Week 3- Blogger Reflection

Blogger is a great tool for the classroom environment if used appropriately. It is a great Web 2.0 example that has many functions. It allows students to be able to post images, links, videos and text in different fonts and colours. Although only the administrator can edit and change information posted on the Blog, other students and teachers can post comments underneath the Blog which may lead to further discussion. After conducting some research I have found many ways Blogs can be utilised in the classroom. Resourcing the Curriculum (2012) has a page about Blogs in Education and there you can view a vast array of ways that these blogs can stimulate meaningful learning in the classroom. The website shows that in a Health and Physical Education class a blog could be used as a health diary, where students can record their food intake and daily exercise over a period of time and then attempt to make changes to these habits. In a History classroom I would use a blog in two ways:

• The first; acting as a place where students can leave comments about good sources of information they have found about a particular assignment or just something they found interesting. Scaffolding questions would be appropriately utilised to ensure active engagement.
• The second would be as a sort of research reflective log. History is no longer about learning facts and dates. It is about acquiring the skills to be able to locate and use credible sources of information appropriately and understanding the nature of historical sources (bias etc.,). Students are often required to reflect upon their research journey, a step which is often not done well. The blog could be used as an attempt to engage students in reflective practices. It would be more successful than what is mostly being done in schools at the moment as blogs are a large part of student's lives in the 21st century (Connectedness). It also reflects Constructivist theories in the way that already acquired knowledge (or existing schemas) will be assimilated with the new knowledge. It forces metacognition in a way that is fun and interesting to the students. 

I have used a PMI Chart to determine the pluses, minuses and implication for the use of a blog in the classroom and because of this I feel as though I have developed a well thought out opinion of blogs in the classroom.