When I started designing web sites in 1994, I was thrilled to be part of
the vast democratization of information. Really, that's what I was
thinking; that's the hippie part. The web exceeded my wildest hopes,
allowing cat fanciers throughout the world to share hilarious -- and,
admit it, heartwarming -- photos of tabbies and calicoes. Well, blogs
are all that and a bag of kitty litter.
But seriously, if you're still reading... here are a couple of ways
we're using blogs in my school district. You and I may puzzle over
communication overloaded culture, but sometimes there's a glimmer of
hope. Here's one:
Our high school literature classes use live blogs to explore Shakespeare
in the classroom. In a laptop equipped classroom, an inner circle of
about ten students engages in a verbal Socratic debate about the meaning
of, say, Hamlet. One student records the discussion on a blog site, but
at the same time the remaining students discuss the out-loud discussion
on another blog. So any student can respond to the discussion, either
verbally or in the online forum (no pun intended, dear plebes). In a
fifty minute class, there are often around 150 questions or comments
shared by students. Try getting 10 questions and answers in a regular 50
minute high school class. And if there are topics the students don't get
to, they can add more from home. Geez, they don't go to bed until 2 a.m.
anyway, and it keeps them off Myspace. A little.
In other classes, our teachers use an old-school lecture format, but for
homework students comment on and discuss the content from class.
Participation goes up, since students too shy to speak up in class often
feel more confident in an online setting. And since their homework is
published to the world, students tend to be more careful and thoughtful
in their responses. In at least one classroom blog I've read, students
were thrilled to see that the author of the book responded to their blog
reviews. What we're seeing is that students become better writers when
their work is shared -- when they feel their work matters beyond just a
grade.
This spring I'm working with a mixed fourth/fifth grade class to set up
a blog for an environmental science project. Students will easily log
their experiments and results, but more importantly they can share the
work with other students and their parents. Like I said before, blogs =
kewl.
Steven Newell
Littleton, CO USA
'62 TR4 x 2 etc.
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