Beginning Blogging

As I settle down to write this entry, I’m confronted by the irony of a blog about blogging but here’s my step into the Twilight Zone.  Earlier this year, I wanted to implement blogging into my classes on a trial basis but this never became a priority.  We are now nearing the end of this school year and I plan to finally implement blogs this quarter in order to work out any potential pitfalls for full scale blogging next school year.  There are a wide variety of blogging tools available but for this classroom we'll be using Edublogs.

Edublogs
Edublogs is an advertising free blog creation site with all the basic blogging features and a paid version incorporating more themes, mobile access, custom domains and ability to include video.  Edublogs allows blogs to be open or private, and the site only hosts education related blogs making it the perfect platform for students.  Edublogs also allows teachers the option to create student accounts along with ability to grant varying levels of access from commenting privileges to the ability to contribute their own blogs entries.  The service also provides professional development, detailed help documents and access to other educators as resources which ensures teachers have the tools needed to be successful blog creators and administrators.  Edublogs was chosen at my school system’s recommendation and I feel the choice is a sound one.

Why Blog?
The desire to blog in my classroom comes from a variety of sources:  the desire to replace paper journals, the ability to involve greater numbers of students in classroom conversations, and the integration of 21^st century skills.

 

The blog will facilitate classroom communication, a critical 21^st century skill.  My classroom already has a Blackboard site where homework and lesson summaries get posted but the blog will add another layer to this communication by allowing students to take a part in the discussion.  The blog will be a two way source of communication and I hope will even eventually allow learning to be more student directed as they share their insights with the class.  The blog will allow communication of idea primarily through commenting but can also benefit from forum postings and student submissions.  I plan start small and then grow the blog following the students where it takes us. 

As more students are involved in the conversation the site should become more collaborative.  I plan to use the site as an outlet for students to plan group assignments and share ideas through the forum features.  After planning, the blog will also serve as a perfect place to share group efforts.  Since blogs can be revised, collaboration can also take place as students comment on each other’s submissions.  The problem here will be to teach students how to provide appropriate feedback to their peers, but with moderation features we should be able to help guide the students without too many hurt feelings. 

As for involving the rest of the 21^st century framework, my blog will cover two of the core subjects: science and social studies.  Due to the nature of blogs and the subject areas covered in my classes, it will not be an issue to ensure the inclusion of other core subject areas into the discussion, especially the area of language arts.  The information and media skills will also have a prominent place in the blog by allowing students the chance to share and evaluate sources of information or even by asking students to do research to back their comments with facts through citations.   As for the other four C's, blogging has been shown to increase critical thinking and creativity according to research.  

Conclusion
The blog should be a huge step forward for my classroom.  I foresee the development of the blog to be a great learning experience for all but thanks to the features of Edublogs, the students and I should find a safe environment within which to share our ideas.