Students Can Blog Too! (Thing Four)

Student blogging is definitely something that is being done more and more in classrooms.  This type of blogging allows for the student to take the driver's seat and develop their own blog post.  The most meaningful part of this task comes when students and teachers can comment on the post allowing for reflection for the writer and the audience.  When meaningful conversations and discussions through the blog writing start to take place, a higher level of learning is going to take place.


As I reflect on student blogging, there are a lot of thoughts that enter my mind.  Student blogging can initially be overwhelming as there are many important aspects that need to be considered to ensure a safe and successful blogging experience.  I teach elementary aged students; therefore, many of my students may not be familiar with blogs and their purpose.  Before beginning a blogging assignment, it would be important for me to expose my students to different types of blogs and discuss their purpose.  Also, I would need to take the time to teach my students the appropriate blogging ettiquette.  At a young age, many students do not know proper internet "manners."  After tackling these initial issues, my students would need to be taught what makes blogging meaningful.  Students may not understand the relevance of blogging and the importance of the collaboration that blogging requires.  My students would probably need some experience firsthand to really understand.


As a teacher, I have to think about the assessment part of blogging.  How can evaluate my students in a meaningful way without changing the context of the blogging and making it just about receiving grades?

Take a look at the rubric that I came up with:

Blog Posts By Students:
      Unacceptable:  Posting does not show understanding.  It lacks creativity and style.
      Acceptable:  Posting is reflective and insightful.  It shows the writer's understanding, but may lack creativity and style.
      Target:  Posting is reflective, insightful, and creative.  It shows the writer's understanding and style.


Comments or Responses That Students Leave on Other Blogs:
      Unacceptable:  Comments lack opinions and/or respect.  There is little or no value added to the original post.
      Acceptable:  Comments include opinions, but may not be respectful.  They may provide some value to the original post.
      Target:  Comments include opinionates, but they remain respectful.  They provide a meaningful addition to the original post.


In my classroom, student blogging would probably begin as a slow process.  Students would need a simple and to-the-point rubric to truly understand their task in the beginning.  As students become more proficient in blogging, different elements and components can be added to the rubric to further the meaningful discussion.

The following websites are great resources for evaluating student blogging.  I would highly recommend them to anyone, but especially a beginner at blogging in the classroom.

A+ Rubric - A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs

This rubric is a great resource with a variety of components about student blogging.

Kathy Shrock's Guide for Educators - Assessment and Rubric Information

This webpage is truly a shrine for all things rubric related.  Check out the section on Web 2.0 rubrics to find a blog-specific rubric.

Happy blogging (and evaluating)!

Blogging is More Than Writing (Thing Three)

As I got the opportunity to review several different blogs today (on a variety of subjects), a few things stood out.
Blog writing is truly ongoing.  It may be the one form of writing where the audience actually gets to show their importance right there.  In a good blog, the original post is only the beginning.  The true blogging takes place when commenting begins and allows for the audience to be interactive with the author.  It takes reading to another level, because the audience truly gets the opportunity to give feedback with hopes of a response from the author.

When I'm reading a blog, I take a different stance than I do when I'm reading a book or a magazine.  In a way, I am critiquing the writing, but I'm not looking for mistakes or errors.  I'm looking for ways that I connect to the author and ideas that I can offer back to lend to the discussion.  While I enjoy the opportunity to curl up with a good book strictly for the enjoyment of reading, reading blogs allows me to not only enjoy someone else's thoughts and ideas, but it also allows me to share my own thoughts and ideas.

 In my opinion, the most interesting blogs seemed to be written as a narrative.  Whether the writer was sharing something that had happened in a professional or personal capacity or giving opinions on an idea, the writing should flow in the same way that a good story would.  That is an aspect of blogging that I really enjoy.  I will be first to admit that, when it comes to reading, I prefer fiction over nonfiction, but I find nonfiction writing to be very interesting as long as it has personality and "flavor."  Blogging allows a writer to add their own personality because the writer is really showing ownership over the ideas.

I definitely think there is a "blogging literacy" developing.  To truly comprehend the text and information in a blog, the reader must understand that blogging is about collaboration and interaction.  It's also about really meeting the needs of your audience and providing writing material that will provoke interesting and engaging discussion in your audience.  While blogging for the sake of writing your ideas down is a great start, it is more important to develop a collaboration with an audience that can take your thoughts and ideas to the next level.

Looking deeper into blogs today has challenged me to think about my own blog writing, personally and professionally.  In the future, I am definitely going to work on taking my blog writing to the next level.

Divine Design

So, as I look back to my first class in my Multimedia and Web Design course, I think back to the conversations we had about design and its importance.  My prediction is that the conversations about design and development are going to lead to the foundations of my understanding about web design.  As a web design beginner, looking and analyzing the different parts of design gave me a moment of clarity.  All things education related, including creating web and multimedia, must start with a plan.  We focused on ADDIE, which is a format for designing instructional materials.  It stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.  The process is very similar to the steps a teacher might take for lesson planning.  Ultimately, don't all things have to start with the design and development to truly get a deep understanding of the content.  Hmm...maybe that statement is a generalization, but it's something to think about.

As a future educational technology leader (at least that is the plan), I think it is important to have knowledge in the basic foundation of design and development.  The "techie" in me thinks that all educational technology leaders need to have a firm grasp of design and development before they can venture on to help other educators best serve their student or classroom needs.  I will have to be able to answer the technology as well as the instructional questions one day so it is important that I have a depth of knowledge in all of those areas.  It makes me think about the T-PACK model (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge).  I need strength and balance in all of these areas to be the best educator possible.

So, at this time, I truly believe the crystal ball is saying that multimedia and web design are going to be key elements in my development as an educational technology leader. 

Web 2.0 and its Role in 21st Century Teaching - Shift Happens! (Thing One)

Reflecting on everything I have learned about Web 2.0 already, there is one big overlying message: Students today are very different from the students 10 or 15 years ago.  They are "digital learners."  Students are surrounded with Internet Tools in their personal lives: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter.  The list could go on and on.  This is how students function and thrive at home; therefore, to best meet the needs of our students, these tools should be promoted and actively used within the classroom.  As teachers, we make the realization that some students learn better by listening while others need to truly see something to gain understanding.  We are willing to accomodate the different learning styles in our classrooms.  It is time that we considered that many students need to be accomodated by encorporating technology use, more specifically Web 2.0 tools, in our classroom.

It is probably pretty standard that many teachers have created a blog for their classroom.  Most blogs include homework assignments, important news, or upcoming events.  While this is an amazing form of communication and very commendable, it is important to note that good technology use is more than just the use of a blog to communicate to parents.  The real learning will take place when students are given the opportunity to learn, share and connect with others while using Internet Tools.  Students also need the opportunity to be put in the "driver's seat."  Students can be the publishers too!

In the article "A Day in the Life of Web 2.0" by David Warlick, a school shows how they effectively implement Web 2.0 tools to provide a connection from the students all the way to the superintendents to the local community.  The information in the article is quite inspiring as you see how this school has created so many lines of communication within and outside of the school building.  Ultimately, that is the purpose of Web 2.0 tools - to provide a connection and allow us to learn from those connections. 

As I become more versed in Web 2.0 tools and their place in the classroom, I definitely feel more motivated to bring these tools to my students.  First and foremost, I really want to engage my students and provide authentic opportunities that allow the students to have ownership in their education.  While that sounds like an obvious goal for every teacher, it can be very challenging to engage students while focusing on the state required standards that have to be taught.  But it is definitely a challenge that needs to be taken on and I think that using Internet Tools is a great way to engage learners.