“The Internet is this generation’s defining technology for literacy. Schools need to prepare students for these new literacies by integrating them into the curriculum, and blogs are an easy way to begin.”
I definitely agree with the statements above from the HOT blogging article. How else are students going to be aware of the new technologies if we do not introduce them to them. Besides just introducing blogging, students need to be actively engaged too. Students will be easily distracted if all their posts are prediction answers. What fun is that? In order to elicit response, the questions need to be of higher order thinking… have the students state their opinion and then WHY they think that way.
I think the best method to blogging is using the blog in several different aspects. One blog can be a classroom news, mirror, showcase and literature response blog. The main site can be the classroom news so that family, parents can view the website as a source for information about upcoming events, homework, or any help that may be needed. The mirror, showcase, and literature response blogs can be separate pages within the main blog. Students can showcase their work on the showcase page and parents can view it to see their students’ progress, achievements throughout the year. That way, all students are actively involved throughout the entire blog. Each student does not have to post on each section, just ones that they are fully comfortable on. Students can even create their own pages to add to their classroom’s blog!
