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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Blogging

When I began to think about this topic I was at first apprehensive. I thought of blogging as kids using MySpace.com and sharing too much information with strangers. After further thought and looking at the ways blogs can be used, I have changed my thinking. I think that there could be positive ways to use this medium. The fact is that students are going to be exposed to blogging some time in their life and it may be a good idea for teachers to use it in an educational way. Teachers could use blogs for responses to literature, book reviews, or ways to publish traditional writing assignments. As with other forms of technology it would give students a meaningful reason to write.

4 comments:

tcortolillo said...

I was also apprehensive about blogging because of myspace.com. That was one of the few Blog sites I was familiar with. I agree that there are dangers with using the internet that students need to be made aware of. Teachers can use this technology effectively while also instructing students about appropriate safety measures for the internet. Since kids are probably going to be using it at some point anyway, we could possibly help to prevent some problems down the road.

Lisa McKee said...

I, too, associated blogging with sites such as myspace.com. (not necessarily a positive association) Many teens waste a huge amount of time chatting mindlessly about negative things. However, like everything else, blogs can be used productively and can be another tool that teachers can use to help students learn to write. (It's certainly a motivating avenue for kids!)

sarafauquher said...

I never thought about the negative aspects of blogging and I am glad you brought then to my attention. I merely thought about the positive. I actually had an experience with a student last week who lied on a website and said she was 18. A man actually came to her house. I see that there are both negatives and positives to blogging and interacting on line!

DGLuers said...

My first response to this aspect of the assignment was the same as many of yours. My next line of thinking was I don't engage in blogging, how can I ask my students to do so?

Then I talked with my son, who isn't really into writing or responding to blogs per se, but he belongs to many blogs and reads the posts on a regular basis. I mention this because I hadn't thought of this aspect of the blogs. My son is not a reader - in fact, he has made not reading an aspect of his college career. Yet, he will sit at the computer and read pages of text on blogs - every word, which is something I can't imagine.

At any rate, my point is that perhaps introducing blogging to reluctant readers may get them to read more, particularly if they find blogs that engage their interests. I know that my son will talk for hours about what he has read on blogs.