There are a lot of pros and cons to using Blogs in the classroom. In my opinion, the advantages of using blogs in the classroom far outweigh the disadvantages. Blogs can be used in a variety of creative ways.
One of the benefits of using blogs in the classroom is that it encourages class participation and helps facilitate classroom discussion. Students who are normally shy in class are given a forum in which they could voice their opinion. Another great benefit of using blogs in class is that allows students to practice their writing skills and improve upon them. And because their posts will be seen by everyone in the class, it allows students to really give much thought into what they are writing. Blogs also allow students the opportunity to expand their knowledge by reading the posts of other students. It gives them an opportunity to fill in the blanks of what they do not know by reading the content posted by other students. The last major benefit of using blogs in the classroom is that it gives students a chance to collaborate on projects with their group members.
There are some disadvantages to using blogs. It can be quite time consuming for the teachers to set up and maintain the blogs. It will require teachers extra time to update the blogs and monitor the posts made by the students. While it may be time consuming, I still feel that there can still be worthwhile discussions to be had. Some critics may state that discussions in blogs maybe hard to follow because some students might reply in their individual blogs rather on the main blog. This disjointed conversation could easily be remedied by requiring the posts be answered on the one blog rather than several.
While there are some disadvantages to blogging, I feel that it is an invaluable tool. The benefits of blogging far outweigh the disadvantages and with proper instruction and time allotted, students can have a fruitful discussion and positive experience with blogging.
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ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that the pros of using a blog in a classroom with outweigh the cons. The tricky part is that if you poorly implement the blog in your classroom, the opposite could become true.
ReplyDeleteFor example, one way to keep the blog a safe place is to moderate the blog yourself. There are really two different ways to do this, you can either have the moderator (in this case, the teacher) approve every post and comment before it is allowed to be shown on the site, or you can review comments after they are posted (or even allow other members to "red flag" potential posts). If you don't pre-approve comments and posts, something inappropriate could be seen by your students, so this might seem like the logical choice.
However, the pre-approval route could easily become unwieldy in an active blog. If you have 30 students that each posting 3-5 comments a day, you are spending a whole lot of your time as a teacher just moderating the blog. In addition, since posts to not go live immediately, you will most likely end up with repetitive and redundant responses. There is a trade-off between usability and security here, and each teacher has to make the right choice for their students.
Just as you and John have stated, there are many pros and cons to using blogs in the classroom setting. One suggestion that I have would be to educate the students on appropriate online behavior and the expectations for being responsible while on the Internet. No matter how many blocks or restrictions are put on a server to keep students out of inappropriate material, they will find a way to by-pass these restrictions. Instead of telling students what NOT to do, they should be taught about what they should do. Telling students not do something, may only entice them to do it anyway. Teaching students what they should do; report inappropriate behavior, never give out personal information, report cyber-bullying, etc., will help them become aware of their actions. While teaching students about responsibility online, a teacher will also discuss the consequences for demonstrating or engaging with material or actions that are deemed irresponsible. A loss of internet privilege may be one of the consequences for not being responsible through online use.
ReplyDeleteHey Nelson...just wanted you to know that my blog address changed.... its http://emanganedtc.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI really like how you mentioned one of the advantages being that students who many not typically raise their hand in class will participate if they are using a blog. I have found in my own classroom, that students really enjoy being given different ways to share ideas and thoughts. Not every single student enjoys speaking in front of the class, especially if they are worried that their answer may be incorrect. With the use of a blog, students are able to communicate with the entire classroom or group the same way they would in a classroom setting. I am really interested to see if there are any blog website that are not blocked in my county, so I can try this with my students!
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