To BLOG or not to BLOG

This week I have been thinking about using a blog system in my classroom. Looking around there are many different views on this topic, and all are great opinions to have. But I think it all comes down to the age of the students who will be using this learning tool. Being a early childhood teacher I do not think that I would use this a lot with my students however, if I was a secondary teacher it would be something that I would use with every class.

There are many positives and negatives to using a blog as a learning tool and each teacher needs to weigh in the facts before deciding if they commit to teaching this way. They also need to think about the implications that will come out of it, both good and bad. Many teenage students will think it is a great idea, but will they all be able to blog successfully and gain the right information? For majority of these students I think they will, but for the remaining few it may be a difficult task. Not only because they may stray from the task at hand but also because they may find it hard to navigate the ways of blogging. I know that I find it hard and I class myself as someone who is very comfortable with computers and technology.

That is another thing that needs to be thought through by the teacher. Will they be comfortable enough with their own technological knowledge to teach their students correctly. Teachers will need to look into ensuring that they are confident using and teaching with this learning tool so that their students are gaining the information that they have set out to learn.

Blogging is a great idea but the PMI's need to be thought through with extreme caution as these are student's educations that are on the line. This is where they will learn things that will get them to where they want to be as well as get them to who they want to be. For me if I was a secondary teacher the answer would be yes. I would use it in my classroom, as long as I was comfortable with they way I am teaching students to use it and that the information I am teaching will be understood by the them.

Until next time : )