Blogging in the Classroom

The Joy of Blogging by Anne P. Davis and Ewa McGrail tells of how blogging was effectively implemented in one fifth grade classroom.  The authors describe how thoughtful planning and purposeful instruction can create enriching learning opportunities through blogging.

Students created posts of choice and were engaged in collaboration through individuals chosen by their teachers.  This learning community allowed students to learn from people they had never met and would normally not have the opportunity to engage with. They also had the chance to teach others and to persuade them with their points of view. Blogging encouraged students to learn, to sharing their learning, and to reflect upon their learning and interactions with others.

Integrating this type of technology teaches students how to be responsible and safe members of the internet community as well in an environment where they can be monitored.

I believe that blogging is a skill that allow individuals to be life long learners and that skill is enhanced by teachers providing outside audiences for their students.  Making blog posts available to multiple audiences encourages students to consider who they are writing for and why.  They can also include tags in their posts to engage various audiences.

The Joy of Blogging

Another article I read was Yes, Kindergarteners Can Blog, and So Can Their Teachers! that highlighted the importance of including families in student and classroom blogs. This can make parents feel that they have more of a role in their child's learning and that they know what is happening in the classroom.

Something that I had not considered before reading this article by Sharon E. Davison was creating a blog for individual classroom subjects that can easily be referenced and edited each school year.  She created a blog for their life studies unit to engage families with what is happening in the classroom and encouraging families to discuss the topics and take part in their own discoveries.

The opportunities that blogging provides are pretty extensive and many probably have not even been discovered. This type of technology encourages students to write, read, learn, and research with a social aspect that makes these experiences more meaningful and long-term.

Resources:

Davis, A. P., & McGrail, E. (2009). The joy of blogging.Educational Leadership, 66(6), 74-77. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar09/vol66/num06/The-Joy-of-Blogging.aspx

Davison, S.E. (2013). Yes, kindergartners can blog, and so can their teachers! Learning & Leading With Technology, 40(6), 26-28.