Blogging Articles

I selected two scholarly articles to blog about, both related to potential classroom use for blogging. I realize that I'm a bit behind on posting these summary/reflections but it's been a stretch of days where "life happened" so to speak. I finally have some time to sit down and reflect on these articles and I look forward to reading what others wrote about as well.

Mullen, R. & Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: Getting started in the classroom with YouTube, digital stories, and blogs. The Clearing House, 82(2), 66-69.

This article described a middle school classroom where a teacher was trying out YouTube, digital stories, and blogs with her students. The introduction discussed the growing digital divide that exists between teachers and students. This divide being due to the current generation of students living in a technology savvy world while many schools and classrooms are not yet embracing this new technology. Thus, students are not being properly prepared for the highly technological world that awaits them after high school. Rather than thinking of literacy as strictly reading and writing, we need to consider that twenty-first century literacy means being able to blog, chat, email, Skype, upload, etc. The article provides a description of the ways that the middle school teacher utilized YouTube, digital stories, and blogs in her classroom. The section on blogs provides some definitions of a blog as well as information about the ability of blogs to create authentic writing experiences for students. There are many different blogging sites available and it's important for teachers to browse the options and choose a format and site that works best for their students and their classroom blog. The article suggests that classroom blogs can be used to respond to and discuss current events, write book recommendations, and comment on other postings. There were some quotes from students indicating their interest and enjoyment in blogging in the classroom.

This was a rather basic article but I picked up on a few things that may seem obvious but were enlightening for me. One of the bigger ones was that having students post blogs limits the amount of paper used in the classroom. I had never thought of approaching blogging in the classroom from an environmentally friendly standpoint though after reading it I did think, "Duh!" What an interesting way to view blogging activities. This could really launch a whole initiative to reduce paper. Students could connect to blogs of students in other classrooms in the school. With the whole school on board, there's no limit to the ideas that would stem from students and teachers about utilizing a blog for assignments rather than hard copy. There would be limitations with asking students to utilize a blog for homework as not all students have a computer and/or access to the internet. However, even if this idea is just used at school, it's an interesting and eco-friendly starting point. I also like the idea that blogs can create authentic writing experiences for students. The second article that I read will delve deeper into this idea.

Wang, S. & Hsua, H. (2008). Reflections on using blogs to expand in-class discussion. TechTrends, 52(3), 81-85.

This article goes in to quite a bit of detail about the pros and cons of using a blog as opposed to a discussion board with a group of students. In this case, the authors were referring to classes for pre-service teachers but the ideas translate to blog use in all grade levels. The article also provides information about the various things that blogs can be used for in a classroom such as documenting student work, communication with students and parents, communication from student to student, as a resource, and for faculty as teaching and learning aids in the context of higher-education. The main difference between a blog and a discussion board is that blogs are public and discussion board are limited to a specific group of individuals. Also, blogs remain online whereas discussion boards are specific to one class and are not available to other classes. Three of the main reasons for choosing a blog over a discussion board in a classroom setting are highlighted in the article as: having the ability to compile posts for future students to utilize, the ability to embed multimedia such as videos and audio clips, and the ability to tag posts so that topics can be searched for. As instructional needs for blogs are often much different than those of the general public, the article recommends three specific blogging tools for classroom use: blogger.com, wordpress.com, and livejournal.com. Again, some of this may depend on the age group of the students as each one differs in the area of ease of use. The article also covers some of the issues and challenges that can arise when using blogs with students. Blogs may be new territory for students and so it's important to make sure that students spend time learning how to use a blogging system and exploring other blogs to see what it's all about. All in all, the article indicates that appropriate use of blogging tools can facilitate in-depth discussions among students, encourage all students to participate, and provide students with an interactive means of communicating and discussing topics.

My biggest takeaway from this article is the impact that blogs can have on student participation. Students that seem shy and reserved in class may flourish on a blog. It can be intimidating to speak up in class but on a blog students may find it easier to express their thoughts and opinions. Students will also be working on their reading, writing, and editing skills because they know that what they post is public (if not to everyone, at least to their teacher and classmates). This is a big incentive for students to carefully craft and edit their work and these are great skills for students to work on. Additionally, depending on how the blog is set up, students can be provided with the opportunity to take discussion beyond the classroom walls and outside of their community in to a greater learning community that they may not have the opportunity to experience otherwise. There's a great big world out there and many students don't get the chance to see that when they are confined to one school and one community. Blogging can open doors for students and provide them with the opportunity to communicate and have discussions with other students around the world. It reminds me of when I was in grade school and I had pen pals. I had so much fun writing to someone that lived somewhere else in the world (be it somewhere in the US at that time). It was so worth the wait to get a letter from my mysterious pen pal. Now, with online language translators and blogs, students have diversity and greater discussion opportunities at their fingertips and the response time is exponentially faster than it was when I was a kid. This is an opportunity that we shouldn't let pass our students by.