What was this chapter about/What does it tell us about teaching students?
Davies and Merchant discuss blogging! They want to explore how we view blogging as a way of interactive text. Blogging has become a social practice. Their popularity is booming and it is extremely user-friendly. Basically, blogs are online journals that include updates often and short posts. Blogs can be used to share recipes, stories, travel stories, criticize, share obsessions, etc. Graphic design also plays a big role in blogging. This is extremely important in the semantics of the blog! Color, layout, images, and sound all contribute to the mood and meaning given from the author. Individuals develop blogger identities and often reveal very intimate details about their lives. Individuals develop online relationships where those in their social network will visit often. This chapter tells us that there are so many new interactive texts out there now. Students may feel free to share what is on their mind more openly if they have a blog. They may create a blogger identity and share important and personal things. However, once something is on the internet, it's out there for the world to see. So I think we need to be careful about how we go about using blogs in the classroom and extremely careful about privacy settings, etc. Blogging could be a great way for teachers to integrate technology and writing into the classroom!
Does this chapter apply to all content areas?
Somewhat, yes. As students grow older, blogging could be a great way to share ideas and find connections. In elementary school, online blogging could be dangerous and too mature, but there may be a way to have them simply role-play or have them use microsoft word to practice their typing skills and share their thoughts on an idea.
I like the idea of blogger idenities but I think it has to be closely monitored. Some students may just feel more comfortable online and developing online relationships can be a good and a bad thing. I also agree that students need to be careful about what they post.
ReplyDeleteI agree that students need to demonstrate some maturity in posting online. I think there is a great "teaching responsibility and respect" moment embedded in allowing students to communicate online. However, I notice that, if students understand that their teachers (as well as parents) are monitoring online activity, they seem to be acting responsibly. I think that sometimes our upper elementary-grade students surprise us with how well they can handle themselves in both offline and online environments.
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