Review of Content Area Teachers' Blogging

I found, in my review of the blogs of several content area teachers, that there are many opportunities for student learning in blogging.

One of my favorite blogs was an English teacher (http://bgexemplar.blogspot.com) who not only used his blog as a resource for daily happenings in the classroom but as a resource for students to set up their own class blogs.  He provided prompts with detailed instructions on how to add different components to their blogs such as uploading a video, picture, etc.  His blogged information was not only informative to students but was informative to teachers looking to blog as well. In addition to setting up their blog sites, he also had prompts for the students to respond. Each of these had specific grading guidelines as well.  I liked that this teacher used his blog for classroom extension activities but also for teaching the students how to use the technology itself.  He also did a good job of outlining guidelines for their posts and how he was to grade them.

Another feature of blogging I found interesting was that a middle school teacher (http://mrjorgensen.edublogs.org) used his blog to prompt his students in writing on their own blogs and making their blog into a portfolio of their work.  Through the blog he taught them how to upload documents and showcase their work.

One teacher was using her blog as a place for students to post anything related to biology. They would present their findings from an article they had read or other site to the class through the blog.  It was a good way to get students reading about science in places other than the textbook or specific class topics.

As a result of my examination of several teachers' class blogs, I would like to use blogs with my students in such a way that provides a way to bridge the gap between social media and education.  I envision a blog similar to the English teacher's blog I praised that over the course of a year taught students how to create and utilize their blog. It would also be used to provide out-of-class discussion and reflection based on in-class topics.  I also would like to get students to get out there and see what is happening in science today. They could post their findings on their blogs as well so that the class blog would create a forum for science news as well.  I feel that this type of blog would help to enhance in-class learning and expand scientific literacy with my students.

In fulfilling this vision, I would need to outline guidelines for posting and evaluation of the posts.  I would be able to tell in the classroom if learning has been enhanced with the use of the blog because it would be based on a more in-depth analysis/reflection of the topics addressed in class.  I feel this would be evident in the students' understanding of the content.