Vicki Davis has a great article about classroom blogging. She’s provided a bunch of links that I won’t have time to follow right away, and she touched on a subject that has been simmering on my back burner for a while now. As a teacher of elementary-aged students who have little experience as writers, very spotty access to computers at home, and limited access at school, I’ve been curious to learn what the kids would do with a chance to publish on the internet. I’ve had two different groups go at it, and they’ve each taken completely different directions. The first group wrote mainly personal narratives. My current crew is fascinated with fiction. I’ve tried steering them back to reality, but they are highly resistant. Both groups loved commenting on each others’ posts.
The classroom blogs have built community and reinforced a vision that the kids have of themselves as writers. As the teacher, I don’t (usually) tell them what to write, but I try to find out what they want to say, and help them do that.
I agree with Vicki’s position on what blogs and wikis are not, when she says that they are
NOT A place to just turn in papers – Papers are best turned in on… well, paper. You can mark up errors on paper and correct things. You don’t do that as well on blogs. NOT A replacement for message boards. Message boards have their place. NOT Something that will just sit there and run itself without teacher involvement. Not having to grade isn’t here.
I wonder if it isn’t a little early to make pronouncements about what blogs are, though. I think it’s good to talk about what they might be, because I’m intrigued with the idea that we might be developing an entirely new writing form.
As with everything else we do with kids in school, I think we should take a developmental approach to the kinds things students might use a blog for at their various ages and levels of ability and understanding.
I share Vicki’s preference for blog posts with links, and I’m looking for ways to help my students recognize the value of them as well. One of the problems we face with that, however, is that in the early stages of internet use (for little kids), they haven’t had a lot of experience doing anything much more than playing games online. Finding the time in school to let them explore the web is an invitation to goof off. We need to teach them how to read the web as well as write the web. It seems to me we have a long way to go before younger students begin to see the internet as an information resource, and not simply an entertainment opportunity. I’m not opposed to entertainment, but we’re talking about school now.
The problem with developing a pedagogy for the use of social software is that we don’t have a lot of examples yet because this is all relatively new. Teachers have generally not caught on, and neither have parents in my experience. The issue is compounded by the rapid pace of technological development, so that by the time we begin to get a handle on appropriate uses for the technology at different levels of schooling, we have new tools to work with.
I enjoy reading Vicki’s blog because it’s both passionate and practical (a recipe for success in any teacher). I think that she can shed some daylight (and where I live it’s coming on strong now) on the questions that I still have about how to get 10 year-olds proficiently using new technology tools for purposes of their own.
To begin with, though, I’m wondering what those authentic purposes might be? What form does responsible, but immature, participation in online conversations take? And what besides a teacher’s directive will set kids in motion? I see the need for developing a rationale as well as a method that is generally understood (nobody asks why we would use books or paper in school). There is still not consensus on why kids should be writing to the web in school. Many teachers see it, but not that many. And a lot of administrators don’t get it, which is a problem since without the endorsement of the leadership, relatively few teachers will want to explore the potential which the technology offers.
The great thing about being here early is that we get to see the whole party, and might even be able to influence the direction that things ultimately end up going.
6 Comments
This is an insightful and meaningful post, Doug. I appreciate your reflections on the blog.
I too, think blogs are evolving in their uses. As human teachers, we bring our human faults (and strengths) to the web. I’m beginning to see some dissillusioned articles cropping up in “educational leadership” magazines and they are disturbing me greatly.
These “leadership” articles don’t seem to have witnessed firsthand the transformation that I have in my classroom. The articles have witnessed a system that hasn’t given good, passionate teachers free reign to try anything new except on a supplemental basis. Adding blogging to the core of a curriculum remains something a few renegades or those with direct involvement in curriculum (like me) to do.
You give an excellent, methodical voice to the discussion. I can see your experience echoing through this post. Thank you for complimenting me with the quote and thoughts. I hope more educators will reflect on the topic as well so that we can head off the coming backlash against technology by those who do not understand and are afraid of myspace.
I seem to remember leaving a similar comment here not long ago, but will repeat it here in the hopes of testing the waters… Another aspect of blogging that I sense is the speed. Communication is not just a matter of transmitting and receiving information. People need to be on the same page. Why do bloggers or message board members “lurk” at the beginning? Because it takes a while to become accustomed to the language and the concepts of a blog or community; it takes time to get on the same page. When someone posts “we need to get the new story out”, who is “we”? What “story”? What was the “old” story? It takes time to latch on, to learn the ropes, to get on the same page as the people who have been conversing here (wherever “here” may be) prior to my entry. The rapidity (from the ease) of blogging means that many people around the world can now get on the same page as others very, very quickly. I sense that this has pretty huge implications, tho I’m not clear as to what those might be. I recently attended a conference at which the keynote speaker said, “It’s important that large numbers of people become better educated very quickly” (at least, that’s my interpretation). If that is the case, blogging, via the Internet, just may make that possibility a reality. Of course, there are still barriers and difficulties, not least is language: English may be the “language of the Internet” for the time being, but there are surely huge numbers of other-language speakers who are using the Internet. What are they talking about? The same issues? How can we know each others’ conversations? Is it important that we do so? I think it is.
Here’s a concrete example of what I mean: what if the governing leaders of one country had decided on a policy or course of action which would necessarily (in today’s world) have a global impact, but in which only the registered voters of that one country had a legal say in the matter? What if the world’s population got to hear about this very quickly (within a week or less)? What if the majority of the world’s opinion was not in agreement with that policy, even tho they had no legal say in the matter? What if that majority opinion could then get itself heard very, very quickly (most of it within 24 hours)? And if this majority opinion could very quickly recognize itself as a majority opinion?
Being/getting on the same page as people one is in communication with is a major hurdle. The Internet seems to provide a way for that to happen, but at vastly increased speeds. What does this speed mean for the planet?
Doug wrote To begin with, though, I’m wondering what those authentic purposes might be? What form does responsible, but immature, participation in online conversations take? I don’t know, but how about asking the kids themselves? Or “asking” by observing what they do?
MP, you’re a great question-asker. I don’t have answers, myself, but I love the feel of a question that is ripe with possibilities. I’ll have to come back to the “getting on the same page” quickly issue. I wonder what factors would encourage or inhibit people from making the necessary connections? What influences the formation of community? I know there are smart people out there who are looking at these things. I haven’t had a lot of time to look into it.
As far as “asking by observing,” that’s an art that I’m still perfecting. A critical piece of reporting that is to have the presence of mind to recognize what you’re seeing and to document it so you don’t forget. There’s a lot going on in a classroom-all the time.
I think I agree with Marco Polo when he says we should ask the kids. My idea, but I haven’t gotten to it yet, was to publish my own teacher’s blog and let the kids either comment or make their own posts.
Initially, I would moderate their input; later, maybe not. At first it would be an experiment, to see what develops back and forth from them to me, them to each other, and so on.
It could/would be an extension of discussions we had in school that day. Every teacher runs out of time to fully develop something. Why not continue the discussion after school through a blog. Pose an interesting and provokative question (age appropriate, of course) and see what develops. You could then pick up where you left off online when you see everyone in school the next morning.
Here’s how the discussion in school the next day might go:
“Hey, I liked what you said, Joey, about such-and-such last night online. You were really on top of that when you said such-and-such about this-and-that,” said the Teacher.
“Well, thanks, Teacher! It’s just that I’ve been wondering about this for quite some time and….” said Joey.
“Hey, I missed that one! I couldn’t get online last night. My brother was using the computer all evening for a paper and I never had a chance. I’ll sure get on tonight. You guys seemed to have had a great time discussing such-and-such…,” said Mary.
“Yea, I feel left out. My Mom won’t let me use the computer at all during the week. Teacher, could you speak to her about this?” said Elizabeth.
“Sure, how about if we print out the blog entry from last night. You can use it to open up a conversation with her. Tell Mom how we continued the discussion today in class, and how it started yesterday in class. Maybe she’ll change her mind if you keep your time online to a reasonable length during the week, say a half-hour? Give it a try, but remember, Mom’s the Boss!” said the Teacher.
Am I dreaming, pie-in-the-sky, or could this really happen? Why not try it and see?
Hi Paul, your idea pushed my thinking a little bit. Very simple, and potentially very powerful. I’m going to give it a try on Monday. Just a thought here, I suspect that getting a meaningful response from the kids, just like blogging outside the classroom, will undoubtedly depend on knowing what kinds of posts will tickle the kids’ imaginations and move them to say the interesting kinds of things that I hear when I’m closely listening. Who knows? We’re just tossing around ideas here, right?
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