[Yr7-10it] Blogging

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Margaret is right, you need to give them some thinking time in the classroom
to do this. I often specify a word limit (min ~5 sentences per post). This
should not be an excuse for more homework although students need soem scope
to explore their posts away from the lab.

Paul Chandler has done some very interesting things with an introductory
course for year 7 students to blogging and digital portfolios using ELGG.
This is certainly worth exploring. I notice that there is a single sign-on
module that can be used with Drupal and Elgg/Moodle.

Regards Roland

On 23/08/07, margaret.lawson at konstantkaos.net <
margaret.lawson at konstantkaos.net> wrote:
>
> A few years back (in a previous school) we ran a pilot group with a Year 9
> English class where they used www.livejournal.com as the vehicle for doing
> book reviews. This blogging environment allowed the kids to create a blog
> entry on the books that they were reading and post it to the class site.
> They could also keep a private blog on the side if they wanted to.
>
> We found that it only really worked well if it was weaved into the
> assessment of the subject. We slowly worked the kids upto complex entries.
> For example: first entry was a simple 50 word reflection, then the next
> entry had to target something, then when they finished the book they had
> to compare and contrast their experience with another book review. By the
> end of the unit the kids were commenting on each others work and that
> "reflective" environment was very much in existance.
>
> Blogs work well if the kids are given time to do them in class. They tend
> not work as well if you leave it upto the kids to do it all for homework.
>
> In IT classes, the application could be similar. The equivalent of keeping
> a "learning journal" of the programming experience they are having in each
> class. For the ESL kids, they can create their blog entry in word and
> copy/paste over after they have checked their work.
>
> I found livejournal to be one of the better environments as I could a)
> create a community group for the class and b) restrict who could read that
> group (ie. it wasn't open to the world).
>
> Hope taht this helps
>
> Regards
>
> Margaret
>
> On Mon, August 20, 2007 3:25 pm, Russell Edwards wrote:
> >
>
> >
> > On 20/08/2007, at 3:03 PM, Kerrie A Hammond wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> I keep hearing a lot about blogging yet have no idea how to use it
> >> in my classroom. I would be greatful if any list contributors, who are
> >> currently using blogging, could give me some hints on where to start.
> >
> > Hi Kerrie,
> >
> >
> > I use blogs in two ways in my Year 9/10 classes
> >
> >
> > 1) For each class, I make a "class blog", where each unit of work is
> > listed and full handouts placed for viewing or download
> >
> > 2) Each student makes their own blog. At the end of each unit of work
> > (typically 2 weeks long), they write a reflective entry on the work
> > they have done, where possible uploading the actual product or an
> > image/screenshot. This forms part of the VELS ICT for Communicating
> > assessment, and where the product is adequately displayed I will often
> do
> > the assessment of that (for the other dimensions) just by looking at
> their
> > blog. Also, some units of work give them some specific questions, which
> > they answer in a blog entry for assessment in either or both of the
> other
> > two ICT dimensions.  Their blog entries are also meant to include a
> > "trackback" link to the
> > corresponding entry of the class blog, however I have found that these
> > often inexplicably fail to work (on wordpress.com blogs).
> >
> > I think this has great potential, but as with everything else, it
> > often founders on the shoals of student disengagement...
> >
> > HTH
> >
> >
> > Russell
> >
> >
> >
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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