Using Blogs in Education

Thoughts on Web Design

2008-10-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

I don't plan on becoming too much of a professional in the field of design but I hope to get a general idea of what looks good and how generally everything works. My goals are to learn the basics so that if I create web pages or blogs for students and parents in my classroom it will be clear what message I am trying to get across. I will also keep in mind the different connection speeds and experience with technology that both my students and their parents have.

I am interested in all aspects and in general just how everything works together so smoothly. The speed and ease of the internet are mind blowing to me. I find it especially interesting that each site has a different address that can be retrieved at the drop of a hat and that someone is behind the scenes of every site and took the time to create each set of text and picture element.

I am a very patient and organized person and also have the interest to create web pages which are all very important traits of a web designer. Web design is a slow process and everything has to go in a certain order so for everything to look right, the designer has to pay close attention and accept that everything is probably not going to go properly the first time around.

I will definitely need to brush up on my design skills in general. I still struggle with the look of a page including text styles, color schemes, and placement of objects. I will also need to learn more about inserting other types of media and what all of the different phrases and letters of web design mean.

I already have a scanner, a pretty up to date computer and some general graphics software. I'm not sure that I will go out and buy everything right away because with all of the free software that is out there, I can create a pretty decent site. If I do decide to go further I will need to get some sort of an HTML editor, extra memory and possibly some multimedia tools if I want to put in sound or videos. I think another great tool to have would be some type of web page authoring because that would make the process much easier. If I had a program with some templates this would help immensely because I wouldn't have to create everything from scratch.

I think getting into web design can be an overwhelming and expensive hobby or job but if you just take your time and realize that you don't have to be an expert right away and can learn a lot of it as you go, things will go much more smoothly. After all, web design should be something fun so having the desire to start is a step in the right direction.

Everything takes time and energy

2008-05-22T01:48:00.000-07:00

For me blogging has become a way of expression and to collaborate ideas with other people. It is somewhat therapeutic and refreshing to get my ideas out there and also to hear what others have to add. The only issue is time.

Even while studying abroad where I have less school work than normal I still find it hard to find time to sit down and get caught up. So much happens in the blogging world everyday that you have to pick and choose because there is no way that anyone could look at everything. Some people devote their lives to blogging and that is what they do. Their jobs are to do research and blog about it, these people have a greater chance of being immersed in blogging and having the opportunity to be more involved.

I have found that the further and further you loose track, the harder it is to get caught up. While I was having a hard time I started to thinking about classroom teachers and the time that they have outside of the classroom. It's another added time commitment that teachers have. If teachers decide to have their students blog they need to make sure and factor in the time it will take to check up on all of their blogging while also commenting and responding to their work.

Many teachers are hesitant to incorporate technology into their daily instruction, so a good approach to implementing new things is to include an ed tech in the project. The ed tech specialist is there to aid and assist the classroom teachers with technology. Teachers should first decide what they want to be able to do with the technology and then the specialist could do the research and figure out ways to work in technology to fulfill the teachers desires. This would be extremely helpful to teachers who are unsure of themselves and don't feel confident enough to work with technology on their own.

Basically, it's a time commitment and project that classroom teachers have to want to achieve. If the teacher is serious about incorporating or using any type of technology in their classroom it is definitely possible.

Irish final exams

2008-05-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

So the higher education system here is much different than I'm used to and I'm having a hard time adjusting to their approach at final exams. Back in the US, you semi know what to expect on your final exams and especially being an education major it's all about reflecting and what you've achieved and learned personally over the semester. Going from reflections, reflections and more reflections to writing essay exams for an hour and a half is stressing me out a bit.

The way that higher education in Ireland works is that students attend lectures and tutorials all semester long. By all semester, I mean for 2 1/2 months they have classes. Then, they have a month off to "prepare for exams" before one week of review classes. At that point exams start but exams can be anytime over a month long period, in this case from May 6th-May 28th. For me, this approach has been somewhat difficult to handle.

For my essay exams, I am expected to remember and write about information that I learned 2 1/2 months ago which isn't the easiest thing to do. Most Irish students don't always attend classes on a regular basis and spend the week before their exams cramming and doing research in the library. Students in the US are no strangers to cramming, but to have a whole month and a half of time off makes it hard to crack down and get back to work. One of my friends has an Irish roommate who literally studied for her final exams in the car on the way to take them.

The exams themselves are unique as well. They put a mix of different classes all in a huge room of rowed desks and put you to work. You have 90 min to write 1-2 essays depending on the course. You are asked to cite sources from books that you were to have read. So beyond remembering the information you read you also have to remember the title, author and year of publication of these books. This seems strange to me and another burden that is hanging over my head.

My exams aren't until May 26th and May 27th so I have quite a bit of time to wait still and motivate myself to do some research before attempting my luck at my first Irish exams. Hopefully they go well but I won't know until after I'm already back home in the US :)

Jott-is it really effective?

2008-05-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

So I was cleaning up my feeds and found a post I had missed before that I found to be interesting. It was a post about Jott and ways to use it in the classroom. The post can be found here. Basically Jott changes your voice into email, text messages, or other lists that you are able to refer back to later. It is also possible to create groups and other contacts so that you can send specific things to certain people or groups. Most young students these days have cell phones that they carry with them regularly anyways so why not use this to our advantage and let them use their phones for educational purposes.

The post had suggestions on how to use Jott and I added a few of my own. The post listed things such as:
-at the end of a day, have students jott their homework for the day
-students can jott the most important things they learned in class that day.
-students can jott any ideas that they would like to learn about.
-have students jott any concepts they are still unclear about.
-students can jott a summary of what was taught or they learned that day.
-encourage students to review their jotts as another way to review their learning for the week
-students can compare jotts if they missed an important point that was presented
-if a student misses a class, they can receive the necessary information right to their cell phone instantly
-At the end of a unit, students can print out their jotts to help with review.

I also thought of a few draw backs:
-research is still in its early phases so some glitches may occur
-you can only record in 30 sec intervals
-you have to speak very clearly or information may not transmit correctly
-students may use cell phones not for jott purposes

I see great potential for this being an aid for students who struggle with study habits. I have learned from personal experience that if I write things down or review them directly after learning I am more likely to remember them in the future. Also, saying things out loud always helps so if you can record yourself saying something and then play it back later, that may aid in memorization. Jott is a good review tool and a strategy to try with struggling learners

How to Jott

The importance of Commenting

2008-05-01T05:22:00.001-07:00

This was a post that was of special interest to me because I feel like this is the area where I am slacking in my blog. I have been following many blogs and have found many great ideas and strategies of ways to use blogging in education. I have commented on a few of the posts that have interested me and have received feedback on my own posts. My next goal is to increase the number of comments I make and also respond to the comments that people post on my blog.

Also on the edublogger site, the post is titled Commenting, Learning Together and the Comment Challenge.

The general idea is that they are having a Comment Challenge to encourage everyone to blog and comment more often. There are going to be tasks each day that the participants need to complete and prizes award at the end. Teachers can involve their students and have them compete in the challenge.

The purpose of the challenge is to show the importance of commenting in increasing the size of a blogging community and to show how much you can learn from others. It's amazing how much you can learn through collaboration and when so many different people bring their knowledge and experience to the table. Blogging can open a whole new world of opportunities because by reading other people's opinions, it may just change a personal opinion or spark an interest in a new area.

To me, blogging and just collaboration through technology in general is mind blowing. There is such a great opportunity to learn from people that you will never have the chance to meet and there are so many experiences that you can learn about through these people. Just in the few months that I have been participating in blogging and doing a bit more research on using technology in education, I have discovered so many great ideas that I would never have thought of on my own. And you better believe that I'm going to sign up for the challenge :)

Post: Commenting, Learning Together & the Comment Challenge

Writing better blog posts

2008-05-01T04:56:00.000-07:00

I came upon the edublogger site and found the last two posts to be quite interesting. The first post was titled Five Tips for Writing Better Blogs. The five tips are all great strategies that I have found helpful as I am still in the early stages of blogging.

1)Use short paragraphs
-This is helpful to break up the content and not have one overwhelming long paragraph that people are less likely to take the time to read

2)Use headings to show importance
-If the reader is just skimming the post it will be helpful to provide them with easy to find bullets that show what the different sections of the post are about

3)Remember to hyper link
-When someone is reading your post, if you relate to an article or another blog, it is always helpful to link to that post so that the reader can see for themselves and make their own comparisons

4) Comment back to readers that post on your blog
-Taking the time to respond to comments is essential because this is how you build the community of your blog and encourage people to continue to read your blog

5) Subscribe to your own blog feed
- It is important to see what your blog looks like to others as to make sure that font size and appearance are clear

I have found these five tips to be very helpful. They are very simple things that you can do to make your blog more eye appealing and readable. I hope to increase the amount of comments that I respond to. This is one area that I believe my blog has been lacking. In hopes of increasing the size of my blogging community, it is important that I show people my interest in their posts and also their responses to mine.

Post: Five Tips for Writing Better Blogs

Traveling with Technology

2008-04-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

So I've been on the road traveling for the past few weeks so haven't had the chance to post. I did however observe lots of things of which I would like to share a few.

First off, it's amazing to me how prevalent technology has become. I considered taking my laptop along with me while I traveled but decided against it because I figured it would be more trouble than it was worth. Come to find out, there was really no need at all. Every hostel that we stayed in and 24 hour high speed internet access and multiple computers so you rarely had to wait. This made life so much easier when I needed to check something or write someone a quick email to let them know that I was still doing well. It's not even a questions anymore as to whether or not places need to provide internet access, it's just expected.

Another thing that intrigued me was a guy that I met in my hostel in Barcelona. He is from Australia but is teaching in London for the year, first of all, how cool would that be but second of all what a great chance to make a connection with students from back home to London because they could learn a lot from each other. I asked him what types of technology he was using in London compared to what he used back in Australia and he said it was pretty comparable. I then went on to ask him if he had ever considered using blogging or some other form of communication between his current students and past students back in Australia. He said that he had considered it but hadn't taken action or attempted anything. We chatted for a while and I suggested that he start a blog for 2 reasons....1) he could let students back in Australia see how different life in London is and also to let the students themselves communicate.

If I were in elementary school, I would think it was so cool that I was chatting with someone all the way across the world in England and would brag to my friends all the time. Blogging is such an easy way to start the implementation of technology. Students could blog about anything of interest such as their current weather, current news of their country, or collaborate and talk about past experiences they have had. This guy was in such a great position to start something really great and after chatting with him, he seemed to have a bit of a spark lit and ideas forming as to where to begin.

I have a few finals this week so am trying to study for those and catch up on the blogs I follow that I missed while I was gone but will hopefully get another post up later this week or early next week. Until then...

Teaching teachers about technology

2008-04-04T04:01:00.000-07:00

I came across an article titled 'Learning to teach with Technology'. The article was on the Education week website and talks about how many teaching colleges are starting to incorporate technology into their teaching courses. With my minor in technology, I obviously get to take courses that involve incorporating it into my teaching but outside of those courses, I haven't personally experienced this new strategy. How great is that to see first hand ways that you can use technology in your science, math and even social studies curriculum? The new phase of teachers entering the education world will be already so advanced and knowledgeable about how to use these technologies so will be able to implement them with ease. I think UNI needs to jump on the bandwagon and start incorporating examples of technology use into all curriculum areas.

www.edweek.org

Closing the Gap

2008-04-01T10:58:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while as I've been out of town and crazy busy with visitors. While I was traveling, I came across an article in the NEA today magazine titled "Mind the Gap". It's an article about using technology in education and how all students are at different levels with their knowledge and experience. This needs to be taken into consideration when incorporating into the curriculum. The article tells the story of students who have very limited access and have to travel miles to use a public computer just to look up jobs and apply to colleges. The article titles this gap in the digital divide the 'participation gap' because these students have fewer opportunities to work with computers and develop their digital literacy. In the world today, it is becoming essential to know and understand technology. Andrew Rasiej, helps members of Congress understand the use of the Internet in politics and policy. He believes that internet access should be in every home and that companies should assist with this as Ma Bell did with connecting everyone to a dial tone. He started a program called Mouse.org which helps inner-city kids understand technology and he has seen the rate of college attendance increase from less than 50 percent to 90 percent. We need more people like Rasiej to help close this gap.

Another interesting point in the article is that children that live below the poverty level often don't have access to computers or the internet at home which puts them at a disadvantaged right off the bat. If the students don't work with the computers often, they will spend more time being frustrated with the tool rather than the material. It will put these students at a greater disadvantage than they already are and will often frustrate them and possibly cause further failure. I am taking an Education and Welfare class during my time in Ireland which has opened my eyes to the education opportunities for the disadvantaged. Why put them at a greater weakness than they already are? Many families have just enough money to get by and don't have extra money to spend on material things such as computers. This is why it's important to assess each student's individual skills and experience before throwing content at them that they won't understand.

You always hear in education about the achievement gap and how it needs to be closed to better our education system. We need to do our best with this digital divide and 'participation gap' so as to not open a further issue of development in education.

Web 2.0 is the Future of Education

2008-03-09T03:31:00.000-07:00

I came across an article by Steve Hargadon titled Web 2.0 is the Future of Education.
The article discusses how the read/write web is going to have a huge impact on education in the near future, more so than anyone can imagine. He goes through 10 ways that Education is going to be affected by the web and how important it's going to become.

The internet has become a two way street and has an unlimited supply of information. Anything you need, you can find on the internet and it's so helpful these days, as I've said in a previous post. It is also becoming so much more interactive and giving people the ability to change and create things left and right. It has been shown that people learn better by doing things and producing them rather than just being taught. When you are able to make the material and content your own, you are more likely to want the result to be something that you're proud of. If students are told that their work will be up for anyone to see, they will more than likely put in the extra effort to make it worthy of the approval of others.

Young children these days are often referred to as 'Digital Natives' and they really are just that. They have grown up surrounded by this technology and have been transformed right along with it. Many kids are shocked when they find out that just 20 years ago, the internet was rarely used and if it was it was often a slow dial-up connection. Children often ask "Well, how did you look up information or how did you do ANYTHING?" This intimates many educators because they feel they don't know the answer to many of these questions or how to use new technology.

These students are building new technologies and are the creators of what will be mainstream in just a few years. It's essential that teachers immerse themselves right alongside the students to help teach the same principles they always have. Educators need to help students understand how to sort through all the information they find and decide what is reliable and true. We also need to help them see what is appropriate because sites they are creating could become common ground.

The main thing is to dive into the technology right alongside the students and learn with them. Teachers may not know as much about the machines as the children do, but the knowledge that the adult has on how to work with the material is something only they can teach. Educators need to not worry about implementing these technologies into their teaching because the students bring so much experience to the table that teaching the basics and how tos isn't necessary.

Social networking-already a part of our everyday lives

2008-03-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I came across an article that discussed the results of a study done by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. The study found that people felt connected to more people socially and had improved social lives as a result of their blogging. The participants also said that they used their blogs as a way to express emotion and vent out their feelings. The article "Blogging can help improve your social life" can be found here. There are so many ways to connect with people through blogging. Social networking is becoming more and more common in everyone's lives. Almost any teenager has a myspace or facebook account that they check very regularly so students are already connecting with each other via the internet. Why not bring that knowledge and experience into the classroom? This is one thing that I feel very strongly about. Kids these days are immersed in technology in all aspects of their lives from cell phones, television and video games to computers and the internet so why ask them to throw that all away when they come into school? Teachers should take this knowledge and run with it.

One way to use this knowledge of social networking and collaboration in their education could be to set up a type of pen pal but with blogs. How cool would it be if students could communicate regularly with a student in a completely different country? I remember when I was in elementary school we had pen pals at another one of the elementary schools in town but I felt so great when I received another letter from my pal and heard that she was going through some of the same things that I was. Students could communicate through blogging with students in a country they were studying and hear the opinions and stories first hand from someone their own age.

Technology and it's possibilities will never cease to amaze me!

More on technology and studying abroad

2008-03-03T11:05:00.000-08:00

As I have said in a previous post, I am studying abroad in Ireland and being here has shown me just how great technology really is. I've talked about how often I use skype but I was reading a post by David Warlick titled Me Without My Information is Like... and it really hit home for me.

Luckily, I have a laptop with me but even so, without the internet I would be lost. It's wild how dependent many people today are on the internet. Let alone communicating with friends and family from home, the internet is my source for pretty much any information that I need. We have been doing some planning for our travels over our Spring Break and booked our flights, arranged places to stay, and have found activities we want to do all on the internet.

I am also going to have to register for classes back home for both the summer and the fall while I am here in Ireland. I will have to check into the course offerings and times with the handy internet. If this were not possible, I would have to do this by mail and how long and annoying would that be? It makes life 100 times easier that I can communicate with people back home or find out pretty much any information tid bit that I need with the click of a mouse. Educators need to embrace the internet and use all the resources out there rather than sticking to the books and other paper-based materials they currently have.

People today take the internet for granted and don't realize how often they use it. I know that I spend quite a bit of time each day looking things up, emailing, and just browsing different websites. Before people complain and bash technology, they need to take a step back and look at where we would be today without it.

Bloglines- my new best friend

2008-02-27T12:53:00.000-08:00

Getting into blogging is a bit overwhelming at first because there are so many directions that you can go with it and it's easy to forget to post regularly (which I am a clear example of). Through my reading, I found out about bloglines which is a fantastic website to help you keep the blogs that you follow organized. In the beginning, I was going to all of the blogs individually and it was taking forever. Now all I have to do is go to the bloglines website, log in and all of the blogs that I have subscribed to are right there for me and it tells me if they have been updated or not.

This would be a great tool for teachers to use in tracking if their students are updating or not. I talk a lot about distance learning but I see great uses for bloglines with that because then students are less likely to fall behind. Often with online courses, students get lost and the teacher has no way of knowing if each individual student is keeping up. If they have weekly assignments that they need to post to a blog, the teacher can check who has updated all in one place. It would take forever to go to each individual blog and see if changes have been made but with bloglines, at the click of a mouse, it is possible to see any updates that have been made.

It is my new favorite thing and has saved me loads of time so I suggest anyone who is interested in blogging or follows multiple blogs go to the website, Bloglines, and sign up for an account. Again, all you need is an email address. I want to end with a quote that I heard in my Education and Welfare class today that really made me think about education and teaching in a new perspective. It shows how important it is to make sure all students are keeping up and staying on track.

"The most critical period in a child's education is the transition from the stage where they learn to read to the stage where they read to learn"

They're all FREE- why not give them a try?

2008-02-25T09:46:00.000-08:00

There are so many tools out there that could be helpful in education and life in general that are free to sign up for, free to use, and free to access...they are all FREE, FREE, FREE. All you need is an email address which 99.9% of the population has these days. I've been doing lots of reading on how to use technology in education and the number one thing I've come to realize is the how easy it is to started. Twitter, Blogger, Bloglines, Jing, Skype, Yugma, and Second Life are just a few examples of great tools that anyone can use. They each have their own benefits and give you helpful hints on how to get started and great ways to use them effectively. There is no reason that people shouldn't give these programs a shot. Some may not pertain or be helpful to you but others could be life changing.

Skype, for me, is one that not a lot of people know about but many other people live by. I suggest that everyone give it a try because not only is it free to sign up it can be a real money saver. I had heard of it in the past but never used it before studying abroad, now I couldn't live without it. There is no need for a calling card or spending loads of money calling home to the US when I can just sit down to my computer and dial up my family and friends. With skype, you can call land lines for a small fee but if the person you're trying to contact is on their computer, it's free. The video feature is an added bonus because hearing the person's voice is great but having a visual is that much better. I suggest that everyone go to the Skype website and download it because you never know when it will come in handy. Even calling within the US could be improved with the video feature. If you have family across the country, how great would it be to be able to see them while you're chatting?

Relating to education, Skype would be extremely helpful in distance learning. If the school doesn't have access to an ICN classroom or students are stuck at home with illness or bad weather they could just hop onto their computer and dial into the teachers computer and it would be just like they were in class. They could even ask questions and hear what the other students were saying.

Yugma is another one that is free to sign up for and is transforming the way education and collaboration is viewed. How great would it be for everyone to be able to see exactly what's going on on the teacher's computer. With distance education, it's hard because the student can't simultaneously see the teacher and the computer screen. It would be great if people outside of the classroom could collaborate and see what's on the main computer.

Twitter is something that has become a hot topic in the news recently. More and more people are signing up and using twitter regularly. Basically, it's a way for people to keep up to date with what others are up to and there where abouts. There are more and more ways for people to keep in touch. Soon, it won't matter if you're across the world from someone because with all of these programs, as long as you have an internet connection, you can contact anyone, anywhere at the drop of a hat.

The bottom line is ease. So many programs are out there that people are completely unaware of and all you need to do to get started is create an account with an email address. Educators need to just give them a try and see how they could pertain to their individual classrooms. There's no harm in trying because you never know what you'll find along the way and different ways to use these programs that you never knew possible.

The Best Way to Learn is to Dive Right In

2008-01-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

When I decided to start this blog, I knew very little about blogging and its use in education and, well, life in general. After getting this all set up, I started to realize how easy it really is. I originally had a few ideas for using blogs in education that I had discussed in a few technology ed classes over the years. We had talked about using blogs as a way to communicate with parents and students outside of the classroom but after doing a little bit of research, I have come to find out that the possibilities are endless. A lot of the research and information is still in the early stages but I was so excited and intrigued with all of the potential. I've been reading Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms and have found many interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of before.

I've learned that blogging and posting are very different things. Posting is just putting your ideas out there and giving others the opportunity to view those ideas. Blogging is more of a social interaction where you bring in outside resources and provide the chance for people to respond and collaborate with those ideas. Giving students the option and materials to work from home is a great use of blogging. Students working on group projects who are having a hard time finding a common time to meet could all post their portion of the project onto the blog and that way fellow group members can check it out.

My blog is in the very early stages and I'm attempting to read up on the different aspects of blogging in general to get some background knowledge of the ins and outs. I'm hoping to add links and other outside information in the near future. After all, that's what blogging really is. Blogging needs to be collaborative and offer many people the chance to personally reflect and comment on the presented information. It will be even more effective if outside resources and materials are brought in to deepen the support of the content.

Similarities and DIfferences

2008-01-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hello all-
So I'm studying in Ireland for the semester and have already noticed how different the education system is. To begin with, students don't have to pay college tuition which is a definite plus and the whole outlook on education is different. For so many more people, it's something that they WANT to do rather than something they feel is the next step in life. The structure at least at the college level is a bit different than what I'm used to. The classes are strictly lecture and the only assignments are a midterm paper and a final paper. A lot of research is to be done outside of class and there is never any homework. I'm not sure if this is better or worse than what I'm used to but it's definietly something that's going to take some getting used to.

As for technology, the level that is used in education is at a far lower level than I expected. In my classes so far, I have seen only one powerpoint and that was as simple as a piece of clip art and a phrase on each slide. In one of my lectures, the professor actually used the overhead and had overhead sheets with a few short phrases that he wanted us to take down. It would have been just as effective to write them up on the board during class rather than wasting the time and energy of creating the overhead sheets.

On the other hand, there are pieces of equipment on campus that are very "high-tech". To be admitted to the library you need to swipe your student card and even further to enter the sports arena you need to swipe your card and then provide your fingerprint. I'm not sure if these machines are extremely necessary but interesting none the less.

I'm hoping to get a chance to go out and at least observe some local primary schools to see what their education system is like and also their level of technology use. I have already noticed that information on teaching strategies that have been told to us again and again back home such as constructivism and student centered learning are still in the early phases here. I feel like I can offer a bit of insight and ideas that to people here is unheard of.

1st post

2008-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

This is my first post and I'm just starting to get everything set up. I'm hoping to do research on using blogs in education and how they can be helpful in the classroom for both parents and students. I will be following a few blogs and also doing a bit of reading on my own to see what information is out there about the effective uses already discovered.