Friday, March 26, 2010
Use of blogs in classes
I have never before used a blog with my students. I have been held back by fear regarding students making inappropriate posts (which I have learned I can prevent by requiring my approval for posts to appear), safety from internet predatory nonstudents (Am I being paranoid?), and negative experiences overtaking the discussion. I see the potential for classroom dialogue on assigned topics such as the Spanish customs of Semana Santa processions or on open topics such as examples of cognates and language connections between English and Spanish. I think I will alleviate many of my fears by explaining explicitly my expectations and enacting necessary security pieces such as a private blog. I think the last hurdle will be the hardest for me and that is access. Our school has COWS but they are fenced in by the core teachers who don't support free-range COWS available to Related Arts teachers so it is very hard to get computers for a class to use much less to have this access on a regular basis even if I actually had my own classroom to bring them to. Add in my dilemma of "borrowing" core teacher classrooms when they are prepping and I fear my access is cut to nil. I know the current Spanish a la cart situation is temporary and the administration is working to get freer access for RA staff so I will hone my technology integration skills to the point that I am ready for the day when I can intriduce a safe and appropriate educational blog in my classroom which will engage and enlighten my students in their learning of Spanish as a key 21st Century skill/theme/content area. The classroom blog could be a powerful collaborative and critical thinking tool if properly set up and managed - and that is my job, a job I feel better prepared to do having experienced blogs in this classroom.
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Is there any chance of using computers in the library for some class periods? Can you borrow a small number of computers rather than the entire COW? (I do like the concept of free range COWs). It sounds like your laptop carts are just replicating the problems we've always had with labs - never enough computers.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion which depending on the number of students/their age and abilities you have would be to do stations and one could be working on the computers that way you wouldn't need as many and students could even post in groups if time and resources are a problem
ReplyDeleteOne of the advantages of blogs is that students can access them anywhere they have an internet connection. We also have rather limited access to computers when at school, but many of our students have access at home. Do you think there might be a way that you could find computer time at school to introduce the website you would be using and do a trial run, and then see how many students have internet access at home? After they know what they are doing, maybe you could have most of them work at home, while you find a bit of time to accommodate those that do not have internet at home. You might have to give them a little bit more time to work on the activity, but this could be a bit of a way around the computer issue.
ReplyDeleteIn a recent study of public library internet use, they found that:
ReplyDelete"Americans across all age groups reported they used library computers and Internet access. Teenagers are the most active users. Half of the nation's 14- to 18-year-olds reported that they used a library computer during the past year, typically to do school homework." (http://tascha.washington.edu/usimpact)
While this won't work for everyone, it may supplement Jennifer's suggestion. It would be interesting to survey students in your schools to find how many have Internet at home. I believe Wisconsin's average is over 70% (although some of that may still be dialup).