Blogs in Education

1. Discuss your search results and why you feel they were similar or different:
When I searched for “Educational Blogs” on the search engines Google, Yahoo, and MSN, I found similarities and differences among the search results. The number of results for “Educational Blogs” was vastly different among these results. I received 15,500,000 results from the Google search engine, 4,590,000 results from the Yahoo search engine, and 757,050 results from the MSN search engine. There are so many keywords about blogs, so there were differences in the reference websites that showed in each search engine. When I searched Yahoo, I found many results to be about teachers and how they use blogs as a learning community. The websites that were predominant on Yahoo’s search engine were teacher blogs, edblogger praxis, etc. When I searched Google, I found specific websites for weblogs, blogs in education, and Kathy Schrock’s homepage. These results were similar to MSN’s results. MSN provided me with educational blogs, weblogs, and also Kathy Schrock’s homepage. These results had similar keywords as the Google’s search engine. This was a great exercise because I was able to see the differences in results, and how I can use resources to find more than one answer or result.

2. Identify and describe 3 interesting/innovative ways blogs are being used in k-12 classrooms:
Blogs are a great way to communicate within the classroom. They can help with getting ideas out in the open for discussion. The teacher can also post his/her thoughts about the blog topic and provide insight about his/her own experiences. Teachers can look at other blogs for resources and get new ideas for their own classroom. You can also use a blog to post information about your school, which is helpful for other staff members and school districts. You can also use your blog to add links to outside sources that can be helpful for many students, parents, and faculty. There is also no advertising ever, so this is great to keep your learning goals on task. There are many great things you can do with a blog, for you can use blogs as a source to learn how to work with technology. Integrating technology into the classroom is so important, and the blogs provide access to this opportunity. The blogs are for the students to learn and are a great idea to make your classroom interesting and innovative!

3. Describe your search on RSS readers/aggregators and how you might use them in a classroom:
RSS readers are a great way to provide information! They provide news updates that are simple for your computer. These files are read in a program called an aggregator. An aggregator collects news from different websites that can be provided for you. I would use both of these in my classroom to continue the idea of communication! The RSS readers would be great for news headlines, so I think this would be very important in my classroom. Depending on the age of my students, I may want to choose an appropriate aggregator that provides adequate information for the age range. I could post these RSS readers and aggregators to my personal webpage, which would be very appropriate for my teacher web, like the ones we have already made in our T&L445 class. This use of RSS readers and aggregators will help in the process of communication, so not only will my students know what is going on, but so will their parents, staff members, and other visitors to my teacher web. I think the RSS readers and aggregators are a great idea, and I know I could use these resources in my classroom to provide efficient communication skills.

4. Discuss the impact you think blogging and using RSS readers may have on k-12 classrooms:
I think blogging and using RSS readers will have a major impact on the k-12 classroom. You can use these resources for any age, in which will allow the students to become more comfortable with technology. These students will be able to speak freely about their opinions on the blogs and therefore, will allow for discussion and open minds in learning. The RSS readers will allow all of the students to be informed about different updates in the world, in the school, or in our classroom. The impact on these students from blogging and RSS readers will all be beneficial and positive; therefore, I know I will provide these opportunities in my own classroom.

5. Describe at least 2 pros and 2 cons of using blogs and RSS readers in education:
Blogs and RSS readers are great because they allow for communication and discussion to occur. These resources allow students to feel openly about their opinions and have the opportunity to see what others have written about the same topic. The blogs and RSS readers are also great because it is an effective place to inform your classroom about upcoming assignments and news in the classroom. RSS readers are great because they give updates that are quick and reliable. There aren’t too many negative points about blogs and RSS readers, but these resources can be difficult for some. If the students are too young for technology, these resources wouldn’t be the best or most effective. It may also be a bad idea for students’ ideas to be posted openly for class discussion. Some students may become intimidated to write how they really feel, or their information could allow for someone to copy ideas or make fun of the person. The blogs and RSS readers seem to have a greater positive effect on learning than negative, so I know I will use these resources in my classroom.