Journal 3

Five Don'ts of Classroom Blogging
By Julie Sturgeon

In this article, Julie not only discusses the value of classroom blogging but five things you should not do in classroom blogging. They are as follows:

1. "Don't just dive in." Make sure the students know the guidelines you have set in place ahead of time and know the consequences for breaking those rules.

2. "Don't confuse blogging with social networking." This is an educational blog--not a socializing time like is done on MySpace, etc. and it is necessary for the teacher to keep the focus on academic collaboration.

3. "Don't leap at the freebies." Many blog sites are free but have numerous advertisements that are very tempting for students to click on. Julie sites other alternatives to Blogger.com and TypePad.com.

4. "Don't force a sequential style." Allow students the freedom to create and blog by topic, not time.

5. "Don't leave the blogging to the students." Julie encourages the teachers to create their own blog as well and post things about class and their students to encourage all students to share opinions.

What can a teacher do to ensure the class is serious about commenting on each other's blogs? I think using positive reinforcement for thought-provoking comments is one way.

How can a teacher handle a parent who is opposed to their child going online and using a blog site? Perhaps an agreement could be made where the blog entries are printed out and the student is responsible for commenting on them. They could also do the same writing assignments with simple pen & paper rather than online.

Journal 2

Speaking Math
By Janet Graham and Ted Hodgson

This article talks about the use of electronic discussion for geometry and algebra classes at Osbourn High School. The course management system (CMS) used was Moodle and basically uses chat rooms as discussion areas for the students of the math class. The teacher posts a question, and the students have computer lab time to discuss the question using the math terms given. The article posts examples of students chats/discussions, and it is actually quite interesting.

The value of CMS is that the discussions can be downloaded and analyzed by the instructor, and the instructor can see where confusions might lie or topics that need further discussion in class. They can also get insight into the student's thought process. This is valuable to the students because it gives ESL students time to think and post their thoughts, collaborate with other students with the same primary language, and gives all students fun practice using math terms.

The article also states that this system does not solely need to be used for math, but can be used for any subject. The authors state, "Whether one teaches math, science, English, or history, chats and electronic discussion boards facilitate rich discussions about course content and broad participation by our increasingly diverse learners. They add new, effective tools to the teacher's instrucional toolkit."

Can this system be used by any culture and country? Yes! For those who have internet connections, it can be modified to fit any curriculum or class.

Could the free use of chat and discussion rooms of students get out of control? Not if the teacher is constantly monitoring the chat and discussion rooms.

Journal 1

Social Networking for the K-12 Set
by Jim Klein

In this article the author discusses the value of social networking amongst schools in a district. It enables mass communication amongst schools, reduces district and school costs, allows messages, ideas, lessons, podcasts, projects and collaboration amongst teachers to be spread at a rapid rate. With teacher guidance and approval, it also allows students to publish work, see other students work--even at a completely different school within the district, and work as a team without having to sit face to face. Klein states "One of the key benefits of this initiative has been improved communication and the establishment of a sense of community."

What would hinder some districts from using this initiative?
Perhaps cost and the initial set up and training of the program is one reason. Maybe another reason would be fear that it simply would not be used enough to qualify cost, or each school already has a system in place and do not want to change.

How could social networking help students succeed?
Most of todays students are very adept at technology and I believe they would find social networking to be much more fun and easy than some might think. With teacher's approval, collaborating with peers online, sharing thoughts, projects, lessons learned is yet one more way students can learn and succeed in the technology age.