Going back to the book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson, I want to share information from the 2nd Chapter entitled "Weblogs: Pedagogy and Practice". The author notes that back in 2001, there was only a handful of community blogs available for use by the average person. Even though most of them were undistinguished looking, Richardson states that he will never forget the first time he posted his opinion and someone responded. "There was something really powerful about easily being able to share resources and ideas with a Web audience that was willing to share back what they thought about those ideas." Richardson continues just that ability to collaborate and communicate is what he finds so powerful about Weblogs today.
So, what is a Weblog? A Weblog is an easily created, easily updateable Website that allows an author (or authors) to publish instantly to the Internet. The earliest blogs were literally "Web logs" or lists of sites that the author had visited and wanted to share. Most blogs at that time required the user to know HTML coding and particular file servers. Today, blogging doesn't require any knowledge of coding nor do you have to have a separate file server. It takes about as much skills as sending an e-mail.
One of the examples given in Chapter 2 is David Jakes' "The Strength of Weak Ties" blog (http://tinyurl.com/2blpvl). The two entries that I read this morning were on portable whiteboards and a rubric for assessing the use of Twitter. Jakes is an Instructional Technology Coordinator for a district and many of his blog entries are on new technologies and current trends, so check it out!
I believe the focus of the chapter is to encourage schools and teachers to utilize blog as a method of communication with students. Richardson states "One trend that shows no sign of stopping is the movement of curriculum to a digital, online environment." He goes on to give an example of establishing a blog for his journalism class. There he included his course curriculum, syllabus, class rules, homework assignments, rubrics, handouts and presentations. He said he was amazed at how frequently the students checked the blog and at how much time he saved not having to find copies of things that he had already given to the students. He also said it was a way for parents/guardians to keep up with their student's assignments and class information. He goes on to say that students who utilize a blog for all their work, including reflections, can eventually become a comprehensive history of their work and learning that is searchable and shareable.
One idea that Richardson used with his junior and senior students was the reading of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. His school had adopted the book into the curriculum just nine months after its release and so he used a blog and had his students create an online reader's guide to teh book. In the process, he contacted the author and she agreed to follow the blog and respond to questions the students had about the book. Since that time, their district students have collaborated with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, elementary school students in other states, high school students in other countries, etc., etc., etc.
In the interest of making my own blog entries short and to the point, I am going to stop here and plan to post other entries from this chapter at another time. Next, I will cover using Weblogs as a school-wide effort, some do's and don't's about blogging, and give you some ideas of how you can use blogs in your classes and with your students.
