Week Seven - Blog Post 2.

What are novel ways for incorporating Blogs in teaching?

There are many fun and exciting ways for blogs to be used in a classroom setting, in this post I am going to share with you a few of my all time favourites.

A blog can be defined as ‘a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.’ (Google Dictionary) The term ‘blog’ originated from the word ‘weblog’ that was used to describe the process of ‘logging the web’. Eventually ‘weblog’ was shortened to ‘blog’ in the year 1999 by programmer Peter Merholz. (Chapman, 2011)

Now that we all know what a blog is it is easy to understand why they are so popular and heavily used by many. Blogs can be written by anyone, and about anything therefore are a great expressive tool to keep private or share publicly.

When incorporating blogs into a classroom setting it is important to follow cyber safety rules and professional security. For example no full names, ages or identifications are to be used, do not link social media to blog, limit who can see your blog and get permissions from school/parents for facial photos of students.

Below I will include a list of my favourite ways to use blogs in primary school classrooms. It is important to ensure that all activities are fun and most of all engaging as primary aged children tent to get distracted or bored easily so it is essential to make activities age appropriate.

Ways to use blogs in the classroom:

·      Communication platform – keep students and parents up to date about homework, excursions, etc.

·      Provide materials/ homework

·      Learn about cyber safety

·      Class activities

·      Keeps absent students up to date

(Pappas, 2013)

As a pre- service teacher I am 100% certain that I will use blogs as a teaching tool throughout my career as they are flexible and can be used in endless ways.