First off, creating a blog is different. I did not experience blogs in high school so this is all new to me. It was quite confusing at first but that could just be because my internet would cut out on me and I would lose where I was. After figuring out what some of the buttons are and what they do, creating my blog was very easy.
Blogging can be useful in the classroom if it is used effectively. It can be a good way for chilfren to communicate and perform discussions. It needs to be monitored though so cyber bullying does not occur. Also, I need to make sure that this does not take away from the social skills that children learn during school.
Im going into Special Education. I think that blogs can be useful in certain aspects of Special Education. It can be useful for children with OHI and HI. Depending on the severity, they will be able to use a computer and blog. It makes for an easy way for them to be able to interact and let themselves be heard. Its also a good way bring a whole classroom together.
My learning goals for this activity may to just let them experience something new. I never had a teacher let me experience blogging in K-12. It is also an easy way to allow their parents to be able to see what their children have to say.
I agree that teachers do have to be actively involved their students work to prevent cyber bullying. This is definitely not a "turn the kids loose" kind of project. It is a great way to interact and would be useful in special education. Great thinking!
ReplyDeleteI think that using a blog in a Special Education classroom is a great idea because it allows those students to express themselves. Special Education students can have a hard time doing this, and having a blog would really help.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is so important to monitor the blog to make sure that there is no cyber bullying. I also like the idea of the blog "bringing the whole classroom together". I think that, especially in the special education department, working together would boost the confidence of the kids and they would get so much more out of each lesson.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you mentioned other social skills. Blogging is great, but it's also important to encourage other social skills as well- especially with those kids who already have a hard time communicating. But blogging could be a great way to start bringing out those other social skills from the confidence you can get from positive comments.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea using blogging for special education. These kids have voices and they need to be heard. Parents would love this as well.
ReplyDeleteYes blogging does lead to some cyberbullying. That is good you want to help the special ed students learn. I'm not trying to call names but I know some special ed teachers don't teach them everything and don't get them ready for the real world. They just stay were they are and don't learn what everyone else is. I'm not saying you will do that but I know some who do that.
ReplyDeleteI agree that although blogging is a great tool you would still need to make sure that the students interact with each other in person as well as on the Internet. Also making sure that you are involved in the discussion will help them want to maintain academic integrity. Great idea to use blogging in a special education classroom!
ReplyDeleteTrue, I never thought of cyber bullying on blogs.
ReplyDeleteYes, cyber bullying can be a problem, but if there's a close watch on it, the problem shouldn't get too out of hand. I agree that blogging would be a good way for the students who can't really speak for themselves have a chance to be heard.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the cyber bullying. Most kids don't know that online and physical bulling has to same affect. With monitoring you can adjust their time on the computer.
ReplyDeleteI like that you want to introduce kids to something new in innovation.
ReplyDeleteWhen you made the statement,"blogging can be useful in the classroom if it is used effectively", it made me think of how teachers could possibly use blogs ineffectively and only utilize it to say they used technology in their class to meet standard requirements. It is important for teachers to plan how technology will be used in the classroom to benefit student's and their learning.
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