Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Blogs as a homebase on the read/write web – a home run!

The potential of the read/write web, as discussed by Richardson (2009), is truly epitomized in blogging. The read/write web is the ability of all users to be able to contribute to the content found on the web. “We are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information…we can be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information (Richardson, 2009, p.2). Blogs are easy to create and use tools on the read/write web. David Warlick defines a blog as “a Web-publishing concept that enables anyone -- first graders, political pundits, homeless people, high school principals, presidential candidates -- to publish information on the Internet” (Warlick, para.4). Best of all, they are free online tools. These factors are part of the reason blogs epitomize the read/write web. We can also look to the nature of blogs in that they are self created, can be made available to chosen audiences, interactive through commenting, flexible to incorporate other web 2.0 tools (YouTube, Flickr, Voice Threads, etc.) and allow the creation of your personal voice. This provides a plethora of reasons why blogs can be your homebase on the read/write web.

Your homebase on the read/write web is the place that you create to explore, discuss, display, challenge or question your own learning and the learning of others. As I have done on this blog, it is a place where I have collected, recorded and displayed my learning as well as interacted with my fellow classmates about the learning topics and can continue to develop to further my learning. This is an on-going creation where I can read and write on the web to further my learning, reflect on it and contribute to the content on the web. It is my homebase for my adventures in learning about web 2.0!

Similarly, blogs can be used as a homebase for students, for teachers, classrooms and groups of students or teachers. A singular purpose can be chosen for a blog or it can evolve as the learner does. When used as a homebase, blogs can represent the learning that is occurring through showing the learning, supporting the learning or having the learning occur right on the blog! One way this can be done is in the interaction the blogger can have with those that access and comment on the blog.

The following chart outlines a few ways in which blogs can be used in education. I specifically like that it identifies activities for writing and reading as well those that can be involved in these areas (i.e. self, instructor, other students, rest of the net).


As a teacher-librarian, I can see that I could use blogs in the following ways with my students:

- As a means of communication between students, teachers, parents and other members of the education environment.

- As a means of assessment by allowing students to display their learning, self-evaluate, provide assessment information both for and of learning.

- As a medium for cooperative learning allowing student interaction with or without teacher direction and intervention.

- As a tool for reflection for students learning, ideas and exploration of learning topics.

- As individual students’ homebases for learning.

Don’t believe it? Check out how a Grade 5 class has used blogs to create a classroom community online by clicking here. http://www.pb5th.com/Polar_Bear_Fat/vb/ Many of the links are private (good idea when working with students!) but you can see that the teacher communicates information (i.e. field trips, homework, daily class activities), marks, class worksheets and forms, and birthdays of members. Students and parents who are members can also contribute to the blog too. This is evident through the statistics – 48, 314 blog posts from over 400 members! This truly is a community and a homebase for these Grade 5 students, teachers and parents.

As a teacher-librarian and colleague, I can see that I could use blogs in the following ways with my colleagues for professional development:

- Develop a blog for a particular purpose to share information with a group of colleagues who share the same interest. For example, connect with other teacher-librarians who have a literacy school goal and share how we support that school goal through the school library program on our blog. We can not only write posts and comment on each others postings, but share articles, videos and other professional information.

- Create a blog as a means of mentorship between myself and another teacher. For example, if another teacher-librarian is interested in developing their practice, we could set up a blog on which we communicate, mentor and guide each other in our area of common interest.

- Develop a blog on a topic that I am preparing a workshop on and introduce workshop participants to the blog as a means of furthering their learning and continuing the conversation of learning beyond the workshop.

- Create a blog for my own professional development on all topics in order to record my learning and explore it in greater detail. This could be a private blog for me to be very open and ‘messy’ in my learning.

By no means are these exhausted lists but ideas that came to mind after reading, research and reflection on blogs used in education.

What potential do you see for this tool? What to give blogging a try? I would recommend starting with blogger found at www.blogger.com In my experience with three different free blogging providers, this has been the easiest to set up, invite and access users and incorporate other forms of media onto my blog. Before creating your blog, be sure to decide on the purpose of your blog, how often you may use it, your audience, if your blog will be private or public and any specific conditions that would determine your blog set up for your purposes.

Blogging as the epitome of the read/write web can be used in numerous ways based on your design and purpose. With an authentic audience to write for and the ownership in which the blogger will develop over their space on the web, blogging will help you achieve your educational goals whether they are for your professional development or for your students learning. Blogs as a homebase for learning will surely be parallel to hitting a home run!

References:

Blog uses in education. Retrieved on November 17, 2008 from http://www.edtechpost.ca/gems/matrix2.gif

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Warlick, D. Retrieved November 19, 2009 from http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml

5 comments:

Jo-Anne Gibson said...

Andrea,
I loved your analogy of a blog being like your "home base." It's easy to see how blogs could be used as student and teacher e-portfolios with the blog showcasing all their work. Will you share your blog with your administrator at the end of the course to show him/her how much you've learned and how blogs can be used as a learning tool?

Jo-Anne

Danielle Spencer said...

Hi,
Your chart of "Some Uses of Blogs in Education" was a great image. I also found your Grade 5 link showing the classroom community is pretty cool.
I like your idea of creating a blog for teacher mentorship with another teacher. That is a great idea! I am going to remember that for the future.

chris yak said...

You said a mouthful when you wrote about looking to the "nature of blogs in that they are self created, can be made available to chosen audiences, interactive through commenting, flexible to incorporate other web 2.0 tools (YouTube, Flickr, Voice Threads, etc.) and allow the creation of your personal voice." That flexibility is something I only learned about through this course - the idea that all of these free online tools can be turned into a "homebase".

Carol said...

Andrea,
I appreciated the statement you made saying "Your homebase on the read/write web is the place that you create to explore, discuss, display, challenge or question your own learning and the learning of others." Well-rounded professional develpment because it servers the creator, reader and explorer.

carol t

Joanne said...

The image of a blog as someone's homebase for web 2.0 is a great one--and it makes so much sense. A blog as a record of learning is so powerful--and is really what this course is built on--and could be used so effectively with students in school. Imagine an electronic portfolio of a students' learning throughout the year (or years) that they could look at, reflect on, and comment on...exciting stuff!