Teacher & teacher/student blogs

I think a blog could be a great discussion tool for a mature learner. I am concerned for safety reasons with students using blogs in a public mode so I would restrict access to only the students if I used a blog as a teacher and with my students. I can see a blog helpful for communication with colleagues and parents based on the parameters of the discussion topics. I do worry about things being misunderstood when they can be communicated face to face better but that is where I need to adapt to the technology of the 21st Century, I guess.

Blogs I would use

As a techno-idiot I have little experience with blogs as a professional development tool. I do not have any specific blogs but I can imagine the types of blogs I would use if they exist and I can find them (I welcome suggestions or links if you feel charitable for the uneducated). A good professional development blog has post by experts in various fields of education including technology integration, differentiation, world language instruction and many links or suggestions from teachers actually doing what the experts suggest. It should be easy to navigate and understand but interesting and helpful. Teachers have little free time during the school day and the same busy lives outside of school as anyone else so blogs used for professional development should not be complicated or time consuming but user friendly and helpful.

Course expectations

As much as I fear the technology I am terribly slow at learning, I look forward to the push offered by this course to learn the technology and how it can be used in my classroom. I know I am stretching well beyond my comfort zone with this course but it is good because I need to connect with my students since this technology is a way of life for them and will be part of all of our futures.