BP2_2010041_Educational_uses_of_blogs

Blogging In the Classroom

As a science teacher, I was drawn to resources describing the educational uses of blogs in science courses, however, the uses described are so universal that they could be incorporated into any classroom. Allison Sawmiller (2010), a junior and senior high school science teacher points out the importance of writing in an inquiry-based science classroom and states that often, “the most difficult part of learning is being able to explain what is known.” She further describes the ability to communicate as “indispensible” in society today. Having a worldwide audience increases both student motivation and the quality of writing because students spend more time editing- allowing for increased self-reflections and critical thinking of their writing choices (Sawmiller, 2010). She describes other benefits of incorporating blogs, including having differentiated instruction because of the variety of prompt responses students can use, the silent students can have a voice and often open up online, and that blogs expand the classroom walls beyond the school building.

Staycle Duplichan (2009) gave even more specific examples of ways to use blogs in the science classroom, but, again, can be used in any classroom. Students can study and comment on current events, write and respond to an “ask a classmate” post in which students ask a question that is answered by other classmates, have book club reflections, give a report on a subject, respond to creative writing prompts or “what if” scenarios, debate ethical questions, respond to online reading assignments, post digital pictures or drawings as visual aids, write lab reports, and share study habits. In my first blog prompt for my AP Biology class, I am asking students to describe their organization and study plans for the upcoming AP exam.

I am also interested in technology issues in higher education. In a study by Kerawalla, Minocha, Kirkup, and Conole (2009), some of the problems between intentions and actually incorporating blogging into a Master’s level class are discussed including haphazard contributions, minimal communication, poor reflections, particularly if the students’ prior exposure to blogging is limited. The authors conclude that if students understanding how blogging can be used to meet their own personal learning needs, and are given guidance and the chance to implement and practice, students can become less reliant on prescribed activities and maintained enthusiasm and momentum to continue blogging for their own uses.

Finally, Julie Sturgeon (2008) gives five “don’ts” to starting blogging in a classroom:
• Don’t just dive in- have expectations and guidelines for the students
• Don’t confuse blogging with social networking- have a specific purpose to your blog
• Don’t leap at the freebies- often, they have ads that are not controllable by the classroom teacher
• Don’t force a sequential style- instead, organize by topics so that posts are easier to locate later
• Don’t leave the blogging to the students- blog by example!
If we keep the don’ts and practical downfalls in mind and, blogging is a tremendous interactive writing, multisensory activity with powerful benefits. I personally am so excited to begin using it in my class this week!


References:
Duplichan, S. (2009, September). Using web logs in the science classroom. ScienceScope, 33-37. Retrieved from Ebscohost March 11 2010.

Kerawalla, L., Minocha, S., Kirkup, G. and Conole, G. (2009). An empirically grounded framework to guide blogging in higher education. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25, 31-42, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2729.2008.00286.x

Sawmiller, A. (2010). Classroom blogging: what is the role in science learning? The Clearing House, 83, 44-48, Retrieved April 3, 2010. DOI: 10.1080/00098650903505456

Sturgeon, J. (2008). Five don’ts of classroom blogging. T H E Journal, 35(2), 26-30. Retrieved April 3, 2010, from Academic Search Premier database.


Clipart image from microsoft.com, http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx