Blogs seem to me as an open journal, but with more room for discussions (almost a discussion forum). Quite honestly the only thing I knew about blogs was from the movie Julie and Julia so my knowledge is limited. Just from the few blog searches I did last week I see that blogs could be an excellent way for teachers to communicate and collaborate about their lessons or teaching methods. I teach in a small district in which there are only two other math teachers in my department and I am basically the only teacher for the 4 subjects I teach. I would be great to connect with some surrounding schools (especially ones with the same demographics as mine) so that I could share ideas, bounce off ideas, and get advice for some topics. Realistically though, I just feel like teachers have so much on their plate that they wouldn’t be willing to try this out (even though I think it would eventually make their lives easier).
I also think that as a tool for the classroom I could use blogs as a place for my students to discuss the mathematics they are learning. The cool part about blogs is that they could allow students to discuss topics on their own terms and on their own time. They don’t have the pressure of having to come up with their reasoning on the spot or before the bell rings. I can really see my upper level kids going crazy with this; however, my lower level would need some guidance and prompting to get them used to the idea (which is exactly the types of skills that those kids should be strengthening).
The interesting thing about all these tools is that you can go beyond geographically close peers to a worldwide personal learning network. It's very true that many people don't have time to contribute to these tools, but if you can find a few people around the country who do, it can be invaluable for developing new ideas and keeping up to date. I find it really is trial and error to determine who is worth watching.
ReplyDeleteYour point about student participation is a good one. Many people have set up blogs for their students only to find they don't contribute or just post a very brief response if forced to. We need to come up with ways to actively involve students so they feel the blog belongs to them and is contributing to their learning. They have no problems following their Facebook friends because they are interested in what is being said and go back to it constantly. How can we tie into some of that enthusiasm?