A Teacher’s Take on Weblogs
For me, weblogs spell possibilities. Students don’t write a lot, do not enjoy it, and most view it as a chore. Weblogs, in the hands of a good teacher, can change that. Weblogs were meant to be writing spaces. They are also places where a lot of learning can occur. I know I enjoy quick browses through new weblogs that I discover. They lead me on daily paths of learning. I like to think that in time we will have classrooms where students have time to explore and learn in this way. Under the guidance of a good teacher, this can be a great way to make connections to the “established curriculum in schools.” A teacher could easily point them in the right direction to explore. We have to work more at putting self-directed learning in the hands of students.We’re in a world where so much information is available to all and we need to help students learn how to manage this and how to stop and think about the content. Weblogs give us different perspectives and wonderful opportunities to teach students how to learn and grow from all the different “voices”.
Then, there’s the element of anticipation and excitement. This can be exhillerating for both teachers and students. When I reflect on the NewsQuest project, one of the best parts of the day would be when the children came bouncing in from their classrooms. They absolutely could not wait to open their weblogs, and the very first item of business was to check and see who had made comments on their writing. On occasion one of them would have a response from an unknown source and much discussion would follow such as “Who is that?”, “How did they find us?”. “Wow, they like what I wrote.”
Having an audience, and the possibility of such a large one, is one of the main attributes of weblogs that make them such a worthwhile technology to use with students. Some days my students would discover comments on something that they had written months earlier. This provided an excellent avenue for review and re-thinking about what they had previously written. The other key element is the ownership. It is empowering in a way that is hard to describe. This space belongs to them.A part of me balks at reserving weblogs for the finished products because I think it is the drafting process, the thinking, the rearranging of thoughts that leads to “aha” moments or moments where they really care about the topic being discussed. Having this open to all enables others to profit from the experience. We can have both emerging learning products as well as finished products, but I for one hope we have more of the emerging type!
I grow weary of all the efforts to pigeon-hole weblogs into a tight little space of what it is and what it is not. Don’t get me wrong, I love the discussion but what I love even more is the “free-spirit” aspect of weblogs- actually, you can make them be whatever you want them to be. What is important, at least in education, is to make sure that we build in time for discussion and reflection on what it is we are trying to accomplish. We need to figure out ways to evaluate the process, too.
My take is that educators are going to find a myriad of ways to use weblogs in the classroom. The possibilities are limitless.
August 1st, 2003 at 8:14 pm
Anne, Great reflection. I saw the same reactions and enthusiasm for writing from my students this year. We’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg for all the possible uses of weblogs in the classroom. It’s exciting to see all the weblog uses and ideas teachers are coming up with now.
August 15th, 2003 at 7:53 pm
Great post ! I had a mild brainstorm. What if students posted thier papers in the form of a weblog ? With comments enabled ? How would a potential audience of (realisticlly) of 2 to five million people worldwide react to their book report of Huckleberry Finn ? Eh, let the good times roll