What is a blog?
The word “blog” is short for "Web log." A blog is a specialized site that allows an individual or group of individuals to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. (www.pvt.com/oth/glossary.htm) It offers readers the opportunity to reply to opinions and link to their own blogs. (www.iab.ie/FAQs/DefinitionofTerms/) Some blogs have definite authors who disclose their names, and some has anonymous authors who use a nickname.(www.searchenginegenie.com/search-engine-glossary-b.htm)
Why am I requiring students to post on a blog?
As part of a “Society, Issues, and Identity” unit, two of my classes will post occasionally to a classroom blog. Because it is important for them to be safe and protected when using the Internet for classroom purposes, they are posting on the classroom blog using pseudonyms.
What is a pseudonym?
A pseudonym is a "false name" or alias used by a writer desiring not to use his or her real name. Sometimes called a nom de plume or "pen name. (home.cfl.rr.com/eghsap/apterms.html) A pseudonym serves many purposes. An assumed name protects the anonymity of an author.(www.reddeerbookexchange.com/terminology.htm) Fictitious names are often used when the person performs a particular social role. (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn) In this situation, students are using a blog to publish their classroom learning experiences.
Do all students have to post to the blog for every assignment?
No. Several windows for extra credit opportunity will open and close for students to post. In a privileged community where grades are intertwined as status and pathways to academic capital, grades are very important to my students. They like extra credit opportunities.
Periodically, however, all students will be required to post as part of scaffolded learning events. Upcoming, for example, is an assignment called, “Citing Your Sources: Ancient Greece Society and Life.” Each student will submit a post in conjunction with a self-selected Issues Group.
Who is the moderator for our sophomore blog?
I am the moderator for the blog. This means that I review and sometimes abbreviate posts from the students. Some posts that are submitted to the blog may not be accepted, and yet other posts may be accepted without any editing. It is likely that most submissions will get posted with some editing.
What is the address for the blog?
http://societyissuesidentity.blogspot.com/
What has been the reaction to the blog so far?
In the week since the students have become aware of it and its potential for digital discourse, nine students have posted on a voluntary basis. Several of those students have sought me out in person to ask, “What did you think of my blog?” The blog has invited conversations around topics that a teacher might not freely address in this era of restricted teacher freedom of expression.
What do you think about incorporating blogs as part of classroom instruction? Add your own ideas.
Submit a comment to this blog in which you describe your own experiences using blogs in the classroom. Did you seek administrative approval, like I did? Was it approved (my questions were never answered, so I went ahead, anyway)? Have students or families resented the requirement to publish their work for a wider audience than teachers or classroom peers? Have students who live in a Web 2.0 world embraced the opportunity to reconcile their inside/ outside school personas, at least to a small degree? Has manipulation of form ever exceeded unveiling of students’ learning content and making links among ideas? If so, what did you do to streamline that learning process?
The word “blog” is short for "Web log." A blog is a specialized site that allows an individual or group of individuals to share a running log of events and personal insights with online audiences. (www.pvt.com/oth/glossary.htm) It offers readers the opportunity to reply to opinions and link to their own blogs. (www.iab.ie/FAQs/DefinitionofTerms/) Some blogs have definite authors who disclose their names, and some has anonymous authors who use a nickname.(www.searchenginegenie.com/search-engine-glossary-b.htm)
Why am I requiring students to post on a blog?
As part of a “Society, Issues, and Identity” unit, two of my classes will post occasionally to a classroom blog. Because it is important for them to be safe and protected when using the Internet for classroom purposes, they are posting on the classroom blog using pseudonyms.
What is a pseudonym?
A pseudonym is a "false name" or alias used by a writer desiring not to use his or her real name. Sometimes called a nom de plume or "pen name. (home.cfl.rr.com/eghsap/apterms.html) A pseudonym serves many purposes. An assumed name protects the anonymity of an author.(www.reddeerbookexchange.com/terminology.htm) Fictitious names are often used when the person performs a particular social role. (wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn) In this situation, students are using a blog to publish their classroom learning experiences.
Do all students have to post to the blog for every assignment?
No. Several windows for extra credit opportunity will open and close for students to post. In a privileged community where grades are intertwined as status and pathways to academic capital, grades are very important to my students. They like extra credit opportunities.
Periodically, however, all students will be required to post as part of scaffolded learning events. Upcoming, for example, is an assignment called, “Citing Your Sources: Ancient Greece Society and Life.” Each student will submit a post in conjunction with a self-selected Issues Group.
Who is the moderator for our sophomore blog?
I am the moderator for the blog. This means that I review and sometimes abbreviate posts from the students. Some posts that are submitted to the blog may not be accepted, and yet other posts may be accepted without any editing. It is likely that most submissions will get posted with some editing.
What is the address for the blog?
http://societyissuesidentity.blogspot.com/
What has been the reaction to the blog so far?
In the week since the students have become aware of it and its potential for digital discourse, nine students have posted on a voluntary basis. Several of those students have sought me out in person to ask, “What did you think of my blog?” The blog has invited conversations around topics that a teacher might not freely address in this era of restricted teacher freedom of expression.
What do you think about incorporating blogs as part of classroom instruction? Add your own ideas.
Submit a comment to this blog in which you describe your own experiences using blogs in the classroom. Did you seek administrative approval, like I did? Was it approved (my questions were never answered, so I went ahead, anyway)? Have students or families resented the requirement to publish their work for a wider audience than teachers or classroom peers? Have students who live in a Web 2.0 world embraced the opportunity to reconcile their inside/ outside school personas, at least to a small degree? Has manipulation of form ever exceeded unveiling of students’ learning content and making links among ideas? If so, what did you do to streamline that learning process?
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