I've spent the day working on all sorts of Web 2.0 tools, but my favorite is the blog. One reason I like it so much is because it is so versatile. It can be used to journal thoughts, ask questions, reflect upon lessons, or respond to videos, photos, or a given prompt.
There are lots of blogs students and teachers can use in their classrooms. At my district, there are four that can be accessed through the filters of our secure system. These are Blogmeister, Gaggle, 21 Classes, and Edublogs. I have a basic overview of the ins and outs of each site on my website. I've used more than one site to host blogs. I started out with Blogmeister, switched to Gaggle, and then back to Blogmeister because it is user-friendly for elementary students.
Blogging is beneficial for students in many ways. In an action research project, I found that students using blogs were more motivated and engaged. Students using blogs to both write, question, reflect, and comment others showed greater gains over a period of time and became deeper thinkers than students who were not blogging. One unexpected occurrence was peer teaching. After students began blogging, those that commented confirmed their ideas, strengthened hypotheses, corrected misconceptions, and even broadened understandings of various vocabulary terms. My favorite was when my class ran out of time while gathering background knowledge and vocabulary. I thought I'd have to use the next day's class time for that until I saw that our partner class had finished their activity and actually taught it to my students through their blogs. Way to reinforce our learning!
In addition, blogs are a way that the school day can be lengthened. In the above example, I could have easily assigned the homework of reading their partner's blogs and commenting them. If a student is absent, they can still participate in class as long as they have access to the Internet. Although we all teach students who fall in Title I status, a computer with Internet access in the home is almost as commonplace as a family vehicle. Libraries also offer free access.
In every classroom, there is "that one student," not the one that gets in trouble, but the one who is so painfully shy that you don't know if they truly understand or not. They'd never tell you. They don't want to speak up and risk the embarrassment. Blogs are a great way to get all students involved in discussions. They can also hamper the enthusiasm of the kid that never stops talking long enough for anyone else to put in their two cents. Because blogs can be posted instantly, you can immediately know if your students understand the lesson simply by checking your email.
So if you've been tossing around the idea of integrating some technology into your classroom, blogging is a great place to start. It's free, simple, and meaningful. You can even set up your account so all blog articles and comments go straight to your email for approval. Take a look at the above mentioned tools and see what you like. Happy blogging!
