Week 1 Reflections

What did you learn?

This week I learned about basic tools for establishing a blog - and how basically user friendly and easy it has been made. I also some ideas for using blogs as a method for communicating with a class or with parents, as well as a way of communicating with other teachers.

How will you use what you have learned?

I will likely use some of the tools I found looking at other math teacher's blogs. Currently I use TeacherWeb - and I'm not sure if a blog would be a better tool or not. I need to assess this as time goes one. For example, in statistics, the powerpoints are posted on teacherweb. Would it be better to post them day to day on a blog? I use email extensively - and again, I'm not sure if a blog could replace that - also, what I might do is make the Blog Page in teacher web my main page since it is easy to update.

How did you feel about this tool?
Blogging is a nice tool - I just have determine if it fits my applications. A hammer is good tool for pounding nails, not all that good for turning screws. Blogs can be a good tool for communication, if they are used properly. I just have to see how it will fit in my overall scheme. I am also deeply concerned with the digital divide. As we depend more on computer communication, do we risk further disadvantaging economically disadvantaged students. If we depend on blogs and email, what are we saying to kids whose families can't afford internet access. I know the kids can access the internet at school, but then what am I saying to their parents - and I automatically excluding them from participating in their student's education.

What do you not want to forget about this tool?

What I don't want to forget is how easy it was to set up a blog. It really didn't take much work at all - and I even liked the first template I used (since it has a certain 19th century look).

How can this be used in the classroom or in your educational role?

Now those are good questions, aren't they? My answer right now is that I'm not sure. I'll be interested in what others think and how they might use this tool. Precalculus is a college prep math class - it is not the sort of class where math journals and so on are appropriate - my kids need to survive in college classes where how they feel about anything is not relevant. Statistics on the other hand is a writing class as much as a math class. Perhaps blogs could be used to get kids to discuss problems, perhaps giving each teenager a chance to have their own student blog might be worthwhile? Perhaps there is a way to have them establish a blog on a particular topic as a project might be worthwhile?

Should you use this in the classroom or your educational role?

And that questions goes back to the question of the digital divide. How do we use technology in the classroom - and teach kids to use the available tools themselves - without giving further problems to kids from families where money is tight and internet access is a luxury? Also, how do I use computer tools without making them just tricks - to truly enhance learning. My students will be in college classes in the next year or so - so I'm hoping to see how blogs and other tools are used at a collegiate level. Perhaps someone whose collegiate experience is more recent than mine can help me on that one.

What questions do you still have about this tool?

In terms of the practical application, blogs seem fairly straight forward. I like the ease of use, I like the ease of uploading pictures and videos. But use I have lots of questions about how to use this in a classroom setting to help my kids learn.