I know I am revisiting this topic from the beginning of the class but I still have not found an answer I am fully happy with.
What place does bloging and social media have in education?
I still feel as though this is a social technology that is still being figured out. I have not come up with any creative use for bloging in education. I guess I am contributing to the lack of good ideas.
People tend to use a new technology the same way they did the old one regardless of new capabilities. For example I know teacher that use a five thousand dollar smart board the same way another would use a three hundred dollar LCD projector. People gravitate to things that are familiar using something new in the same old way.
Blogs and up to he minute media are something completely new for most people so an intuitive approach is lacking. Blogs represent nothing familiar so teachers don’t even know the wrong or old way to use it. Until I stumble upon a fitting use for blogs in education I will stay on the side lines.
All the best,
Mr. D
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Great question. The reason you don't have an answer yet is because we are the pioneers of the utilization of social media in the classroom. We are the teachers who are going to be writing books and training new teachers based on what we think works or does not work. Blogs, Wikis and Podcasts are great webtools for learning (you will see this when you read my outside book power point) if utilized correctly. The author of that book uses a blog with his high school journalism class to recap what was discussed in the class on a specific day and to provide links to readings and assignments. He also links students with authors and they communicate through a blog after reading the author's book. As far as social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) I am not sure how they are going to fit in to education. At this juncture I have not seen them used except for sending reminders to students about due dates and bringing their books to class. I do think that because social media is so important in the daily lives of students today, we do need to find ways to incorporate it in our lessons.
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I tried to explain this very topic to my students recently. The 7th graders are all quite facinated with their new ibooks. They have finally figured out they can record video and audi of an entire class. They want to blog-facebook-twitter all the time with classmates, and me. Once again I explained the risks, media release forms, and the fact that we are a litigious society.
ReplyDeleteI do see classroom blogs as a potential way for classmates to communicate during group work. Other social networking sites have their advantages as well. I don't beleive you will ever be able to capture the nuances of face to face talk. I hesitate to jump in simply because the legal responsibilities for teachers have not caught up with the technology. I also don't feel the same need as my students and don't find social networking improves my quality of life. I am glad I was "forced" into blogging as an education tool because it increases my knowledge of how my students use technology.
I am glad you brought up this question, because I have been asking the same question myself. I keep hearing that we need to incorporate the different social medias, and I am still very skeptical. I can see the possible value of blogs, wikis, and podcasts. The challenge comes in figuring out how you can use them in your own classes. As far as using Facebook or Myspace, I am very wary of the professional and personal dangers and repercussions of getting involved in these social networks. I think the hardest part of figuring out how to incorporate these new technologies in the classroom for me is that the classes I teach are changing constantly, so I am constantly spending a tremendous amount of time just keeping up with technology. It doesn't leave much time for finding ways to incorporate these other new technologies.
ReplyDeleteHonestly this is the first time that I have ever blogged. I felt that they were a way for people to get their feeling across... the soap box. I never thought of using a blog as an educational tool. I don't know how I could use it within my class, but do see some potential.
ReplyDeleteIn a high school English class, you could use it as an persuasive argument/informative tool; similar to different types of speeches.
I was amazed when my dad said that he has started to look at blogs when he is doing research on different things (he just read different blogs on hot tub covers). A blog will have the consumer responses both good and bad for people to read.