Group+A+(Uses+of+Blogs+in+the+Classroom)+-Dawn,+Michael,+Bryan

Bryan, thanks so much for taking the lead on this project -- you got us going in the right direction and offered great leadership. 1) Implementation (Michael) 2) Monitoring & Evaluating (Dawn) 3) Creative Uses (Bryan) If this works for both of you, chose one a run with it.

The requirements are as follows:
 * 1) Divide your topic into headings and subtopics. See the Student Data Storage wiki for an example.
 * 2) Provide an overview of the topic.
 * 3) Add additional text for subtopics, including links to your sources.
 * 4) If you use any images or other media, be sure that you have permission to use them. Cite the sources for media. (To find acceptable images, check the list of Public Domain Images from Wikipedia or the Creative Commons images on Flickr.)
 * 5) Your group wiki should include links to at least 5 external resources, not counting any internal links.
 * 6) Your wiki should include at least one additional page that allows readers to "drill down" further into your topic. Be sure all additional pages are linked to your group's primary page and can easily be found by your instructor.

=Uses of Blogs in the Classroom=

[[image:http://www.jdhillberry.com/images/Putting_It_Together_close_up.jpg width="182" height="171"]]

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The following is a one minute video on how we might implement blogs, and other Web 2.0 technologies, into our classroom. Enjoy! []

Many of us probably maintain, participate, or at least have looked over a blog in some form or another. Now that we each have set one up, what's the best way to use our blog in the classroom - practically! As we've already learned in our class, "They are used for a wide variety of purposes: a blog can be an online journal, a place to create and keep family histories, and even a reflective learning journal. And, since readers can comment on what the author writes, it can also be a great tool for engaging in conversations around ideas." As the purposes of blogs vary, so does their format: journal / diary, media, team, or topic, etc. It all depends on the blogger and the content they plan blog upon!

In researching how to implement blogs in the classroom I cam across some basic guidelines that I thought were helpful: 1. //Generate guidelines for blogs// - these are established beforehand by the instructo, the stuents, or both. These guidelines may include length, quality, content, time for response, professionalism, etc. 2. //Create "blog rolls"// (as was done for us in this Module in regards to wikis) - these could simple be teacher and student or they could vary according to subject area, topic, and situation. 3. //Integrate posts into classroom discussions// - Many live TV shows integrate posts on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook into their shows. We need to do the same in our classroom. Use what our students share on the blog in classroom discussion! (You can even pretend to be a live TV show host if you want!) 4. //Pursue involvement by others// - Rather than just constant teacher - student interaction, try to create an atmosphere that has exchanges between students in the classroom, then maybe outside the classroom to other bloggers worldwide!

The following links provide lots of ideas for implementing blogs into your classroom - Spanish, woodshop, science, whatever!: http://classroomblogging.wikispaces.com/Blogging+Activities []

2) Monitoring and Evaluation
With every terrific educational tool, like blogs, there comes a small price that requires us to consider if the benefits outweigh the burdens. As we discuss blogging in the classroom, we can't help but to think about the monitoring and evaluation processes that must be considered with such a venture.

Monitoring a blog takes on a couple of forms: First, we have an obligation to monitor the content that is being added in posts and replies by our students. It would be unethical to allow inappropriate language or content to become part of a blog designed to be used by our students. In addition to monitoring our blogs for content, we must also be willing to make a commitment to monitoring its use: Who is using it? How often? At what level? Hopefully, our blog is a tremendous success that sees quite a bit of traffic each day. If we have successfully created a blog that is well-used, we have yet another consideration that [|Susan Poulson]identifies as one of the primary problems with evaluating and monitoring blogs: "The real problem comes when trying to make sense out of the mountain of irrelevant to find the nugget of relevance." Will a classroom blog create even more of a burden? Well, probably, but this is where we must decide if the benefits outweigh the burdens.

If we plan to use blogs in our classrooms, there is a new set of skills that we must teach our students in order to help them successfully use blogs. Because blogs are written by the general public and, if all were printed, could literally fill a library full of books, we must teach our students how to sort through the information and how to discern relable information from questionable content. Joyce Velenza offers [|these practical tips] for evaluating blog sites:


 * Who is the blogger? With so many blogs offering spotty or nonexistent “about” pages, this may be a clue in itself.
 * What sorts of materials is the blogger reading or citing?
 * Does this blogger have influence? Is the blog well-established? Who and how many people link to the blog? Who is commenting? Does this blog appear to be part of a community? (The best blogs are likely to be hubs for folks who share interests with the blogger.) Tools like Technorati http://technorati.com and Blogpuls e http://blogpulse.com can help learners assess the influence of a blog.
 * Is this content covered in any depth, with any authority?
 * How sophisticated is the language, the spelling?
 * Is this blog alive? It there a substantial archive? How current are the posts?
 * At what point in a story’s lifetime did a post appear? Examining a story’s date may offer clues as to the reliability of a blog entry.
 * Is the site up front about its bias? Does it recognize/discuss other points of view? (For certain information tasks–an essay or debate–bias may be especially useful. Students need to recognize it.)
 * If the blogger is not a traditional “expert,” is this a first-hand view that would also be valuable for research? Is it a unique perspective?

3) Creative Uses
[|Blogs] allow for students to maintain a running dialogue, like a journal, of thoughts, ideas, and assignments that also provide for student comment and reiterative reflection. Like any other classroom learning activity, there needs to be creativity and variance in blogging as well. Check out these sites for some creative ways to use blogs for education. [|Web 2.0] provides numerous opportunities for interactive lesson both in an out of the classroom.

Some Ideas are as follows. Also check out the links below.


 * //a// //calendar// //of class events (including field trips and special food days);//
 * //a// //summary of what the students are learning// //and what is going on in the classroom;//
 * //the week's// //spelling list////;//
 * //pictures// //of the kids at work in the classroom;//
 * //Web links// //that I would like my students and their parents to visit.//
 * //an opportunity for parents to post questions and/or comments;//
 * //a list of upcoming deadlines;//
 * //a copy of assignment expectations and rubrics;//
 * //a lesson summary for those students who were away.//

The following sites provide some unique ideas to liven up the normal classroom blog:

[|web20intheclassroom.blogspot.com/2008/10/ways-to-use-blogs-in-your-classroom-and.html]

[|www.bgsu.edu/cconline/barrios/blogs/more/index.html]

technology for teaching, learning, communicating
[|www.assortedstuff.com/stuff/?p=71]