What are the pros and cons of blogging? I have personally used a type of blog to collaborate with a first grade classroom a few times. The first grade students would post about a common topic that both classes were discussing and then my students (I) would respond to their posts as a group. we would talk back and forth about the same topic. My students loved to hear what the first grade students were saying.
Pros: Great way to communicate back and forth with other classrooms when you are unable to talk face to face. It also allows students to use their 21st century skills to communicate rather then pencil and paper all the time. It is accessible at any time and any place.
Cons: Difficult to keep up with when there is so many other things to do and to be taught. If one person or group does not keep up with the blog, it becomes pointless.
I do believe that blogs have many educational benefits and ways they can be used in the classroom that I will touch on in my next entry. Blogs can also be used to collaborate with other professionals. They can be used to share ideas and resources and give feedback to each other. All of these uses help an educator become a more effective teacher. I also use blogs to check out other ways teachers are teaching similar topics so I can find the best methods and resources to teach my children. Until next time!
For an organized list of the pros and cons of blogging, click here
To learn about the pros and cons of using blogs for learning, click here
Blogging as a source of social networking for young children... check it out here
I love your idea about blogging with first graders! It is especially important with our younger learners to introduce them to communicating via the web, and it sounds like you had a great way to do that! You are absolutely right about it being difficult to keep up with. When one person or group does not keep up, maybe that is a good chance to teach this lesson to students - if communication is not frequent enough, it loses value. This shows students (in a very basic way) the importance of timely feedback to their peers, and opens the discussion about appropriate and frequently updated sources of information.
ReplyDeleteI might borrow your idea! Hope that's ok :)
You brought up a great point about the importance of timely communication. Especially in this example of blogging, consistent communication is key in order to keep the blog alive. I love this idea as well! I was thinking about how this would greatly benefit fifth graders getting ready to move into middle school. Perhaps a blog between middle school students and teachers with the fifth graders would be a great way for these elementary students to become more familiar and comfortable with the middle school environment.
ReplyDeleteI love that idea! I wonder if I could do it with my second graders getting ready to go to the elementary school, as well. We are a primary building, so students go somewhere else for third grade. The transition is always tough, but this kind of activity might really help!
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