I would like us to start a conversation on how you feel about our use of blogs in the class. Although no one is required to post, please do so if you have a comment or question to add to the discussion.
You might write about:
- What you find valuable about our use of blogs
- What you find to be limiting or frustrating
- How you can imagine using blogs in the future
- Questions you have about the blogs
- Ideas for mini-lessons/discussions we might have in class
I'll read the posts carefully, both to guide my planning this semester and think about the use of blogs in future classes.
18 comments:
I think that the blog is a really good idea so far. It allows us to get our ideas out there, as well as ask questions that we might forget before we get to class, or that we might come up with after we leave a discussion. Also, in a class that only meets once a week, it is one of the best ways for us to communicate with each other, as well as view what others have to say about topics that interest us.
I also think the blog is a great way to ask questions of each other and clarify issues when not in class. However, I also feel that it can be frustrating at times. Any kind of technology can be a blessing as well as a curse and with the possibility that your internet may be down or there may be glitches with the site I might be hesitant to use this in a class with younger students. As far as this class goes, though, the benefits have thus far outweighed any drawbacks to the blog.
Because I have very little experience using blogs, one of the most valuable things for me is the familiarity I am gaining with this previously unfamiliar format. Having a blog as a teacher and using blogs within the classroom will be beneficial to not only my students but their guardians as well. Bringing blogs into the classroom serve as a way to keep students and parents posted on classroom activities while also surrounding students with technology in the classroom. I can imagine using blogs in the future to serve as a weekly newsletter for students and parents. Students will be able to put their own creative edge on homework by posting on their blogs. Currently, my only frustration with the blog is figuring out how to do everything. With time, this frustration will diminish. The particular website we are using for our blogs makes everything easy to follow or figure out with a little investigating.
My question about the use of blogs so far is whether we are really developing a community in which people are responding to each other's ideas. (As opposed to one in which the teacher is still the moderator.) I think this strand of comments has worked, but I don't see as much interaction on your blogs.
What do others think? Any ideas on how to make the posting and commenting more interactive? Is this about taking the time to read each other's posts? Or is it the nature of what we're posting, which may or may not prompt discussion?
To add to my last comment, what do people think of the amount of structure I provide? What is gained or lost when discussion develops more organically? What is gained or lost when I provide (or we decide) on more structure?
This class is my first experience with using blogs. Thus, I am unfamiliar with many of the different features that these types of forums have. In essence, I think that blogs are a great way to communicate, especially, as Katie F said, since we only meet once a week.
As far as having a community of blogs... I was thinking and there a few reasons why it's not really that successful. First, maybe some people, like me, aren't too familiar with blogs. Also, for those who aren't subscribed to the google reader it is hard to keep track of who has posted. One idea I had is what if we had groups or something that we had discussions in. That way, instead of trying to keep up with 50 blogs we only had 5-10, or what ever size the group is. One arguement I could make against that is that it is limiting... but maybe the groups don't have to be strict... meaning other people could post on other groups blogs. Each group could talk about a different topic or we could all do the same topic.
I don't know if that makes sense :) but I thought I would throw it out there.
thanks for reading :)
I agree with the general idea of the other comments, that I think blogging is a great way to enhance our knowledge [if any] of the technology that is out there for us to use as students and also carry on as teachers in the future.
In regards to your comment on the community, I agree it is hard for me to keep up with everybody who is subscribed on my google reader, and I think because I am still unfamiliar with google reader's complicatedness [ i am used to Xanga from high school] its hard to change gears. I think something that would personally help ME to build the community of the posts and check others blogs was maybe have a 'check point' on doing it once a week or something. I think this could be a very valuable resource, but I know I tend to forget about checking others blogs as the week goes on. I'm not sure what a good way to fix that would be, gentle reminders, somehow? I don't know.
But since you brought this up, Valerie, I will definitely make more of an effort to get into a blogging community....thanks for actually bringing it to our attention.
Google Reader was a suggestion, but if you have other methods/platforms for checking posts, feel free to use them. (And maybe share your strategies with the class!)
My preference is to have the class work together to figure out what is going to work for our "community", rather than having me set up additional assignments or deadlines.
This is also my first experience with blogs. At first, I was a little nervous about it. But I like the idea of having discussions but I feel that it is hard to look at other people's blogs. I added the google reader, but I do not really know how that works yet.
I really like Carrie's idea of having only a few blogs to look at because I think that there would be more discussion and more people posting to the different blogs.
One thing that might be helpful to developing community would maybe having a blog for each group and everyone post to that so discussion can happen outside of class.
I am really enjoying the blogs! I think the structure is perfect. I appreciate how loose the blogging is in regards to the topics we can write about. It is nice to be able to write in an informal way, expressing ourselves freely, and recieving feedback. I think if there was more structure it would feel more like a tedious assignment. The way the blogging is set up now, we are able to actually write enjoyably and not worry about the logistics of it. The one thing I found is that it is hard to respond to other blogs without having the google reader set up. I just set it up so that I can be informed of peers' posts. This is very helpful! I also find it interesting when I go to a blog that has links on it or pictures. I think I am going to add some links or pictures because my blog isn't too stimulating right now! It's neat to learn from others what creative things blogs can contain! Overall, I am enjoying this assignment.
Something that is interesting that is coming out of this conversation (and your quick writes on how class is going in general) is that some people want more structure and some like the "looser" format!
Lindsay also brings up a good point about which blogs are "attractive". We can think about this in a couple of ways, including what type of content tends to invite response.
I agree with Lindsay that the loose structure of the blogs is nice. I think it's good that people have the opportunity to write about and respond to topics they have a strong opinion about, rather than being forced to write about an issue that they don't have anything to say about. I also think that blogging is a great way for us to have discussions outside of class because there is not enough time in our class periods to cover all of the topics that have been brought up on the blogs.
My experience with the blogging has gone better than I had expected it to. I think this is a fun and useful way to get students interacting with one another on the topics that we discuss in class. Not only are some people intimidated to speak in front of large groups but they may not have a response to some of the topics or questions until later after they think about it. Blogging allows those to still post their thoughts and opinions in a unique way that may be easier for them to reveal their thoughts. At times I get frustrated with particular points of blogging. For example when I sign in it just brings me to "dashboard" which shows me how to post on my own blog but I have no quite figured out how to reach the TE 448 page where I can view other's blogs to make comments without fully typing in the whole web address. I also like that there is not particular topics to cover. There is a variety of things that we can write about and I think that's good because other topics may present itself to us as more important or hit closer to home. So the ability to choose what we write about is beneficial as well. Blogging is something that I think could really help in our future careers. For the older students it could help introduce them to technology just as it was to me and also to have with staff to present ideas for lessons and problem solving strategies etc. Overall, I am very happy this form of technology was presented to me so that I am able to become familiar with it and hopefully use it in my future career.
Just a comment on your technical question. The "Dashboard" is really helpful if you have more than one blog because you can sign in once and then navigate to your different sites. I imagine it seems like an extra step for you!
The reason that the class blog doesn't show up on your "Dashboard" is that you aren't the author (I am). I do realize that the address of the class blog is unwieldy! If you want an easier way to get to our class blog, you might add a link on your blog to our site or create a bookmark for the site. (Other people can chime in with ideas!)
I feel that this blog is a great resource for me in terms of separating my professional life from my personal life (something I struggle to do, because being a teacher is so much a part of my identity). Now I have this blog for professional activities or consideration of my teaching philosophy, and a personal blog for everything else.
Like many others, this is the first time I've ever used/created a blog. I'm still getting adjusted to how they work, and I'll be honest, I'm defintely not a computer person what's so ever. So anything to do with creating something online, really frustrates me. So far, however, putting blogs engtries on aren't as bad as I thought. I agree with Katie, I htink blogs are a great way to ask questions, and definitely to get discussions going.
On the other hand, I get a little overwhelmed with how many people comment on them and what I should be and shouldn't read, rather what interests me and what doesn't. I would love to read people's blogs all day and see what they have to say, yet honestly, I don't have the time to. So if I don't check the blogs in a few days, I feel so behind in what people are saying, and that's when I get overwhelmed. There's always someone commenting on something, and I just don't know which ones to choose to read. I'm not the type of person that likes to sit in front of a computer and read, I'de rather have the material in front of me.
Another thing about blogs, is that I would like to make it more of a discussion. I know people are busy and don't have time to comment on something everytime, yet I feel like many, myself included, will just read the question and comment on it, rather than reading what anyone else said, which is why it's hard to have an ongoing discussion sometimes. That's what's so limiting about blogs.
Overall, I like the idea of blogs, I just think that it's definitely going to take me some time to still get adjusted to using them.
I wonder if it would be more manageable if people focused on a smaller number of blogs on a regular basis. (For example, everyone in a literature group read each other's blogs). Maybe we could talk in class about what would be gained or lost with such a move.
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