For teaching purposes, the blog is a great communication tool. It is a great way to pass and share information whether it is informative or procedural. Blogs are an excellent forum for posting and explaining assignments, answering questions, and giving feedback to students regarding assignments. I believe they are also a valuable way to share and communicate with parents regarding what is going on in the classroom. Blogging allows for the use of multi-media to reinforce classroom learning and assist different learning styles. A blog could also be used to pass hints and memory tools for students or to pass on information that isn't covered in class. Such information could aid in the creation of a more friendly classroom environment. A teacher could post information regarding interpersonal skills, communication skills, collaborative skills, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills.
I see that blogger.com is a bit limited in design features. Maybe I need to interact more with the features, but there seem to be set ways in which you can move and add gadgets. This feature creates ease of use, but limits creativity. I do appreciate the array of gadgets and the ease of use. It is very useful to be able to embed videos, pictures, and links. Especially to give students a variety of learning tools to blend and enhance classroom learning.
About Me
- Heather
- Woman, Wife, Mom, Student, Airman, Runner, Follower of Love, Compassion, Truth, Mercy, and Kindness.
I have also felt the limitations of this blog in design features. I haven't been able to place objects exactly where I want or determine the size of images I want to embed. On the other hand, that limitation may be helping to make it so easy to create a serviceable blog without having much experience with creating web pages.
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I have had the same experience as the two of you- I appreciate it and am a wee bit frustrated at the same time. As far as the uses in education I think you are spot on Heather. There are many skills students need to learn that can be enhanced through the use of blogs.
ReplyDeleteThis is another example of how expectations generate perceptions of value. I, for example, view blogs as a mere a sheet of paper on which I can write and others can comment. Format is quite secondary. When if comes to website design, I desire and expect total flexibility and freedom. I now see that newcomers to blogs will desire additional features or gadgets, and with time, maybe already now, there will be blog website designers who will add more features, gadgets and templates. We just need to find them.
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