Blogging in the classroom – Initial Reactions & Possible Relevance:
This week we explored how blogging could be incorporated effectively into the classroom environment through the medium of the wordpress website. Essentially a class blog can act as a link between the home and school, a simple post can inform parents of their child’s work and also achievements at school. This site is not solely for the parents and teachers, it is a place where children can take pride in their work and voice their own opinions with regard to curricular areas, school outings and also the Green Schools initiative. Another advantage is ‘Bloggers continually search filter and post ideas and information which engage in higher order thinking skills.’ (NCTE) Consequently, a class blog can enhance the relationship between the home and school, as a dialogical relationship is established and parents can become part of the learning process in an interactive way.
As outlined by Richardson, ‘The best way to fully understand the potential of web-blogs as a teaching and learning tool is to become a blogger’. Therefore, I created my own personal blog to chart my experience of the ICT elective and be come familiar with the various methods I can use to incorporate blogging into the primary classroom. To develop my own personal knowledge, I decided to investigate further how schools utilise blogging, visiting the following websites:
http://kilrushns.ie/home/home.php?active_page=home
http://clarecastlens.scoilnet.ie/blog/
(I had my teaching practice placements in the above schools)
After visiting the above sites, I saw how both teachers and principals used the site to display projects, inform parents of school outings, post information regarding parent teacher meetings, insert links to educational games and activities. Essentially, I have learned that the opportunities for integration are endlesss and that they are ‘constructivist tools for learning’. (Richardson 2010)
However, an interesting element to note is that very few teachers’ avail of this resource and this was illustrated clearly in the ‘ICT in schools – Inspectorate Evaluation Studies’.
After reading several articles, I recognise that it is the role of the teacher to equip the children with the necessary skills and knowledge when interacting with a blog especially with regard to safety. ‘It means teaching kids never to publish personal identifiers about themselves.’ (Richardson 2010) Consequently, it is my aim to learn about the many aspects of blogging in order to make my future classroom as an interactive and technologically enriched environment which is conducive to the learning process.
Sources:
‘Blogs, Wiki’s & Podcasts’ – Richardson, 2010
‘Blogging in the Classroom’ NCTE
‘ICT in Schools – Inspectorate Evaluation Studies’
Aoife Clancy: ICT for Teaching & Learning 