BP13_2009103_Web2.0 Evaluation_Blogger.com

I had never investigated blogs before being required to start one in this program. I was well aware of their existence, but mostly associated the term with "gossip columns" or other unprofessional forms of communication. Only when I was required to start examining blogs did I realize how common their use had become in academic and professional communities. Now that I have been exposed to several uses and set up Google Reader to subscribe to blogs related to educational technology developments, I am quite interested in determining how blogs can help me and my students.

Blogger.com personal page

As an instructor seeking to improve methods and promote innovation in the classroom, blogs provide a platform to share thoughts and experiences in a nearly real-time method. In this case the blog can replace the reflective journal that allows one to evaluate an educational process and possibly publish findings after the fact. The blog, though somewhat less formal, allows others to follow your developments throughout the course of a project or assignment. Instant feedback and suggestions can be considered through comments posted by those keeping tabs.

Blog history on file in Blogger.com

Blogs can be utilized by students to keep an online journal of an ongoing project, allowing easy viewing for me, the instructor. In fact with RSS feeds, all students blogs could be funneled into one location for exceptional ease of reviewing. Likewise, I caould provide feedback/updates for an ongoing project to the students through a blog. The primary drawback here is, of course, access for all students. As commonplace as computers, cell phones, and internet use are among students these days, there are still some students that do not have an adequate level of access to make full use of online tools for classroom use on a routine basis.


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