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!!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Sue, I totally agree with you that we need to be careful not to use weblogging just to do it, but to use it in a really productive way to improve student learning. I have been looking for improving my connections with the students so that the students feel more comfortable in being open with me and their classmates about the status of their learning. My goal is to learn from each and every student, in real time, what do they know how to do and what are they confused about. I am hoping that the weblog can be the vehicle to catalyze students to feel more at ease with communicating with me and their classmates.

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