Week 3- Reflection 2 of "Group 1 Tools"

Reflection 2 of "Group 1 Tools"

Please click play to listen to my Voki :):)

 In this weeks class we were given three ICT tool's (Blogs, Wiki's and Websites) to study and break down and comment on here with our findings. I have decided to explore a blog, in reviewing the application for use by students in a class room setting and expanding on it from my personal experiences. I then decided to conduct a Positive, Minus and Interesting (PMI) and SAMR of using a blog in a classroom setting.

Blog Creation
A blog is seen as a type of website which is generally maintained by an individual, with entries of daily reflection, videos, images and particular events becoming a regular occurrence. "Blog", "can also be seen as a verb, meaning t maintain or add content to a blog" (CQU Moodle, 2015). 

Blogs can have videos embedded in them to enhance students learning, you can copy and paste URL links from YouTube, or upload some of your own videos into the blog. Graphs, images, screenshots are all other types of media that can be added to your blog to add a bit of flare/gain more interest from your followers or readers.

Here is a list of the top 10 free blogs issued by "Stylecaster 2014"- http://stylecaster.com/best-free-blog-sites/

1. Blog.com
2. Blogger.com
3. Penzu.com
4. Squarespace.com
5. Svbtle.com
6. Tumblr.com
7. Webs.com
8. Weebly.com
9. Wix.com
10. WordPress.com

Blog Pro's and Con's for use in a classroom
As we have used Google Blogger for the use in this subject I will discuss some of my hurdles I have jumped so far in relation to using this as a blogging application in a classroom and some of the benefits of using an online blog.

I will now discuss some of the Pro's for using a blog in a classroom setting;

1. Firstly a blog allows students to express their feelings/ideas over a computer rather than face to face contact with their teacher. This is important when some students lack confidence in sharing their own ideas in front of fellow classmates and friends. 
2. All students can share their own ideas differently from one to another, some may prefer to share YouTube video clips to understand the concept, where other's may choose to explain the concept by sharing a series of images/audio clips.
3. All blogs can be accessed from mobile phones, computers, laptops and tablets making them accessible from anywhere at anytime. 
4. A students identification may remain anonymous and use their own identification name that only the teacher and the student knows. This concept would decrease online cyber bullying and increase students confidence levels to improve as learners.
5. Blogger is free for everyone, so depending on different income levels within the classroom all students can sign up and use various blogging sites.

I will now discuss the Con's for using a blog in a classroom setting;

1.  Not all students will have internet access at home, depending on various socioeconomic backgrounds of your school. This could change from grade to grade and student to student. As a teacher you must ensure you give enough classroom time for all students to complete their blog.
2. When implementing text from other web sources, some of the text especially when using blogger can become corrupt and prove difficult for students to overcome.
3. Students may have similar design concepts from Blogger as there are not many different templates available, students may become upset when some of his/her classmates have a similar looking blog.

I would use a Blog in my classroom for some of my assessment pieces when some of the topics are quiet long and boring. As a teacher you can create a blog at the same time as the students giving them some go to points for them to refer back to. Weekly or daily lesson topics could also be uploaded so the students know what they are going to learn for that week.

Once getting started with the whole blogging concept, it starts to get easier the more you play and explore further concepts. Students need to understand that they started some where when learning to tie there shoelace, catch or kick a ball or even learn to write. Stay patient teachers!!!!!

PMI & SAMR of Blog use in a classroom
After completing this blog reflection I now conducted a PMI table and also developed a level by level SAMR model to identify blog use in a classroom. As I started to create my PMI table I began to struggle with the Negative column, but after reading a few of my classmates blogs helped me reassure that column. Please find below my "PMI table" and "SAMR Model";

Positive, Negative & Interesting (PMI)

SAMR Model for Blog use in a classroom

Redefinition- Creating a Blog for future students learning, making it accessible on the Web for other students to observe and gain valuable learning knowledge.

Modification- Creating content and displaying it with YouTube clips, images, tables etc on the blog which incorporates set planning, publishing and implementing design strategies.

Augmentation- Using some aspects of Microsoft Word, for example a spell checker, hyper linking etc, collaboration via the internet.

Substitution- Instead of using pen and paper or talking face to face with someone, students can use the online blog/ word processor to display their ideas.

I have enjoyed talking about using a Blog in a classroom setting and I hope you all have gained some valuable knowledge and ideas from my blog this week. :)

I look forward to hearing comments from everyone about my blog, until next time....