Using Blogs as an Educator

1. Possible ways in which blogs can be used in education:

- journal/reflection/freewrite
- promotes writing in general - anyone can be an author
- group work/discussion
- report on an event/conference
- share resources/knowledge
- debate a topic and voice your opinion
- running resume

2. Reasons teachers should integrate blogs into their classroom:

- the teacher can inform students about what is coming up in class and even post assessment tools and criteria/expectations for assignment. The students can then give the teacher feedback.
- so students can interact amongst each other, sharing and learning.
- helps students gain an understanding and enjoyment of using technology and if used in the classroom they can learn with guidance from the teacher.

3. Three ways to use blogs for teaching/professional development:

- interact with other professionals about different instructional strategies/activities to try
- can help teachers keep open lines of communication with the community, parents and students
- helps you gain a better understanding of the Internet and how to use technology in an efficient, effective and safe way.

4. Blogs are more effective than static websites in the sense that you can have ongoing, constant feedback and create interactive community relationships; however, at times the opinions shared in blogs are not always professional. A blog is more personal, whereas static websites are more representative of the whole school or division.

5. Blogging will make teachers more technologically savvy and allow them to create relationships with people who may not have had the opportunity for a formal meeting. It allows for a larger sense of community where the teacher is getting more feedback from more people rather than just the students and parents and this may result in emerging partnerships.

6. Disadvantages of using blogs in education: As a teacher, you would have to be careful about who the students are communicating with, what kind of feedback they are getting from others, and that they are not promoting prejudices or revealing personal information that is not appropriate. Similarly, blogs would have to be supervised to ensure that cyber bullying is not taking place.

Jenna Palmer, Lisa Eger & Gillian McPhail