Blogs are a great way to ease into using Web 2.0:
- They are easy to write and edit. They have a little toolbar a bit like Word to format text and you do not have to know html or coding to make something look good and work well.
- It is easy to add links to other relevant sites and pages. Using the little toolbar, I can click a Link button, copy-paste in a URL, and select if it will open a new page or replace this one. By doing this, if there is a technical jargon term that I want to give you more information on – I can link to a page with that information rather than make the text of the post too long. Its a little like footnotes in academic essays, building cross-referencing into the posts.
- Interaction! This is not like Announcements in WI Online where you can not ask questions or have something clarified or even add your two-cents in on an issue – you can comment on blog posts and get replies from others as well as the author of the post.
- Tags and tag clouds provide another layer of useful information. Instead of each post existing on its own, tagging allows us to weave it into a web of information. As we tag posts, the cloud builds, the bigger or bolder the text, the more information we have on that subject that can be accessed.
Questions to think about and comment on:
- What experience have you had with blogging before? Have you created or participated in a blog – or perhaps you are completely new to the world of blog?
- Can you see a use for blogging within the classroom? What would be a difference with a young Primary aged child or an older Secondary school student and the types of ways they interact with blogs?
- A DEEWR report on Collaboration in Teaching & Learning found that quiet and shy children were emboldened to ask questions using Social Networking tools – why do you think this would be?
Education 2.0 