REFLECTION 3.1 'Blogs'

Blogging for me at the beginning of week one felt about as easy as it looks in the above picture...I was stressing because technology is a weakness of mine. I broke the tasks down though and began to work through them slowly - look at me now...I'm blogging!

What have I learnt over the last two and a bit weeks in regards to 'blogs'?...well...quite a lot. I've learnt that blogs are an excellent tool for sharing/storing information that you have gathered. Going past the old word document, you can link straight to other websites and resources, have images that are relevant to your text, and embed videos for easy access to aid what you are writing about. All of these are excellent features that would make a blog great for student use!

The internet can be a brilliant yet scary place at the moment, so I like the blogs are single author for content, but I also like that commenting can be turned on or off which means when turned on, you can give students feedback as they're going, or other students can add "have you checked this out too?" or "this looks awesome, how did you get that image?" which is also helpful!

Another great feature that I think is very beneficial is the fact that blogs are displayed in chronological order - this is great for student revision! Imagine if they wrote a summary at the end of each topic covered and then come exam time, they just had to read back through their blog! Amazing! It also means that their revision is accessible anywhere they have a device (which is everywhere these days)...Blogs are also easy to edit - much easier than the old workbook with a pen which is quite permanent. Students can go back and edit, add in or change things at any time!

In Topic One we discuss how Generation Z are 'social entrepreneurs' - they want to change the world! They are technology users, this is the world they have been born into. They want to gain their own knowledge, though as discussed in our Moodle topic this isn't always from school. Having ICTs in the classroom for this generation is great, because ICT learning has to be 'learner centred' which is what this generation needs (mostly). In a previous reflection, we discussed if we're willing to give up some control as to how students learn...I think we're going to have to no matter what we feel comfortable with. There are so many great tools that we can give them the outline, but they will have the ability to fill in the gaps through their own personal research. Having a blog in this situation would be amazing because they can show you where they are finding the information, link you to what is relevant to them and how they are learning!

I've also learnt how to embed videos. This is an easy way to share media and for students to be acknowledging authors/owners of material. Check out this fun Ted Talk from a member of the Generation Z community! What an amazing young girl!


In week two we discussed the nature of pedagogy and how we can link this in. I've learnt so much about the ability to use blogs as a foundation to implement the SAMR model - using them as building blocks will keep information in one place and keep it easily accessible.

I'm excited to have learnt to much about blogs in just a short two weeks. I'm sure this knowledge will continue to grow as I begin to use them in my own lesson plans as I build and improve my own pedagogy.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you've learnt? As I said in the first week, we're all in this together!

Ella.