Blogging

=[|Kelly's Blog]=

=** Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog **= =[]=

​ If you are considering introducing blogging to your classroom, this article is a must-read. Patricia Deubel has a Ph. D. in computing technology in education, and while the article could be considered "outdated", it addresses an issue that remains current as far back as we can remember-ethics. While the debate of ethics may differ today than it was years ago, the question remains the same-".....are we keeping our students safe and instilling ethical considerations in them?"

Dr. Deubel lists guidelines drawn from her experiences of online teaching that I have found to be invaluable. Four simple guidelines that could either make your blogging experience an effective teaching tool or a disastrous attempt at integrating technology into the classroom.

= What is Educational Blogging? []= Not only is this an informative article on blogging in the classroom; it's embedded in a Wiki that is loaded with links, articles, resources, etc. pertaining to educational blogging. As quoted by the author, " One of the great educational benefits of the read/write web, and blogging particularly, is the opportunity for the student to become a "teacher" by presenting material to an audience. When we teach, we learn." This article summarizes (5) advantages blogging offers students, with the most important one, in my opinion, being empowerment to the student. We encourage the student to be responsible for themselves and for what they learn. Blogging takes their creative writing and communication skills to the next level and provides them the opportunity to "...write from the head and the heart."

=​Educational Blogging [|http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0450.pdf]=  This article, written by Stephen Downes, discusses his personal evolution of blogging, beginning with a webpage he created as a better means of storing bookmarks. He speaks of the endless blogs out there, each having their own purposes. What started as the online equivalent of a personal journal, it has incorporated the best features of hypertexting: link-driven sites that lead you to an expansive collection of resources related to your topic of interest.

Eventually, Downes gets down to the nuts and bolts of using blogging in the classroom, listing five defenses in support of using it at all educational levels. This is a dry, at times REALLY dry article, but serves it purpose by addressing the evolution of blogging and how it came to play such an important role in the education of our students today. = = = Top Ten Blog Tips [] =

This is an interesting website, if nothing else. I'm including it as a "second-thought" merely for entertaining purposes. If you are interested in loads and loads of blogs of one guy's opinions about blogging, sprinkled with some actual SOUND advice, you may want to casually peruse this sight. If you can get past the guys ego and sarcasm, he actually does offer some good "tidbits."

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