Richardson suggests that Weblogs can function in a number of educational ways:Class Portal -- for assignment postings, handouts and more
Online Filing Cabinet -- for the publication of student work (no more my dog ate its)
Electronic Portfolio -- Not a far stretch from the filing cabinet
Collaborative Space -- Like our discussion space here
Knowledge Management -- Think student government or 20/40 or any other student organization that meets to discuss, think and make plans. Here's the perfect meeting minutes publisher
School Website -- Fairly straight forward
So, preliminarily thinking, how do you think you might be able to put the power of Weblogs to work in your classroom?
3 comments:
I'll get the boat rolling. Wait, rolling boats? Anyway, I really like the idea of using the Weblog as an online filing cabinet. When student work goes there, it goes there and it means less paper for me to keep track of. I need that kind of management in my life.
Plus, I like the idea of students building their own spaces for class. I mean, they decorate their binders, folders and agendas so that they say something about themselves. I've noticed that my writing lab students do the same thing with their blogs. They like that sense of ownership, and I like the idea that I don't have to write with a pen to comment on their work. I'm much faster on the keyboard. I can also erase much easier and then rewrite my comments. I can also check back to see what the student has done to improve. I mean, let's face it, when an assignment gets handed back, does it go in the special "Mr. Stratton's comments on my work" folder. Yea. Get real.
At leas with the Weblog, the work is always at hand, even months down the road.
What do you think?
The ideas of setting up an online filing cabinet, and a class portal sounds exciting. My delemna is that some of my students do not have computers at home. So all activities I plan to do will have to be done during the school day. My hope is that the computer knowledge base my students acquire will be carried into the home environment.
Sitting in a computer lab for eight hours a day allows me to see technologically sound teachers using weblogs,websites,wikkis,etc. to use the power of technology outside of their classroom walls. I have yet to hear a student complain about completing an online task for those teachers. I think that the students love it as much as the teacher!
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