Educational Blogging
( class+reading)
To be honnest I couldn't understand why we were asked to create our own blog in Profesional Experience 3. Obviously it made us share with other pupils what we have learnt and therefore share some teaching ideas and some interesting information about technology, however, I couldn't see how I could intergate it in primary classroom. This is why I read Educational Blogging by Stephen Downes (2004) and everything became clear to me...
Firstly, he describes what a Web space or a blog is - "a public, personal communication zone" (Downes, 2004). It can be used in our primary classroom as a space "where students can post the results of their work or reflection or it can be a private personal space, reserved for students' thoughts and teacher guidance." (Downes, 2004)
In the institut St-Joseph in Quebec City, a fifth-grade class was asked to create a blog which they should use as a diary. Some students sait that "the blogs [gave them] the chance to comunicate between [them] and motivate [them] to write more. (Downes, 2004). Downes (2004) also explains that blogging is an opportunity to exchange students' point of view with the restof the worls not just people in their immediate environment.
An other excellent point was made about preparing our students for univeristies. it is true that most students can be overwelmed when they get to uni as they were never asked to check their e-mails or for course information online. In this institut, information were posted on the blog and students had to check them regularly. This makes those students have more experience writing online and aquire new set of skills and attitudes. Also, blogging can be used as a motivational tool. Course credit can be awarded for online discussion.
Moreover, blogging also allows students to access current events. In this institut, students had to comment on world events, presidential election, etc. In my case, I have no television at home and my only access to French news is by the internet. How good would it be if by a click I could check my French friends' blogs and see what is happening in my country...
To sum up, Will Richarson, one of the leading proponents of blogging in education wrote that " more and more teachers and schools are starting to experiment with the technology as a way to communicate with students and parents. I think that I will be one of these teachers as I can now see how many benefits can come from blooging!
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