Chapter 3 was like a "beach read" because of all the great instruction Keri has given us. So easy to make sense of it when we've already practiced it! The "Blogging Step by Step" section helped me to review and solidify everything we've learned so far; the basics, I know, but still I feel like we've learned a lot!
I valued the suggestions by the author to start small so that you, yourself become comfortable, but also found the suggestions for teachers very practical when working with students; use it as a "place to post homework assignments and relevant class links...get students reading blogs." It left me feeling like I don't need to facilitate these major technological productions in a day!
The best new resource I got from this chapter was the list of "Good Educator's Blogs" listed at the very end. Interested in reading what other people have to say about issues in education, I took a peek at Shelley Blake-Plock's blog and got a kick out of her thoughts on innovation in the classroom found in her post entitled "Do the Opposite." Her suggestions are a bit oversimplified but she makes a great point and her message resonated with my own spot on the technology learning curve. Check it out!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Chapter 2 response
Page 26 of chapter 2 addressed my primary question, "So what exactly can Weblogs do to improve student learning?" While this course has gotten me excited about climbing on board the 21st century technology wagon, all along I've been pondering the contrast between acquired technological wizardry for its' own sake versus how the tool can truly change instruction in a way that impacts student learning. Richardson responds to this question by pointing out several benefits including broadening the "relevance of student work" (p. 27). Where many tasks begin and end in the classroom and address a limited audience, blogging affords students the opportunity to reflect on their learnings/writing as a result of comments and feedback "that come from outside of the classroom walls." (Grade 4 teacher, Konrad Glogowski, Ontario, p. 30). Richardson refers to this as "a new writing genre;" one that really moves students beyond just communicating and into "connecting with others who can potentially teach us more." (p. 28). I see great potential in that (assuming that we can get all systems in place to insure student online safety), knowing that we are not here just to teach "stuff" but to teach students how to acquire knowledge and then how to use it!
The suggested uses of weblogs in school listed on pages 21-25 were insightful. What related most to my own professional goals is the idea that we can use blogs as venues for sharing best practices. With teachers continually having to juggle the demands of the curriculum and endeavoring to stay current with sound instructional strategies, blogging could be a very useful tool in continuing that work during and beyond the school day and school year. A given technique could be presented or described and teachers can blog about their experience or their questions and even seek feedback as they try out the technique! I see it as a fabulous online study group!!
The suggested uses of weblogs in school listed on pages 21-25 were insightful. What related most to my own professional goals is the idea that we can use blogs as venues for sharing best practices. With teachers continually having to juggle the demands of the curriculum and endeavoring to stay current with sound instructional strategies, blogging could be a very useful tool in continuing that work during and beyond the school day and school year. A given technique could be presented or described and teachers can blog about their experience or their questions and even seek feedback as they try out the technique! I see it as a fabulous online study group!!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Chapter 1 response
What resonated most with me throughout chapter 1 was how we as teachers are really chasing technology as it continues to move ahead at light speed. Richardson says, "the world is changing around us, yet as a system we have been very, very slow to react." The rigorous instructional demands teachers face coupled with new technologies that are being unveiled before our eyes such as document cameras, interactive whiteboards and new webtools, impose a sense of urgency. Where traditionally students have come to the teacher to learn, many of us are learning from our students in the face of rapidly growing access and skill in the use of technology at younger and younger ages.
Issues of equity in education have to be examined in light of the chapter 1 discussion. Technology integration is a powerful tool for 21st Century learning but not all students, individual schools or whole school districts have similar access to these tools. Richardson, on page 7, mentions the 2005 Netday survey that "asserts that technology has become 'an indispensible tool in the education of today's students.'" So what are the short and long term implications for districts that lack the funding sources to put into students' hands what seems to be equivalent to the basic paper and pencil? Surely a gap will develop in terms of the acquired skillset students will take throughout their schooling and into the competetive job market.
Issues of equity in education have to be examined in light of the chapter 1 discussion. Technology integration is a powerful tool for 21st Century learning but not all students, individual schools or whole school districts have similar access to these tools. Richardson, on page 7, mentions the 2005 Netday survey that "asserts that technology has become 'an indispensible tool in the education of today's students.'" So what are the short and long term implications for districts that lack the funding sources to put into students' hands what seems to be equivalent to the basic paper and pencil? Surely a gap will develop in terms of the acquired skillset students will take throughout their schooling and into the competetive job market.
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