Educational uses of blogs
Edublog is a useful educational blog for classrooms for many purposes. First, it serves students as means of communication and collaboration. Students can keep the record of their field trips, share ideas, build projects, and exchanges resources. Second, teachers can post homework or assignments to the blog so that students and parents can easily access to the site to update what is going on in class. Teachers also can make a showcase for the students' projects as a digital portfolio. Downside of the blogging is accessibility of computer and internet at home for students. Teachers should make sure students have computer and internet at home to start the blogging. Another downside is student safety issue. Individual information or student's picture must be private to class or protected in other ways. (Ray, 2006)
I agree with Ray (2006) that the blogging can be a useful tool for students' learning experience. I have tried Edublog but it was not free if you have more than 10 students. Our school has a different web tool that I want to discuss its use.
Last week I gave an article to students to read and email me the reflection, Their ideas were diverse and I wanted them to share them. The only way that they can really share is through reading what they wrote. I asked them to post their ideas on discussion section of our school eChalk website. My school has eChalk account, which has numerous useful functions in it. It give every student an email account. First.Lastname@baysidehighschool.org is the email address format for every student so that teachers can always email students without finding their email addresses or misspelling of their email addresses. Teachers can create a group page or class page to post class assignments, calendar, resources, discussions, surveys and more. Teachers have unlimited space to save their material and they can easily change the date for next year round for the same materials. Administrators upload their announcement to department group page with attachments. A teacher looses the portable USB but saves everything on eChalk, no worries for him. It has been up for two years but I recently started using it. Still not every teacher is using it. This year, I really want to explore it. This does not exactly serve as a blog but discussion section of the site can be similar to the blog.
Ray, J. (2006, Summer). Welcome to blogosphere, Kappa Delta Pi Record, 42, 4, 175-177
