I’ve required students to keep a daily notebook in my classes. It’s a great way to consolidate small class participation exercises and other classroom activities. I collect these notebooks at random. It’s a good way for me to monitor progress, especially my quiet students.
When I return to the classroom I want to try to shift some of these activities to blogs. I realize that there are some difficulties associated with this (harder to have in the classroom without a computer for everyone, I cannot assume every student will have internet access from home) but I like the organizational element of blogs. It’s easier for me to check on the blogs both because of how I can access them whenever I want and tagging makes it easy to sort out classes and assignments.
In a social studies class, discussion is especially important because opinions are what shape understanding of the content. I like the idea of extending class discussion beyond the classroom so that students can be constantly thinking about the content in small increments. Requiring students to respond to readings in their own posts, as well as commenting on posts made by their peers, will promote collaborative learning.
2 comments:
Im with you on the journal point, I have a similar philosophy in regards to using blogs in place of them. Lets face it, blogging is more flexible than writing. For example I think you can bring digital images into place. Instead of having a student construct a response on a picture that isn't ever going to get into their notebook, they can copy something from the internet, post it on their blog then make comments from there. When they go back to reflect on that post they will have the picture there!
I agree with your plan to use a Blog as a supplemental discussion and journal piece. In all honesty I don't believe that a Blog could ever stand in for the rich and fluid discussion that can take place in a face-to-face interaction but it is a wonderful tool for students who may be verbally shy.
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