Journal 9

Journal 9
Avoiding the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Using Blogs with Students
Ruth Reynard, Ph.D.

Reynard, R. (2008, October, 15). Avoiding the 5 most common mistakes in using blogs with students. The Journal, Retrieved January 6, 2009, from http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23434_4

In this article, Ruth Reynard gives guidelines to teachers on the proper way to use blogs. While blogs can be a great tool, if used incorrectly, it can just make the student frustrated and not want to participate. Reynard explains that teachers need to have some sort of guideline of what they want from students. Without some sort of guide, students will get frustrated and have a harder time expressing their thought process in the blog. Teachers also need to explain to their students what they want the learning outcomes to be from the blog. This means to make sure the students will take the critical thinking, knowledge construction etc. and use it in the future. The four learning outcomes Reynard feels are important is analysis, synthesis, new ideas, and application. Students would be able to compare and contrast different ideas and take those ideas and incorporate new ideas. New ideas can only emerge when information is processed and applied (analysis and synthesis). Once students have these new ideas, they can only become meaningful when applied to real life. Clear grading is also necessary. This is another way that students will get frustrated if this are not explained to them. It is also important that students feel comfortable blogging. Because this is a public place for students to share their thoughts, it is necessary to make sure the right internet environment is used (blog, wiki, etc).

I think sharing your personal thoughts or work with the teacher is sometimes nerve-racking enough, but having to share your work with peers makes it that much more scary. I think it is very important to use these guidelines. People do not like doing things out of their comfort zone and this would be one of those things. The more instruction and information the student gets about the blog, the less ‘frightening’ it will be.

1) How could a blog be used in a Special Education classroom?
I think the idea of a blog would be something that would be difficult to use in a Special Ed class. If it was simplified a little, I think it could be a great tool to help students interact. Questions could be asked on the blog about the students interests etc and other students could go on and see what their peer likes, when they normally wouldn’t ask that question themselves.

2) What are the benefits of blogging compared to turning in an assignment that only the teacher reads?
When a student knows that his/ her peers will be reading their work, it is almost certain that they will put a lot more effort into that assignment. Not only will one person be reading their thoughts, but now a classroom full of their peers will be also. With that hard work, it is very beneficial for students to read their classmates work. Everyone has a different view on things and what one student gets out of an assignment; another could have had a completely different view. Being able to read other peoples work will give a student more knowledge that they never would have thought of before.