Week 10 ; Beware of ...blogging

As you already know class blog enhanced with other Web 2.0 tools is my idea of my project plan .Anyway , things are not as easy as they may look .

Reynard (2008b) notes five common mistakes when using blogs in instruction and how to avoid those:
1. Ineffective contextualization: For students to benefit, instructors must have clear planning as to "exactly where the tool will be used in the flow of the course, how often the tool will or might be used, and how necessary the tool is to the learning process. In the case of blogging, the most effective use of this tool is in the area of self reflection or thought processing" (online p. 1).
2. Unclear learning outcomes: Learning outcomes are more than course objectives. "If the instructor is unclear as to what the learning outcomes of the course are and is focused only on course objectives, the potential of the blog tool may not be maximized." A blog can be a place to help students process their thoughts and ideas for analysis and synthesis, capture new ideas well for others to view and absorb, and a place where they can articulate how new ideas they've acquired can be directly applied in real life contexts of practice and use (online p. 2).
3. Misuse of the environment: What is the purpose intended for using the blog? Blogs are not the same as wikis. Reynard believes "The essential difference between a blog and other online tools is that it is intended to be an individual publication: a one-way monologue or self-post to which others may comment but do not contribute" (online p. 3). The blog entry remains as originally posted.
4. Illusive grading practices. Students need rubrics to know how they will be graded. As blogs contain a series of statements, an assessment rubric might address specific statement types such as reflective statements, commentary statements, new idea statements and application statements (online p. 3).
5. Inadequate time allocation: Students need adequate time to process information and then post to a blog. Reynard recommends the blog remain open throughout a course (online p. 4).


Advance preparation is needed, including preparing students for how to write to a blog so that what they say is LARK, the acronym for Legal, Appropriate, Responsible, and Kind. Julie Sturgeon (2008) also provides some pitfalls to avoid when using blogs in the classroom:
1. Educators should not just jump in to blogging. Before students blog alone, Anne Davis (Sturgeon, 2008) says that teachers should "spend time letting students see samples, understand guidelines, and anticipate blogging and what it can mean to their learning" (p. 26). Consider using Anne Davis's Webquest, Blogging: It's Elementary!, to introduce your elementary students to blogging.
2. Don't confuse blogging with social networking. An educational blog is about collaboration and expressing ideas related to academic content.
3. Don't leap to freebies. Some free blog spaces post advertisements out of the educator's control. The blog might not be a private space. Students might be able to access the entire blogging world and vice-versa.
4. Don't force a sequential style. Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order and valuable content might be overlooked as time passes. With advance preparation, teachers can add structure to a blog by designating topics for discussion.
5. Don't leave the blogging to the students. Teachers need to join in the discussion. (pp. 26-30).