First I’d like to say that I LOVE the word pedagogy. Really. It’s just fun to say! On another, totally different note, this chapter is really cool. I think the blog is an awesome tool to utilize in class, and this chapter gives so many exquisite examples and ideas that you can’t help but goo “Yeah! That’s kinda nifty!” That is, if you still say ‘nifty’…which I do. I think it tries to make us realize that no special knowledge is needed to make a blog, its just like writing an e-mail. I know from experience that these blogs can be very intimidating. Like if you do something wrong an angry tiger will jump out of the screen at you. It wont, its cool. Unlike other things blogs reflect their creators personality. Its like an interactive diary accessible to all. It really is a community tool. Blogs give you a chance to interact without the social pressure associated with peer gatherings, and they also force the writer to focus their analytical skills and writing skills. No one wants to read a blog littered with grammatical and spelling mistakes. These blogs, e-portfolios and online class communications make it much easier for the modern student to keep track with everything that is going on in their lives, and also supply a stress free place to find all of their necessary resources. Students can use the blogs in different ways, depending on what level of expertise they have in computer technologies. This is so great because it gives you a platform on which you are on relatively equal grounds with to associate with your students and really see what they re doing. A great website fro elementary/middle school level blogs is ‘A really different place.org’
It has lots of cool things like:
their thoughts on books,
,
Their feelings on standardized testing (which they hate),
and All and all, good chapter (a little repetitive-but hey) with lots of ideas for class assignments and projects.
One of the reasons educators sometimes use against tools like blogs is the very fact that they encourage community. Anything “social” and “online” tends to cause a strong reaction from school officials: quick, let’s build a wall to block it (which doesn’t do much good). We might be better off teaching students how to use these tools ethically and effectively…instead of ignoring them.