Blogs in Education

You would think that a search engine is a search engine no matter what company owns it. However, when I searched for the words "Educational Blogs" a few different items came up. When I used Google I got sites that organized lists of different blogs on education and sites that listed other blogs that educators use. When I used Yahoo I got one of the same exact sites that Google gave me and one that was a book review written by a teacher on some book on technology. When I went to ask.com it came up with a site that offered free web blogs for educators and also there was another site that had blogs written by teachers.

Now the search engines may produce different websites to visit but what those website have to offer is really pretty interesting. One blog type website is actually used as a school's website and there is even a place for all the teachers to have a space for online discussions and an in depth look at that class. Also the principal has a place to post notes and comments about things that are going on in the classroom. Also, there is a blog site that offers free blogs for students so they can discuss many topics online with other students. Another cool feature that blogs have been used with are as informational websites that provide help with blogs in the classroom. These helpful hints can really help educators to learn all about blogs and how to optimize use in the classroom.

Another fascinating technical feature is the RSS reader and reader aggregators which provide news updates right into the website. It would be helpful to have news updates on a class website so that students can stay up on their news breaks all around the world. Having a news reader which gives the students an update on the news they can then write a blog about their opinions of the world and current events. Some bad things about having a RSS reader is that you need to have good Internet hook ups and computer access, which can be a problem for some schools. Also a news update may not be appropriate for all age groups because it might be to advanced for them. On the other hand RSS readers can help students to form political opinions and compassion for people around the world. Also blogs allow students to have discussions that are less likely to get out of hand, allowing children to express themselves freely.

WebQuest

Web Quest is a great resource to use to get students to interact in new and exciting ways outside of the classroom. A web quest gives students the opportunity to explore the Internet. After an in class discussion with some of my colleagues on the benefits of a web quest I have learned a great deal of information that I would like to share with you. A web quest can help to facilitate group work for classes that may not be filled with time for group work. Also working together in groups is not done as much as it should be in high school classrooms. Also a web quest can be a problem in areas where computer accessibility at home is a concern for most children. In that particular case you may have to add computer time into the daily schedule or arrange a day or two of meeting in the schools computer lab.

Even though you may run into a few bumps along the way a web quest can help guide the learning of the children. Also if a teacher decides to not create a web quest they can use previously created web quests as resources in the class or to help supplement lesson plans. I also discovered in my discussion with colleagues that there is a lot more information out there that I did not uncover. If I had done more exploring of the web quest website I would have found very specific assignments rather than the general ones that I found. A web quest can be very beneficial to a number of lessons. It would not hurt to explore web quests that are already in function or to just create your own for the purpose of benefiting your students.

Multiple Intelligences and technology

Oh to be intelligent in other ways. This is what Gardner had in mind when he introduced his multiple intelligences theory. This theory makes so much sense when you consider the numerous talents that children posses today. Another element that is working in favor of the multiple intelligences theory is technology. When you have children that thrive with lessons that are focused on nature and are naturalistic in nature it might be difficult to accommodate them in the classroom environment. In that case you can assign work over the Internet or through power point and then the students can tap into the nature they need. They can also write essays on environmental issues with research they have found on the Internet. Having that outlet for children is so beneficial because they are focusing their efforts on something that really interests them and they enjoy it as well. What can be better for a child than learning new information while having fun as well. The Internet and other forms of technology, like music and sometimes even cell phones, can help children to broaden their horizons and expand their knowledge base.