Reflections on blogging Thing #4 take 2

Alright, I’ve already spent quite a bit of time on this post and then lost it. Aggh, the blunders of a rookie.  Here we go again!

I am very impressed with the conversation about water conservation on the extreme biology blog. The teacher has given me some great ideas. It seems blog writing allows for a much more in-depth discourse than we have time for in a typical class discussion. It also allows for students to reflect a bit longer before responding instead of coming up with an “on the spot” answer. I’ve always found that stream of consciousness writing promotes “epiphanies” I’ll bet I would learn a lot more about my students, especially the quiet ones, by employing this method. 

Some blogs seem to be just a typical editorial but others seem to be more reflective and direct. Blog writing is different in that it requires you to take responsibility for what you’ve said. You’ve announced it to the world! Some of the responses could be quite harsh. I find that it would have been much harder to say these things to someone’s face. Is that okay? It depends. While this can definitely promote learning and a healthy debate, teachers will have to be mindful of any possible bullying etc. taking place on the blog.

The style does seem to be more casual than what a student would generally turn into me. While I’m a stickler for grammatical errors, this free flow of ideas should be more casual.

Commenting on a particular thread keeps the conversation dynamic. Without the back and forth, the student may as well be writing in their journal. Speaking of, the blog from high school students wasn’t certainly insightful! Teacher directed commenting can lead students into a Socratic-style learning.

I’m not sure about blogging literacy yet. I’ll have to address that question later on in the course. My initial reaction is learning acronyms may take some time! I’m sure it has changed the way some students read and write because they’re now more accustomed to quick back/forth responses and constantly switching gears and topics with the amount of information and # of blogs out there.

Blogging can definitely facilitate learning! I’m quite sure that I haven’t even thought of all of the ways this could change my teaching. I really liked what was said in “The Ripe Environment” How can we get beyond all of the talk and create the environment he describes?