Blogs in the Classroom

Blogs can be practically used in the classroom in a variety of ways.  First, they can be used to post assignments as well as resources to go along with those assignments.  It is a great tool for keeping parents apprised of what is going on in the classroom and what learning is taking place.  Blogs also serve to give students a voice in their own learning.  By allowing them to respond to questions and/or do assignments online, students will take more pride in their work as they will know that a wide variety of individuals will have access to their work. "To be successful in the world, students must learn to manipulate various forms of new media with a high level of comfort and skill, and school must become a place in which students can acquire the necessary skills for technological success," (Mullen & Wedwick, 2008).  School needs to be a place where students can learn from their teachers how to better use the technology available to them.  Too often we find the educators find technology to be a nuisance, claiming that it "never works" or that it is "too confusing."  Because we encourage our students to be lifelong learners, we need to be the same.  Therefore, as educators, we need to embrace how technology can be used to greatly further the education of our students.  Blogs are one of many avenues in which this can be done.  Through the use of blogging, students can take ownership for and pride in their work. 

As I teach currently teach 1st grade, blogs could be used also as a great way to communicate with parents.  By always having the information that I am trying to communicate at their fingertips, parents can have easy access to the information without having to try to find where they put the paper I may have sent home.  Additionally, it is a great way for teachers to send extra support resources to their parents.  By being able to include links to articles or even educational games that provide extra help to the students, teachers can better support their students even from afar.  

All of these things can have a major impact on both teachers and students.  Teachers no longer need to worry about whether or not the photocopied and sent home the correct information.  In my own personal experience, there have been countless days where I meant to send home reminders to specific groups of students about things, but the time got away from me for one reason or another and low and behold, the students went home without the reminder or extra help packet they needed.  It can also impact students greatly as they will now be able to have access to information at any time.  

Naturally, in a fallen world, nothing is flawless.  The use of blogs does come with potential problems or risks.  One such problem could be for those teachers working in low income schools and communities.  Not everyone has access to technology and therefore would miss out on the major benefits of blogging.  In an ideal scenario, students can have access to the technology to be able to use blogging as a means of demonstrating understanding.  Unfortunately, we know all too well that many schools do not have this kind of access to technology.  Additionally, as much as we like to think that everyone is operating with WiFi at home, they are not.  Therefore, parents might not be able to access the information that teachers are trying to communicate via blog.  

Another potential problem is that many educators struggle with the use of technology and therefore are not able to monitor students' use of blogging appropriately.  As Christians, we understand the concept of total depravity.  Therefore, we understand that not all students will use blogging appropriately.  Educators need to be diligent about gaining an understanding of how to use blogs in an effective way and also need to be sure to monitor student usage so that they can know that they are on task and not sharing things inappropriately.  

References
Rebecca Mullen, & Linda Wedwick. (2008). Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting Started in the Classroom with YouTube, Digital Stories, and Blogs. The Clearing House, 82(2), 66.