It’s been said time and time again that good teaching and instructional strategies can be implemented with or without technology.
However, if there is a technological innovation that can enhance the instructional strategy and improve student learning, then it should be considered.
There is something about the dynamic and social nature of blogs that can enhance a few instructional strategies, in particular, and give them a life that they would not otherwise have.
I can see blogs being used to help students compare and contrast various topics or concepts and getting feedback from their classmates.
They could also use them to summarize class discussions and notes.
Other students could chime in and point out good points made or mention things that could additionally be considered.
This dynamic element that extends beyond the walls of the classroom is what makes blogs more engaging than paper/pencil and in-class interactions.
Blogs could also be used for differentiation.
By this, I’m suggesting that students can assign blog posts based on students ability and the students are none the wiser.
They just think that were assigned a random question.
Students can then continue to learn from one another via comment posts.
Blogs are not good for traditional skill practice. Skill practice usually does not involve critical thinking and analysis. I also don’t suggest using blogs for students to to give each other feedback on papers that they have written. My first experience with blogs have been for this class and it’s one thing to write for a teacher or a small group of classmates. It’s very different to write/blog and know that others will be reading the commenting.
Admittedly, I’ve struggled to see how blogs could be used in the mathematics classroom. One of my fellow classmates, however, gave me an idea. I would feel most comfortable using a blog to communicate expectations and reflect on what’s taking place in the classroom on a weekly basis. Parents and students could then follow the blog and could either comment to me or simply use the posts as a starter for conversations about math at home.
Wow! So many great ideas here. I like the compare and contrast idea, but think that differentiating instruction for students using blogs is wonderful. I never thought of using a blog that way before and in my co-taught classroom that could certainly come in handy. I too am struggling about mathematics, I mean to use a blog in English, history and foreign language all seem to fall naturally with blogging, but math has been a challenging notion for me to wrap my head around! hmmmmm...more thinking to do.
ReplyDelete~Lori