Sunday, October 18, 2009
Week 4: Effective blogs
Two effective blogs for classrooms include Voice Thread and Think Quest. Both are popular educational blogs, which promote communication amongst a global community of teachers and learners.
Voice Thread is designed for use by stages K-6, although I think it would be suitable for years 2-6, given the content and lay out. Benefits of using this blog include:
1. Students gain exposure to blogs produced by schools all over the world. This would be useful for projects on cultural identity, or simply as a means of engaging students with exposure to people of the same age, in different places.
2. Schools can critique, collaborate and sher work with one another. This is a motivating factor for students who like an audience.
3. Blogs from different schools can by teachers as a model of what they should expect from their own students.
Think Quest is another effective blog, which can be used for research projects. The website is advertised to students of all ages, however the topical nature of the site would make it most beneficial for students in stage 3, who are resoinsible for independent rsearch. The site would benefit students in the following ways:
1. Provide a scaffold for conducting independent and group research projects.
2. A plethora of student projects are online for review, which can help teachers and students to identify an appropriate standard of work.
3. Studennts can not only post their own projects, but also use the work of others to learn more about topics.
Voice Thread is designed for use by stages K-6, although I think it would be suitable for years 2-6, given the content and lay out. Benefits of using this blog include:
1. Students gain exposure to blogs produced by schools all over the world. This would be useful for projects on cultural identity, or simply as a means of engaging students with exposure to people of the same age, in different places.
2. Schools can critique, collaborate and sher work with one another. This is a motivating factor for students who like an audience.
3. Blogs from different schools can by teachers as a model of what they should expect from their own students.
Think Quest is another effective blog, which can be used for research projects. The website is advertised to students of all ages, however the topical nature of the site would make it most beneficial for students in stage 3, who are resoinsible for independent rsearch. The site would benefit students in the following ways:
1. Provide a scaffold for conducting independent and group research projects.
2. A plethora of student projects are online for review, which can help teachers and students to identify an appropriate standard of work.
3. Studennts can not only post their own projects, but also use the work of others to learn more about topics.
Week 4: Key ideas from readings, applicable to teachers
In her article entitled Happily blogging at Belmore South, Pericles (2008) demonstrated how the use of new literacies can be succesfully incorporated into classroom learning actitivies. Pericles discussed her success in using blogs as a teaching tool, the main benefits of which were notably:
1. Blogs are an engaging digital medium. Teachers can improve their practise by using engaging resources, which consequently helps them to meet standards set out in the NSW Quality Teaching Model.
2. Blogs enable students to work independenty, or in small groups on different tasks. This makes providing a differentiated curriculum easier for teachers.
3. Teachers can involve parents and carers into the teaching and learning process more, because blogs are accessible at home, and can be usef to upload assignments and feedback for students.
4. As a public communication device, blogs can motivate students who appreciate an audience for their hard work - Pericles' class receivee 13,000 hits on their blog.
While Pericles focused on the use of blogs in schools, Barone (2008) discussed issues for teachers who use digital media technologies for literacy instruction. Some notable ideas posited by Barone include:
1. To successfully implement digital technologies into the curriculum, teachers and schools need to allocate sufficient time to understand the resources, and then teach students these skills, once they have mastered them.
2. Digital communication is transient, and therefore - they are not printed texts, which remain static, therefore teachers' digital expertise must be continually updated.
3.Digital technologies are worthwhile in the classroom, because they are increasingly used in the outside world we are responsible for teaching children to cope in.
References
Barone, D., & Wright, T. E.
(2008). Literacy instruction with
digital and media technologies.
The Reading Teacher, 62(4),
292-302
Pericles, K. (2008). Happily
blogging @ Belmore South.
SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://
www.curriculumsupport.educati
on.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/
1. Blogs are an engaging digital medium. Teachers can improve their practise by using engaging resources, which consequently helps them to meet standards set out in the NSW Quality Teaching Model.
2. Blogs enable students to work independenty, or in small groups on different tasks. This makes providing a differentiated curriculum easier for teachers.
3. Teachers can involve parents and carers into the teaching and learning process more, because blogs are accessible at home, and can be usef to upload assignments and feedback for students.
4. As a public communication device, blogs can motivate students who appreciate an audience for their hard work - Pericles' class receivee 13,000 hits on their blog.
While Pericles focused on the use of blogs in schools, Barone (2008) discussed issues for teachers who use digital media technologies for literacy instruction. Some notable ideas posited by Barone include:
1. To successfully implement digital technologies into the curriculum, teachers and schools need to allocate sufficient time to understand the resources, and then teach students these skills, once they have mastered them.
2. Digital communication is transient, and therefore - they are not printed texts, which remain static, therefore teachers' digital expertise must be continually updated.
3.Digital technologies are worthwhile in the classroom, because they are increasingly used in the outside world we are responsible for teaching children to cope in.
References
Barone, D., & Wright, T. E.
(2008). Literacy instruction with
digital and media technologies.
The Reading Teacher, 62(4),
292-302
Pericles, K. (2008). Happily
blogging @ Belmore South.
SCAN, 27(2), 4-6 http://
www.curriculumsupport.educati
on.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/
Useful blog sites
Digital Education Revolution.
The blog is useful for teachers, because:
1. a digital toolkit, specially designed for teachers who are beginning to explore digital education, or simply need a wider range of resources.
2. digital resources for various KLA's have been arranged in age groups, and can help both primary and secondary teachers access stage-appropriate educational resources specially designed to suit NSW syllabus outcomes.
3. the 'Links for Learning' page provides access to a wider range of digital resources.
The blog is useful for teachers, because:
1. a digital toolkit, specially designed for teachers who are beginning to explore digital education, or simply need a wider range of resources.
2. digital resources for various KLA's have been arranged in age groups, and can help both primary and secondary teachers access stage-appropriate educational resources specially designed to suit NSW syllabus outcomes.
3. the 'Links for Learning' page provides access to a wider range of digital resources.
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