ITM #4 focuses on how teachers and students are using blogs in K-12 education. Ready to jump into the swirl? (8 min)
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Show Notes:
The word "blog" is short for "web-logs," and Wikipedia defines a blog as "a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order." So why are blog's so popular? First, they are VERY easy to create. Using FREE services like Blogger and Live Journal anyone can create a website in minutes. Second, they are collaborative. It's very easy for more than one person to be a "writer" for a single blog (just like the ITM), and your readers can quickly leave comments to tell you what they they about your ideas. Lastly, blogs are interconnected. The words, images, and links from one blog can be easily posted on any other blog, making it easy to spread ideas quickly.
To learn more about how Blog's are being used in education, check out these websites:
- Support Blogging - wiki on educational blogging
- Weblogg-ed - Will Richardson
- 2 Cents Worth - David Warlick
- Savvy Technologist - Tim Wilson
- Class Blogmeister - free student blogs
- Gaggle Blogs - free student blogs
"Ms. Cornelius" publishes a blog called the Shrewdness of Apes - which is a finalist for "Best Educational Blog" in this year's WebBlog Awards. (P.S. The ITM is nominated in a separate competition - the EduBlogs Awards. So you can vote for both of us without feeling guilty!) Be sure to check out her popular post that includes classroom setup advice for rookie teachers.
Teacher "Mike" writes the Education in Texas blog. His entry on the use (and abuse) of the word "dude" can be found here.
"Ms. Frizzle's" blog covers a wide range of topics and chronicles her life as teacher on a near daily basis. Be sure to check out her post asking: "What is education like in different countries?" Then follow her adventures on her new blog: Öğretmen - her insights on teaching in Turkey as a Fullbright Scholar.
Don Knezek is CEO of ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education. ISTE is a non-profit organization that is a trusted source for professional development, knowledge generation, advocacy, and leadership for innovation. They also run the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) - the largest ed tech conference in the world. This year's conference is in Atlanta in June 2007.
Here are some webcasts we did from last year's NECC Conference that you might find interesting.
ITM correspondent Wes Fryer (Speed of Creativity) reported from the rolling prairies of Oklahoma. Be sure to check out his Konza Prairie entry on Wikipedia.
Thanks to the students from Mr. Hernandez' class at Price Elementary School in Anaheim, CA, for helping us explain what the Infinite Thinking Machine is!
You channel Bill Nye very nicely! Easy to digest for even the newest newbies I will post this clip to my school blog for parents and teachers.
ReplyDeleteChris ...still the best thing for teachers on the web and probably the only edu-site I regularly check.
ReplyDeleteLong may it continue!
Wes,
ReplyDeleteGreat visual to associate blogs with leaving a trail. Made me go back and think about about the fact that my use of blogging tools with students have indeed left a trail, so tonight I went back to our original blogs starting in August 2001 and poked around. Probably the most interesting mark in the trail was September 11, 2001, when post for the day strayed from the way we had been using them. Mostly we were using a blog tool “xanga” to facilitate differentiated instruction in my classrooms. We were not writing for an audience –other than ourselves. It was a “tool” – more than a process for our classroom. However, it still left a trail – that today I can reflect on as I examine my teaching, and I’m sure the kids can reflect on as they review their documentation of learning. Introducing new materials is one way to learn, but so is taking the time to back and reflect on our journey. Thanks, Wes for remind me of that.