs. I did some research. Actually, I did a lot of research, and I found some amazingly creative classroom blogs out there. I also found some that just didn’t bounce. I found several blogs that elementary classes were doing. One was very cute – a class of 3rd graders had gone to see a musical (maybe Beauty and the Beast?) and the kids blogged about their experience. I ran across a high school math class that blogged about things I completely didn’t understand (English teacher, remember), but I did get that it was math and the kids were into it.

I found classroom blogs dealing with everything you can imagine. I found blogs on blogs and blogs that linked to other blogs and blogs that blogged about bloggers who blogged about blogs and, well, you get the idea. I found that there is a whole lot of blogging going on out there. Is it all good? Errrr, nope. Is it worth investigating as another tool we as educators can use? Ahhhh, yep! And there you have it - the birth of a class on the Eighth Floor.

Being as this is a class about blogging, we think you ought to do a little, well, blogging. (Those of you reading this who are not enrolled in the class, please jump in!) We’d like for you to share some of your thoughts or concerns about setting up and using blogs:

- What do you want to know about blogs?
- What do you already know about blogs?
- How do you think you can use blogs?
- How do you see others using blogs?
- What are you concerned about when it comes to blogs?
- What experiences (good or bad) have you already had with blogs?
- OR anything else you would like to blog about.

Post your comments by clicking on the “comments” hyperlink at the bottom of this post. You can contribute as “other.” Be sure to include your name, and read others’ comments and please comment on their comments. Honestly, I don’t always talk in circles like this – not always.

Thanks!
Lee Anne

Podcasting Demo

This demo was created in prep for a new class on The Eighth Floor, Podcasting: Help or Hype. Coming this June to a floor near you!

Don't miss it!
Pam

Pam's test

This is just a test of a web-based word processor called Writely. Located at www.writely.com. Files can be shared, printed, saved, copied, etc. You can insert images. With one click, you can then post your document to a blog. One stop computing!