The world of blogging is very new and overwhelming to me. Although I am technologically savvy, so to speak, I feel out of my league here. I can say that in just the past week I am much more educated in the area of blogging. I believe it opens a lot of doors in the profession of education. It allows many to come together in situations that would be impossible without the blogging arena. I have taken a class that used something very similar to blogging and realize that students and teachers are able to communicate with the whole group as well as the individual almost simultaneously. Students are able to attend class from any number of locations and still remain part of the communicative group.
I see pros and cons for teachers below the collegiate level, however. College professors have the ability to run a course entirely on the web where ALL of the grading, teaching and communication is conducted there. As primary and secondary teachers we still have the responsibilities of lesson planning and classroom teaching a full class load along with the possible maintenance of a website and all of the paperwork and politics of the regular day. I can see where a teacher could get in over their head as far as the volume of blogging and how they use it in accordance with their current responsibilities.
There are so many different ideas and different ways that blogging would be benefitial to students but teachers would be shortchanging themselves and their students if they were to place all of their ideas into effect at one time. I could see getting caught up where you would be checking during other class times or taking away from planning time in order to keep up or you would be putting in so much extra time that you may get burnt out. I think the challenge would be taking this blogging idea and only plugging in small pieces at a time in order to maintain time management.
I would personally use blogging for Art/Artist critiques of web gallery sites, discussions on concepts and arguments in the art arena, peer critiques of student work, homework assistance, etc. I believe students would not only benefit from the interaction but also become more motivated, more involved and feel more a cohesive group as they walked into the classroom each day. They would be able to be in contact with each other outside the classroom and still be engaged in the learning that took place in the room at a previous time.
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8 comments:
I agree that a teacher could become totally overwhelmed by all of this. I also worry about how you handle it if computers are not readily available at school. Can we really assume that every student now has computers and internet access at home?
I like your ideas for the Art classroom. What a great way for students to really get engaged in thinking about art more deeply. Good luck in all your blogging efforts!
I think you hit a very key point when you said, "students and teachers are able to communicate with the whole group as well as the individual almost simultaneously. Students are able to attend class from any number of locations and still remain part of the communicative group." These are things that make blogging different from email or other forms of electronic communication.
It can be overwhelming if you try to give yourself a start by taking on everything. I would suggest starting in a small way with one idea or even with just one class, and then expand from there once you are comfortable.
Sara's point regarding that all students have access to computers is valid. In our district we are fortunate to have computers for students to access. For those students who do not have online capablity at home, some school time outside of class will need to be arranged.
Sara's point regarding that all students have access to computers is valid. In our district we are fortuante to have computers for students to access. For those students who do not have online capablity at home, some school time outside of class will need to be arranged.
The advantage to being in control of the blog is that you can determine what you are going to blog about. Your idea to blog about art critiques gives you control of the blog without letting it get out of control. Then hopefully you don't become overwhelmed with the content of the blog.
I liked your point about time and teachers becoming overwhelmed. I think this is definitely something to work on in manageable pieces-baby steps are important. I am also intrigued by the almost conversational immediacy of blogging.
I am also becoming more aware of the benefits of blogging. My thoughts right now are about balance. There are certainly great benefits to blogging but, what about the ability of our students to communicate with each other in person. I think in this age of X-boxes, text messaging, and emailing some of our kids do not communicate real well face-to-face. Again, I think we have to find a balance.
I love the idea of using the blog as a way to critique work. Famous stuff or new stuff, great stuff or questionable stuff, this format lends itself to expressing ideas.
But I LOVE class critiques and discussing art person to person. I'd hate to lose true interspersonal converation, despite the benefits of a blog inspiring conversation.
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