Journal #3

"Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging" by Julie Sturgeon

This article discussed the perspectives of several professors on how blogging aids education and ways to integrate it into part of their curriculum properly. For example, it was found by one engineering teacher that his students really excelled when their peers reviewed their work rather than if he was the only one reading the material. Students are thriving on the capabilities of blogging because it engages them with pictures, video and music. Teachers are finding that their students are enjoying the opportunity to create their own blogs and at the same time they are learning how to write better. One of the main recommendations that the teachers suggested was to set guidelines ahead of time. By doing this it ensures that the student are clear about "code of conduct", consequences, and how they should be using their blogs and commenting on others. Teaching them how to blog was another point of importance since many students are not natural at the technology of blogging. Also, one teacher said that somehow there needs to be monitoring of the blogs and comments that are being posted. He stated that he didn't like many of the free blog sites since they didn't offer control and proposed the use of software but said it not quite as user friendly. He recommends researching educational blogs and asking the creators for start up advise.

I have to say that I really have enjoyed the creation of my blog through this class. Like a lot of other students my age, I didn't grow up with technology the way that students do today. I had always heard of blogs, wanted to create one, but never knew how to do it. In terms of usage, I never thought of using a blog in an educational setting before taking this class but when I read about article on blogging like this one I am really motivated to find out more ways that I can do this. The recommendations in the article are very interesting and it is helpful to have this information before I plan to develop a class blog of my own.

QUESTIONS:
1. How can a teacher filter a post/comment before it is published on a blog? I didn't care for the idea to use a software to filter the blog posts but perhaps a better idea would be to have my students email me their comments/posts and I could read them and approve them to post.

2. How would I be able engage my students of science on a class blog? I think I like the idea of using a blog to keep up on current events in the field of science. This way, the students are not only learning about science but they are learning about how science is impacting their lives today through the news etc. I believe that it would very educational if I could post articles on my class blog and have my students read and comment on the article.