I have been walking this “weblog” country for a couple of years. Jill’s post plus some of the reactions from the participants in the ESL/EFL online weblog session have got me thinking again about how to effectively teach weblogs. I’ve concluded that I don’t know the best way, and probably never will but I am going to keep on trying because I think it is heading us in a direction that is eventually going to make some needed changes in education.
Teaching about weblogs is so interesting and yes, so hard. It’s not a one shot thing. Seeds have to be planted and time provided for thinking about it. I’ve seen many educators who just can’t see possibilities with it. It is a little disconcerting at first. It is not a way that educators traditionally teach or communicate. Their immediate reaction seems to be one of trying to make it fit into something they already know. They want to convert it to a “regular” web page and don’t see how. Then they view it through one lens like a list of links, assignments, or random thoughts and they immediately toss it out as being of no value to what they do or want to do. Some equate it with teenage diaries and can’t get past that. Then some complain about the writing that their students do on the posts or comments. That is the one complaint that does bother me because that is where the role of a good teacher comes in- our golden opportunity to use it as a teaching tool. We have to be willing to take the time to make sure that weblogs are used to make authentic and exciting connections to what we are teaching. We have to get the kids excited, show them possibilities, and work at getting them excited about caring enough about what they write to produce a good product. That’s our job, our challenge, and our joy. It’s not a place to just turn them loose and expect good results. It takes hard work on a teacher’s part - teaching! It’s a place to oversee, guide, and help them see the value of writing. It’s working at giving them ownership but all the while raising the bar. Yes, student and teacher, working together to try to make it better.
Then there are others though who quietly observe what is going on by viewing other educational weblogs. They think about how they might apply it. They’re not sure just how to go about it but they are interested and they are thinking. They are not quite sure if they want to put their thoughts out there in this manner. It is a little scary. They are hesitant. They want to join in and their minds are open to possibilities. They need time and a mentor to be there to help and let them know that all of this is still a new animal in the field of education and we are all learning together. It’s OK; in fact I think it is good to take risks to make learning more exciting and relevant to today’s students. I also can’t help but think that as more and more of us are exploring weblogs in education, better and more effective ways of teaching about it will emerge.
Another group, although small, are those that just jump into the mix and get very excited about weblogs in education. They share their experiences and try to get others interested. They are risk takers and will charge forward into new areas and we will all learn from them.
I’m sure there are other groups. I think I fit into the second group when I first began. My first experience with weblogs was recording the journey of learning when I was teaching a group of fourth graders about palm pilots and how to use them in their learning in their reading classes. I had no idea about how to make it interactive but as I was logging the journey I was also busy searching the web for other examples. I was lucky to find some good examples, which I just continued to read and think about. They were my mentors. Then I just dove in and started blogging. Sometimes I am still startled that I writing my thoughts for any to see. I never imagined such a venture but it is great. It is hard work but the rewards are many - both with networking with other educators and especially the sharing of the learning with students!
One thing that weblogs do offer us is the perspective of many different voices and this is so needed for all of us educators. It’s our voices. That’s hard to get in another avenue. Plus these voices are unchecked. I may not like what some say. I may be exhilarated by what others say but I can take it all as more food for thought and keep on thinking about how to broaden the educational weblog community. I am going to try harder to get this important aspect across in my training sessions.
Having a door open to a greater community of learners is such a wonderful thing for educators. We can learn, we can grow, and we can listen to all these voices and emerge the better for it. So can our students.