Advantages of Blogs
An important part of the class is getting teachers confortable with technology. In past classes I have relied upon group emails, teacher webpages and webquests (ala Bernie Dodge) to foster communication among class members and to experiment with ways to integrate technology with their learning environment. This summer I experimented with creating a class blog to house internet resources, foster communication and create a 24/7 classroom. All teacher blogs had links on the class blog. This added to our online work and opened communication.
Moving to teacher blogs had many advantages. The conversations on the blogs tended to be thoughful, personal and pose important questions. They often had links that led readers to best practices. Teachers started to address issues that affect the classroom environment:
- the role of the teacher
- the advantages and disadvantages of online learning
- using technology effectively
- the role of schools in an age of globalization and the internet
- the skillset for teachers in the 21st century
Christine's Blog
David Warlick does not have any answers but only more questions about technology in the classroom. He is considered an expert in his field...This is very telling about the future of our schools and the technology in them. He raises important questions: How do we retell the story of education and fashion a new image of the classroom...? What is that story and how do we tell it? Who should this story be directed to and who should tell it? What will it look like, feel like, and how will it affect people?
...So to answer these questions, we need to do what good teachers have been doing since the beginning of time, PREPARE OUR STUDENTS FOR THEIR FUTURE, not ours. It was Socrates who said, "I can not teach anyone, anything, I can only make them think."470-399 B.C.
Alfredo's Blog
Will Richardson's (2006) excitement about using blogs in education is almost contagious. He does a good job at providing ideas on how to take advantages of blogs in various situations and for various purposes in schools. His rationale for harnessing the ready access that blogs provide to online publishing is thought-provoking, and invites you to consider ways in which you could get on board with blogs in the classroom. He is right in pointing to the fact that writing that is done for an audience much more wider than just the teacher has an inherit motivation for students to develop habits of thourougness, clarity, creativity and reflectiveness. On the other hand, his enthusiasm seems to come more from intuitive and anecdotal standpoint, rather than from research.
posted by sfink @ 4:17 PM
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We have experienced cramming for a test, doing obligatory homework and writing essays that parroted ideas of a teacher. How is that different from authentic learning? Can you describe an experience that you had in this classroom or in another where you felt the learning was authentic?
