Blogging for Learning & Learning to Blog

I sat back to ponder why I blog, and why I take the time to read other blogs. Here are a few reasons I thought of off, the top of my head:

• reflection
• to share knowledge and resources
• news & information acquisition
• a research starting point
• connection to peers in my field of study/work
• a sounding board for ideas/questions/thoughts
• to be part of a community

In thinking about education and reviewing the above list, I can see why blogging is an effective means for contextualizing and mentoring learners. Sue Waters mentors educators on effective blogging and web 2.0 resources on EduBlogs. She delved into the topic of blogging for learning and connection during last week’s #eci831 weekly session on Elluminate.  The concept of blogging in the classroom, leads to a transparent educational process for students. Learners are able to share ideas and be empowered in their digital learning community. Blogging can deeper understanding of knowledge and course content, while challenging students to participate in an open, expressive forum.

Image from the Algebra Learning Networking website

It was interesting to learn how other students in the class viewed blogging for learning. Some are unsure about how to include blogs, while others want to ensure engagement and purpose in their learning environments. Here’s the #eci831 class brainstorm for our Thoughts, Challenges or Concerns about blogging:

• • how do educators best define learning outcomes to give purpose?
  • spam
  • how to get students to buy in
  • how to engage students; keep them interested and on task
  • most important aspect in my class
  • assigned topics or more creative original ideas
  • what to write
  • learning in a public forum – putting yourself out there
  • loosing the meaning for the learning objective
  • long term use
  • safety of students and liability
  • privacy concerns for parents
  • how to move teachers towards these ideas
  • non-standard views of students
  • open or closed environments for students?
  • teachers blogging as PD, nervous about putting their ideas out there
  • do all students feel confident in their posts
  • what to have the students blog about
  • how to move teachers away from seeing blogging as a tech ‘add

Final thoughts from Sue, was actually in the question form:

What are 3 questions (and why) you would like answered on educational blogging or building personal learning networks?

So here are my 3:

1. What are some of the key privacy concerns for educational blogging? And how educators best address these issues? Resources for either Canada or US would be greatly appreciated.
2. Are there any examples of peer mentor blogging initiatives in education, that you know of, in K-12 or Higher Education learning environments? It would be interesting to learn more about how modelling and mentoring can help learners engage in blogging.
3. How has your blogging practice altered (or has it?) now that microblogging (Twitter, etc) has been introduced into the blogasphere? Do you engage much in microblogging? How do you see value in it for learning?

For the Love of Google (& Learning)

When we first look for things online, we often turn to the popular search engine – Google.  But have you thought about what else Google can do for you?  Take a look at the various Google Apps that could be utilized for your practice in education, and an interesting article that supports use of Google  technology for learning.

Here are a few suggestions on how YOU can use Google as an educator with your learners or colleagues:

• Google Scholar: encourage scholary research & utilizing online publications for students and professional development; accurate & credible resources; also a fan of Google Book Search for similar use
• Google Earth: geo-tagging is all the rage in higher education; you may want to include Google Maps to this app to create collaborate landmarking & mapping
• Google Notebook:  Interested in keeping those searched websites in an orderly fashion?  Great for research & archiving
• Google Docs: store Word, PowerPoint & Excel documents online; share & collaborate with students, staff & faculty; excellent project management tool
• Google Calendar: keep track of assignments, itemize lesson plans visually, and more to help with better time management
• Blogger:  course contributions, themed journal writing, writing & development classes, and MORE!  Blogger has been used for a wide variety of contributions to learning. Here are some blog examples in Higher Ed.
• Google Sites: plan meetings or lessons, share information on a secure website, collaborate on projects, or stay connected to learning communities; similar to website or wiki development; easy to use 
• Google Reader:  lets you subscribe to web sites so that new content comes to you when it’s posted; similar to RSS feeds
• Google Talk: send instant text messages, voice and/or video conference, chat from desktop or Gmail, send documents, files or hyperlinks; easy way to host “office hours” from any location

Go forth and Google.

Web 2.0 Tools for Effective Teaching

There are a lot of different ideas for teaching & learning with web 2.0.  I have been fortunate to share with the Web 2.0 Tools for Effective Learning group on SlideShare.  I would like to extend thanks to Elaine Talbert (etalbert) for archiving and collecting presentations & information about what educators are doing with web 2.0.  I think this is a valuable resource for those of you interested in engaging with online learning & development at your institutions.  Check it out!

etalbert is “Keen researcher of technology and education. Fascinated by the potential of web 2.0 applications to transform learning.” And I happened to stumble upon Steven Downes’ post about Elaine’s contributions on SlideShare today, which made me think of the community of collaboration there is for education.  Keep connecting & learning from those around you and online.