- Share your thoughts about your blogging experience in this course
- Post questions and ideas about how you and your students could use a blog to share ideas and questions about course projects in your class.
- There are many more Web 2.0 Tools that we have not discussed, please feel free to share some of them that you use in your teacher toolbelt so others may be know what they are and might try out.
The blogging in this class has been a great learning experience. We should develop guidelines for students that would help them to be responsible like we have been during our blog. The knowledge they could share would be endless. I learn technology tricks all the time from my students. It is amazing how much they like to share with adults if we listen. I have even had students give myself and our PRO officer tricks on how to find things on social Medias to help stop bullying. We have lots of web tools and sometimes take them for granted. I have one that I use all the time and forget about, dropbox is an online tool that allows you to save data and access it anywhere you have internet. I spend lots of office hours and sometimes just like to finish work at home, dropbox makes that much easier. I want to thank everyone for their professionalism in this course and hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have.
ReplyDeleteKids do seem to know more than we think they do sometimes!
DeleteWhen I first found out we would be blogging in this course, I was a little intimidated. This is something that I have never done and would have never thought of doing in my classroom, but I have to admit, I have learned a ton from reading each week. I have done a little research on ways to use blogs in the classroom and am amazed at my findings. There are so many ideas, but a few that stuck out to me was a blog to showcase art projects, review children's books, discuss a typical day at their school and so much more. I can't wait to begin utilizing all the awesome tools I have learned about from each one of you. Thanks for all the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteYou aren't alone with that feeling!
DeleteI agree that I was intimidated at the begin of this course, but I feel better now about blogging. I learned a lot from this course, and I feel that I am taking a lot away with me as well.
DeleteBlogging is not something that I enjoy, I have to admit, but it has been a great tool to me in the duration of this course. I value being able to view others opinions and experiences, along with their ideas!I really think that my students would benefit from blogging and it would increase their communication and collaboration skills. It has been a wonderful course that I have learned more than I expected from! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt makes me nervous to blog to have my ideas out there for someone else to read. However, I do enjoy reading other people’s ideas. I also think this has been a great course that I have learned a lot from.
DeleteI had the same opinion about blogging as you did. It seam the only blogs you hear about is the crazy ones. I now see the value to this activity. Blogging has a bad rap.
DeletePrior to taking this course, blogging was a mystery to me. Once I tried it, it was easy to do, and a great way to learn from my fellow teachers. When I have my own French classroom, I could use a blog a number of ways. A couple that come to mind are 1) having French conversations via blog. Students who are shy about expressing themselves verbally may be less so in writing; and 2) allowing students to contribute ideas about projects they would like to do in class. A web 2.0 tool that I would like to share (for foreign language teachers) is the CLEAR program from Michigan State University. When had my own French class, I used this site to design my own interactive verbal, audio and video activities. It allows teachers to design their own activities using voice threads, photos, and videos. It also has templates for designing fun educational games.
ReplyDeleteCarol,
DeleteYou sound like me, I was so uncomfortable with blogging now Ive improved and I feel proud.. Now that we are finished I will continue to utilize all that we have learned. I will look into the CLEAR program for my older son who's taking French.
Thank You for always being so kind.
Prior to taking this course, blogging was a mystery to me. Once I tried it, it was easy to do, and a great way to learn from my fellow teachers. When I have my own French classroom, I could use a blog a number of ways. A couple that come to mind are 1) having French conversations via blog. Students who are shy about expressing themselves verbally may be less so in writing; and 2) allowing students to contribute ideas about projects they would like to do in class. A web 2.0 tool that I would like to share (for foreign language teachers) is the CLEAR program from Michigan State University. When had my own French class, I used this site to design my own interactive verbal, audio and video activities. It allows teachers to design their own activities using voice threads, photos, and videos. It also has templates for designing fun educational games.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of blogging. We are using it with our students where they have to comment on other student's postings of their online book reviews.
ReplyDeleteIn the college class that I teach, my students are learning to blog, they summarize what they learned in the class for that week (so I can see if they "got" it) as well as post links to the projects that they do so everyone can get ideas off each other. I wanted them to know what blogging was and feel comfortable with it so they can take it into their future teaching situations.
That's a great idea, I would love to use this for my bullying lessons. My students I think would love this and be able to speak freely. If the younger generation is comfortable they will have more confidence in the Middle and High Schools.
DeleteThanks ofr your Post!!!
I have never used blog before this class started, and I was very nervous about not being able to post in the right spot and respond to the right topic. However, I have learned a lot this semester and throughout this course about a lot of technology I did not know even existed. I thought I was doing well at keeping up on technology, but I found out that I was behind. I like the idea of blogging and how it helped me read my classmates ideas for this session and get wonderful ideas to look up on my own. I am not sure how it would work for 2nd graders to blog. I am not sure that I am comfortable enough to be over a blog myself. It was an educational experience for me just to join the group. I believe that all the 2.0 tools that I have researched in this course have either been ones that I have read about in the blogs or post. I have already posted my thoughts on the three main 2.0 web tools that I have focused on during this course which were Kerpoof, Animoto, and Flat Stanley Mobile. I am looking forward to creating and developing more lessons using web 2.0 tools to help my students in their educational journey. I only want my students to have the best opportunities to be successful in today’s ever changing world.
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with the discussion part of this course. It gave the class the opportunity to communicate ideas and opinions and receive replies that are sometimes very useful. You can learn a lot of new information this way. POLL ANYWHERE appears to be a very valuable Web 2.0 tool for almost all grades. You can poll a class with any question and get varying answers. The program develops the responses into a visual aid, such as a graph. This is a tool I can envision any grade level using to engage the class in discussion and learn about organization of data using visual aides.
ReplyDeletePOLL ANYWHERE: Poll anywhere is a great way to bring in mobile devices into the classroom to access student knowledge during discussion. http://www.polleverywhere.com/
You are right, I think that it is really important to get kids comfortable in answering questions in a variety of ways. Also, have you heard of Socrative? It also allows students to use their own devices for a variety of purposes.
DeleteThis course was wonderful and challenging for me. I had to come out of my comfort zone and utilize my skills that I learned through this course. However, the reading and videos that we engaged in opened my eyes to a bigger and much more creative society. It's funny how I have adopted Voki, I love it we create our own person in class and the kids just laugh and love our animated person.. She teaches the kids a lot and keeps them engaged. I will enjoy the new Apps brought to my attention from this class and already use them with my sons. They have enjoyed this class as much as me, even my now 16 year old. His mind is boggled by all of the websites that this course has given me.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed this course and will take this information with me..Thank YOU!!!
I can't believe how much things have changed since I taught 10 years ago. Before this class I didn't realize how much technology is being used in the classroom. I definitely think technology keeps students engaged and motivated to learn. I have learned so much during this course and can just imagine how exciting these lessons with technology can be for students. If I ever go back to the classroom I will defintely use some of the Web 2.0 tools with my students.
ReplyDeleteI think blogging is a great way of sharing ideas. I think blogs would be a fun way for students to learn and interact with other students.
ReplyDeleteI found some great tools to help students present their projects. One tool the students could use to present their project is Prezi. This tool is great for presentations.
Another great tool is Animoto. This tools help makes the pictures they may have taken or captured come to life. It helps jazz up the presentation.
Google docs and Google sites are both great ways to present and store their projects.
http://prezi.com/
http://animoto.com/
Animoto has a special for educators that when you sign up under your school you can get a free account and 50 student accounts that are able to be used for six months. Animoto is a good choice for younger students or those who do not have a lot of technological skills, most of it is upload photos, add a few sentences and animoto does the rest. I have heard that Storybird is good to use for digital storytelling.
DeleteI think blogging was a great addition to this course. It gave us another venue to share our thoughts, concerns, and in general collaborate with each other. It is in the collaboration and shared wealth of experience and knowledge that I think was the most valuable and informative to me. The only criticism I have is that some of our blogging topics were basically the same thing we discussed in our WVLearns thread.
ReplyDeleteAs far as using blogs in classroom, the possibilities are limitless. I currently have two classes in which my students blog. One is a low functioning 11th grade US History class where they blog after each unit to summarize the major events, people, causes and effects, etc. I use this as another way to assess them. Plus, I think it helps to solidify their understanding of the time period. Here's an example of one of their blogs: www.nickcthomas.blogspot.com In my 11th grade Sociology class(Hight level class) all of my students have blogs and must create a new post each week. They pick the subject matter as long as they can relate it back to sociology (which just about everything can). I love reading these and making comments on them. I can't begin to tell you how many blog posts create lively classroom discussions. To me, this is the true essence of learning. Two great examples of blogs by students in my sociology class are: http://sarahroehrig.blogspot.com/ http://kayleighnicholson.blogspot.com/
Some of the Web 2.0 tools that we didn't read and discuss in this class but that might be useful and pertain to teachers and students are the many Google applications such as Google docs and Google Earth. Also, there are many apps out there that are useful and can be applied in the classroom . Everything from International time zones, currency exchange rate, standard measurement system v. the metric system of measurement, facetime, etc.
I have enjoyed reading and seeing all the resources that are available and getting fresh tech ideas for my school. This blog has allowed be to be more of a resourse for my teachers where I am currently principal. Most recently, during our ISE Day, I had a technology share session where I introduced many of the tools that we have studied as well as gave them an opportunity to share a resource/website/app/program that they found useful in their room. The list was amazing! Our teachers are our best resource if we can just take the time to share that information.
ReplyDeleteWith a tool such as blogging, we can allow more collaboration among teachers. I have been blessed to work in very large schools and smaller ones too. I have found that communication is a barrier in every situation. With blogging, teachers who normally cant plan or discuss issues at school would be able to have a route of communication.
There are several applications in Google that we havent touched on in this class. I have found that these are very good tools to utilize.
I have enjoyed the blogging experience in this class. It seem the same as our discussions but less formal. I think students can turn in their work without the worry of misplacement and cheating. A web 2.0 device I'm using in my project is a CD/DVD Cover Creator I found at readwritethink.org It's simple and easy to use.
ReplyDeleteBlogging in this class has been wonderful. It's great to see collaboration at its best. I could see using a blog in my class for students to share ideas on projects or even create a blog of their own as an extension to a lesson.
ReplyDeleteI've started using Webtop in my class this year. Smilebox is something I've thought about using for my class. It would be great for brochures.
I found the blogging experience is a lot like what we are doing in conference. Type some stuff, hit publish, hold your breath, exhale if it works..... If it doesn't work...... try again. So for me, I liked the conference better. For my class though, since we don't have the online classroom for a place, the experience informs me about the blog possibilities we can use. The threads become a bit tougher to follow requiring people to scroll through but as they engage, it should work.
ReplyDeleteI think control and access will be important for my application. I would want the students and only the students who are involved in the course and project work to be able to access the blog content. I talked about it in class last Monday and the students weren't interested in showing the world their first steps in improving their public speaking skills..... Donno what happens to us. We run to school and can't wait for show and tell. We get a little older and all of a sudden we freak out in front of others.
I have always wanted to use a blog in my classroom and after blogging in this course I am determined to at least try it with my students. Being a Civics Teacher I have always wanted to set up a blog that would allow students to post current events that they are interested in have the rest of the class discuss the event. Also blogging is perfect for answering questions students may have on homework or make up work. I have always been a bit hesitant on using a blog because not all of my students always have the ability to get online outside of school, so implementing it for as assignments could be tricky, but I think the further we get into the 21st Century the easier it will be to have students work this way.
ReplyDeleteOne teacher tool that has come in handy this past semester is Instant Classroom from Superteachertools.com. This website allows you to use an interactive chalkboard that randomly selects students or topics, which is perfect for assigning projects, etc. I like it because it is much easier than having students pick numbers or topics out of a hat. I use it for debate topics, group projects, picking teams for games, etc.
http://www.superteachertools.com/instantclassroom/
A few weeks ago in a staff meeting the subject of blogs and wikis came up. I was able to explain the difference between the two and what they are used for. Blogs are a great way to generate discussion. If anyone is interested in their class making podcasts I recommend these sites.
ReplyDeletehttp://audacity.sourceforge.net/
www.podomatic.com
Blogging is an excellent way to develop literacy skills and increase communication skills. I love the idea of students blogging to express their learning.
ReplyDeleteI visited a classroom teacher last week and she was using www.studystack.com. It was a great site! She did some great things with the site! She also used www.superteachertools.com to create learning activities such a Jeopardy game. I was very impressed with both programs.
I liked blogging for the class. I thought it was a different way to allow students to use technology while still making it a learning environment for them. It is definitely something I want to use when I have a classroom of my own!
ReplyDeleteThe only tricky part of this blogging experience for me was registering. Once that was done, the rest was a piece of cake. I've never set up a blog of my own, but I assume it isn't that difficult to do on a website like blogspot.com I think it would be frustrating to get all of the students (especially for teachers with multiple classrooms) set up, but once that was done at the beginning of the year the benefits would be well worth it. I agree with Randy that the teacher would have to be VERY clear about what type of discussions are appropriate and which aren't. I can see that some students who may be too shy to speak in class might feel more comfortable contributing in this medium. Technology accessibility permitting, I would love to institute blogging when I return to the classroom!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me how much I've learned in six weeks. Not only learned, but learned useful and exciting sites and ideas that I will actually use or am already using. I have borrowed several ideas from my classmates in this course that are already in place. Thank you all so much for sharing such brilliant ideas and opinions. Student interaction, parent communication, horizontal or vertical teacher collaboration, the possibilities for blogging are endless. I thought using a blog with a history class could be students posted under the guise of a historical character. I am going to pitch this idea to our history teachers. I want to thank all of you for the wonderful information you have shared in this class.
ReplyDeleteLike so many others, the blogging experience is pretty new to me. I read some blogs religiously however, I have not been a part of one before. I can see how using a blog in an upper elementary, middle, or high school would be extremely beneficial. I have learned a lot froom reading other people's post and I think that would be the case with students as well.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate all of the information everyone shared! I have learned so much and am excited to start integrating some of these tools into my first grade classroom!
Blogging was new to me and something I am not comfortable with, I do not like to journal, as someone stated I have trouble putting my thoughts into words. I have enjoyed all the new Web 2.0 tooks we have coverec and I have enjoyed hearing how they are being used. If you have not taken them the WEBTop class and the Google Application classes cover additional technologies.
ReplyDeleteBy main problem with the class blog is that I cannot post from home. I have tried multiple computers and when I press Publish everything just disappears. I can only post from the office.
I never thought I would like to "blog" however I have really enjoyed my time here. I have created a blog for the teachers and they feel free to collaborate at anytime.
ReplyDeleteMany of them have even created a blog site for the classroom and the kids love it. I plan to even create a family blog for my family and friends back in TN to see my kids.
I love it !!
I have learned so much in this class. Before we began I was not aware of anything but google.docs, and wikipedia. Now I am armed with so many good Web2.0 tools for future classroom use. I love Animoto and Voki. I also have learned so much from our class blog. I have never blogged before and wasn't sure I would enjoy it but I have.
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly how to set up a blog for classroom use but I will learn over the summer. I really want to teach kindergarten or first grade so I don't know how much blogging they can do. If I get a position in a higher grade I would use blogging in my class for class projects and for assessment even. Blogging is a great way to learn things from colleges.
This class has been enjoyable and the weeks have passed quickly. I have enjoyed the blog, and can see its value.
ReplyDeleteI've pondered the use of a blog or even Twitter to keep in touch with students outside of school - as a way to answer questions or make suggestions or even offer reminders to students about their class work. I've also wondered how COPPA and COPRA are affected or followed by the use of blogs by younger aged children.
Some of the 2.0 tools that I've really enjoyed finding are Edmodo (I had an account but forgot about it!!), and Dropbox. I've been playing with Dropbox some lately and can see its use for teachers and students. Students would no longer need to have a school account or access to email to send work home. Just put it in their dropbox and go from there.