The term, weblog, is defined as a “frequently updated website, normally with dated entries and usually with the newest entries at the top”. With advancing technology, use of blogs is becoming increasingly important. In one of the reports by Mary Beth Adomaitis Weblogs are used as educational tools to not only teach students, but also as a means of keeping parents informed of what is going on in the classroom, as well as the entire school. One of the benefits of a blog is the feedback that can be provided. Various issues can be "talked out" through a blog's comments or forum. Teachers can also provide answers to homework questions, as well as respond to other concerns parents or students may have. A teacher's response via the Internet is a lot quicker than waiting until class starts the next morning. Weblogs are also being used as a teaching device. Middle and high school students are creating blogs during various classes as a way of learning from each other and dispelling the negativity blogs may have. Students can create weblogs and present ideas on a variety of subjects including: Teachers can set up private accounts for each student, keeping them secure by allowing only limited accessibility. These blogs can then be accessed during class time where they can be updated, edited or graded. Students can critique each other's weblogs, which can provide valuable feedback for both the students and the teacher.
In biology classrooms blogs can be used to promote higher order thinking to pose questions based on topics discussed in the classroom, Visual and audio stimulus material. The teachers can provide opportunities for higher order thinking using blogs by
- setting challenges and posing big questions that require analysing and evaluation and more research using internet.
- encouraging students to respond sharing opinions ideas and research
- including reflective tasks
Higher order thinking skills include creating, evaluating and analysing (Atherton,
2002) and pedagogies that promote these skills are varied but include challenging the learner, promoting active participation, argumentation, problem solving, conducting investigations and tackling subject matter that is complex (Tytler, 2004).
As noted by Tom, one of teachers who participated in the case study in the article ‘The use of web technologies in higher order thinking skills’ by Gail.C, to promote higher order thinking the Weblogs’ can be used to provide choice that fostered motivation and interest. The questions should set challenges within boundaries and students must have the capacity to answer - with the web as the source of information, thereby giving students greater control and ownership of the task. (Tom, 2008)
Deb, another teacher who participated in the case study, said Blogs can be used as a site to present science as fun and engaging. Some common characteristics are: personalizing the site with photos of students conducting activities; a motivating or attention grabbing clip. (Deb, 2007)
- The blog can be used as an additional forum - that helped manage students’ questions in class.
- Students have been given much more choice and opportunity to direct the curriculum.
- The questions on the blog can be addressed at a number of levels allowing all students the opportunity to respond. (Deb, 2007)
When creating Blog in future for your students there are few things that you have to keep in mind, the first and the foremost is the focus on attaining the learning objectives. Weblogs would be an efficient way to communicate information on class expectations to our students. They would create opportunities for engaging students in conversation with teachers, with their fellow classmates, and with outside resources. Blogs create an environment where students not only experience the subject matter but also learn how to find credible sources for learning in the future. This invaluable skill of learning how to read, evaluate, and respond to information found on the Internet would help the students update both their explicit and tacit knowledge throughout their lifetimes. (Delany, 2010)
There are a few different routes you can take when setting up a classroom blog. The first question to ask yourself is whether you want your blog to be viewed publicly over the interent or only by the class involved. If you want a public blog. then you can sign up at one of the many free blog hosting programs available.
Once you decide on a host, have your class help you decide on a name, background, graphics, etc. You can then decide how you will run the blog, how often it will be updated, and who can have access to it and whether or not to enable comments. As a teacher, you also decide if your students will be allowed to access it during school time and what type of content is and is not acceptable. It's best to have ground rules in place before the blog is live. You can use the blog for:
- Personal Journal
- Online notebook
- Class discussion
- Reflection
Bibliography
- Atherton, J. S. (2002). Learning and teaching: Deep and surface learning. Retrieved March 2003, from http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/learning/deepsurf.htm
- Kirk, L.D.(2010). 1, 2, 3, BLOG: THE USE OF WEBLOGS AS AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TOOL IN THE CLASSROOM. Retrieved from http://delaney.typepad.com/files/kirk-johnson-swam-2010-proceedings-1-1.pdf
- March, T. (2006, 15/8/08). CEQALL - learning in a Web 2.0 world. from http://tommarch.com/ceqall/
- Tytler, R. (2004). Higher Order Thinking: Support Reading for EME244/502 (pp. 1-7) Deakin University.
