scott klepesch's List: Blogging

• The case study describes the use of blogging together with Web 2.0 applications in the teaching and learning of languages in Years 8, 9 and 10. The blog was established by installing WordPress.org, which is a self-hosted, open-source based blogging platform and Content Management System (CMS). The two Web 2.0 applications used as the basis for this case study were Domo.goanimate.com – a tool that allows users to create their own short cartoon-style animations – and Storybird.com – an application that allows students to write stories which can be published in ebook format. 
• However, after observing the positive reception granted by my students to the application of these tools, I started to encourage the student-centred use by setting tasks and project which would involve their use by the students in an augmentative role, that is to say, using these tools to provide a functional improvement to already existing practice.
• The transformative potential of the this combination of Web 2.0 applications therefore becomes apparent as students, who might have lacked the courage to participate in class or to speak their minds, are encouraged to peer assess by leaving constructive comments for one another and to learn from each other’s successes and mistakes.

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• Another thing that changes is providing your reader with evidence to support your points.  In
• Blogging has the potential to reach and influence many. Furthermore, it has greater potential for being a life-long skill. And isn’t that our goal in education? People from all walks and professions blog for the purpose of teaching, creating, and informing. A number of my recent Masters courses didn’t require papers; instead, they required blogging. Why?
• I think blogging across the curriculum, not just in Language Arts, allows for both formative and summative assessment. Blogs allow us to see the progression in the development of both thinking and writing. It may actually take more talent and skill to create an interesting persuasive post (or series of posts) on the French Revolution than a traditional essay.
• The solution? Blogging needs to start earlier, much earlier. I read recently of a kindergarten teacher who blogs with her students. Great idea. There’s a teacher in my division who does amazing things with her grade one class.

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• They provide the students and teachers with a space for developing their writing and other skills and provide an advantage with an immediate audience. The teachers have the facility of providing the students with instructional tips that can be benefitted by the students who can practice and take full advantage. Online mentoring also becomes quite easy through blogs. The students also have the privilege of participating in the different learning activities which can enhance their skills effectively and in an interesting way.
• The class blog opens up plenty of opportunity for the students to discuss the various topics outside the classroom. With the help of such blogs, every student has the opportunity to share his/her views and opinions. The students also have excellent opportunities to reflect and react to each other’s blog posts

• What if we tell or students that writing helps us learn how to think?
• What’s more we understand that we, as a school, are at the early stages, at least when it comes to blogging, so we are not encumbered by system-wide guidelines or restrictions. We are free to experiment and let the dog loose on the leash so to speak. Furthermore, our skills and expertise are spread out across the school. Some of my most successful bloggers have had exposure to many of the ideas and values surrounding blogging earlier in their schooling
• Blogging is about trust. Trust takes time. Students must feel safe to become vulnerable and open up. This trust is not built online, but in your classroom, when you are together, as a group, face-to-face.

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• Collaborate, don’t compete. It is not a debate, but a  discussion. Discussion is collaborative: multiple sides work toward  shared understanding. Debate is oppositional: opposing sides try to  prove each other wrong.
•  Affirm comments made by other students. Encourage others to  clarify or expand ideas that might be foggy. Ask for more information or  further explanation. Don’t hesitate to summarize. Discuss ideas rather  than one another’s opinions.