Blogs in the classroom!

At the elementary level there are many ways that a teacher could incorporate blogs into the class to make it more interesting! Although it may be difficult with the younger children who don't have a lot of skill in reading and writing, it can be used in the place of pencil and paper writing in the upper elementary grades. Knowing that many students will be more interested in work that involves technology or needs to be done on a computer, blogs can be used as a replacement to reaction and summary papers. Blogs often are made as a commentary, so giving students this practice and pairing it with school work will give them a look into the practical use of blogs while they are still completing assignments. In projects where the teacher is interested in the progress of a student or group, blogs can be used as a tool to record and comment on difficulties experienced or as a method to collaborate with other students and groups, as they will be able to share their thoughts through their blogs.

Technology has become a very successful tool in the classroom. For teachers, it serves as a compliment to lessons, another means of conveying a message, and, as in the above example, can be used to replaced what could be called "the traditional way of doing things", in order to better engage the students. For students, it serves as way to incorporate their interests (technology) and opinions, into their work. Students may also take more pride in their blog than they would written work because it is personalized by them. Students may also have an incentive to give a little more to their work if they know that their classmates and anyone with the web address to their blog can view their work.

It can also be a disadvantage for students or teachers who are not too technologically inclined. Blogs wouldn't work in a classroom where the students or teacher didn't have patience for figuring out how to create and edit a blog. It can also be disadvantageous for students who value that their work is kept private between them and the teacher. It can either be positive for that student, helping them break away from that and become comfortable with voicing their opinions and displaying their work, or it can create anxiety for that student.

As far as GoogleApps is concerned, I'm not a big fan. I am still in the phase of learning my way in and out of this software, so I think my opinion may have a lot to do with what I am familiar with, and therefore most comfortable with, which is Microsoft Office. I do, however, like that you can open the Google Presentation app, in Microsoft's Powerpoint, and edit the document. I also like the ability to share documents, but can also can control who can and can't see them. I don't really have anything bad to say about the program because I haven't had much experience using it, but I'm sure as I do I will build a solid preference and will have much more to say. :)