Welcome to the world
of blogs…the very thing
you are reading now.
To me, the most
interesting thing I have found from examining blogs is the diversity in subject
matter, along with the variety of layouts that exist. It is a fairly
straightforward tool, people post content, it is ‘logged’ by date of posting,
readers can add comments if they want to. Such a minimal set of conventions
provides users with a ‘blank canvas’ on
which they can explore their individual interests.
What is out there?
There are food blogs, art blogs,
news blogs, research blogs, fanfiction blogs and more. There is certainly
something that could capture the interest of a student.
PMI for blog use
within a classroom setting:
|
PLUS
|
MINUS
|
IMPLICATIONS
|
|
Easily
customisable
Networked/ social
Space that
encourages expression and reflection
Global
Accommodates a
variety of media types.
Editable
Student authored
|
Not all comments
will be conducive to a student’s learning and growth.
Impulsive medium.
Students may be compelled to post material before double-checking their work.
Potential for
infringement on intellectual property/ plagiarism.
|
Customised
learning for the individual
Scaffold toward a
student developing HOTs (creating and evaluating)
Students have
feedback through comments section, which could help them develop and refine
their ideas.
Potential to
connect with experts outside of the classroom.
Good place to
store multi media information
|
Blogs provide the foundation for a range of learning
opportunities. Within a primary setting, it could be used as a learning tool
for a number of KLAs. The PMI above shows blogs have the potential to cover many of the
dimensions listed in the Productive Pedagogies framework (e.g. higher-order
thinking, connectedness to the world, student directed learning, active
citizenship).
As a teacher I can
see that blogs could help me to gain an insight into who my students are and
what they are interested in. This could then influence my choice in teaching
methods and material.
Based on the PMI chart, I would say that a blog would be more suitable for upper primary. If blogs were to be used in lower primary, it would be beneficial to block comments and run it as a classroom blog instead of an individual exercise.
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