Blogging

http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/WebLoggingSmall.mov

I think it is so cool that part of our homework can be watching videos on the computer, and it still has relevancy to the classroom! These assignments will not bore students.

The vidlog that touched me the most was the first one that I have referenced at the top of my blog. I really enjoyed hearing students' responses on blogging. Their responses really motivate me to use blogging in the classroom. One girl was so excited to write something that others will actually read. She even got to contact the author of her favorite book, The Secret Life of Bees! What an awesome opportunity that we have... We can contact our favorite authors (living of course) or anyone who inspires us within minutes! We have such connections with the internet now that almost anything is possible.

Blogging homework is now fun for students. They look forward to doing homework when it is done on the computer, a source where students flock to already. In a post on weblogs, Kairosnews wrote that "this difference might be because one is 'fun' and the other is 'work.'" Work done on the computer via the internet is not a standard assignment. It does seem different, inticing, more exciting.

I have to admit, I will look forward to doing homework on the internet as opposed to sitting down and completing reading assignments or answering questions/worksheets. I will save my online blogging for last so I can enjoy my last assignment of the day. I don't consider it hard work at all really, perhaps because it also interests me.

Let's face it: teenagers are all over the web, and they are active, active, active. I have observed classrooms where students look like they are going to fall asleep at any minute. Once I enter the computer lab, these same kids are as alive as ever. They are so interested to surf the web and check out what's new. As educators, we have to listen to this shift in teenage interest.

On this webpage, http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/166/report_display.asp, it was reported that "Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations." Students are already creating and writing on their own. If we want to motivate them to do work that seems relevant and useful to their lives, then we will grab their ultimate attention, and they will learn. We can't stay fixed in paper in pencil activities. We need to move to what's new. We have to change with the times. Change is everything.

Perhaps my ultimately long blog shows how enticing blogging is. If I had an assignment to report on blogging through textbook questions or written reponse, I would not have enjoyed this assingment. Students might not even complete the assignment. I went on and on about blogging (this is my first post... I will have another tomorrow), and I am not done on the subject. What a motivor---the blog.