BP#1_Education Uses For Blogs

Before the FSO program I saw no use for blogs, especially in the classroom setting. I thought of blogs as just someone posting their opinion about a myriad of subjects and so I never gave a consideration of the educational uses for blogs. Boy, was I out of touch! The 3rd class of FSO program introduced me to how teachers can make blogs work for them to enhance student learning. I had to do a tutorial for our ning site on utilizing wikis and blogs and I really got an eye opener. I realized that yes indeed teachers can and should utilize blogs. I googled a few sites like edtechpost and slideshare and a few others on the subject of how blogs can be used in education. The authors of the sites gave some suggestions on how educators can use blogs to engage students. Blogs can be used as a group discussion tool. If a class is studying a particular current event, they can use a blog to discuss or comment on their opinion of that current event. Blogs can also be used to review books or stories that a class is reading. A teacher can use a blog to allow students to write what they've learned and how they can apply their learning. Students can use blogs to share stories with each other. Teachers can also create an ongoing portfolio of samples of student writing. Students can be given writing or video prompts so they can post their comments and reactions. Teachers and students can create online book clubs or create a collection of story starters. I believe I'm just scratching the surface in how educators can use blogs.