Blog Entry C

I can see blogs being very valuable in a classroom setting. As I stated in an earlier post, I plan on using blogs with my classes next semester. My idea is to use the blogs as a project journal for each group in my class. The students will be keeping up with their journals daily as part of the project grade. It will be my job as the teacher to facilitate and monitor the activity on each groups blog. Outside of the classroom the possibilities for blogs are also endless. Blogs can be used for journals, articles, reviews etc...

To integrate blogs effectively in the classroom, the teacher must monitor the blogs on a regular basis. The teacher must also set up appropriate permissions for their students. I can definitely see blogs being a big part of K-12 education in the next couple of years.

Blog Entry B

I like the fact that I can read all of the blogs I subscribe to on one page. It saves me the time of clicking from blog to blog. I also like the fact that users can embed pictures, videos and web links into their blogs. I also like the fact that each blog can be as simple or as complex as the user makes it. This blogging experience truly helped me better myself as an online learner. The blogs were another place to interact with my group members/ classmates besides the google docs which can seem pretty impersonal sometimes.

Blog Entry A

Throughout this blogging experience, I have learned that blogging can be an invaluable tool to use in the classroom. I have also learned that blogging is a great tool in a distance education setting. I was surprised at the ease of use of the blogs. It is a very easy concept to catch on to. Before this class, I just thought of blogs as online journals. Now I realize the potential that blogs have for use in the classroom. I plan on starting a blog for each of my classes next semester to use as project logs!

Blog Entry 11:PBL Reflection

The PBL project was very beneficial to me as an educator. This project was sort of a culminating activity of the class, we were able to pick which learned technology to base a lesson on. My groups PBL focus was using fantasy baseball to teach math in grades 3-12. My PBL example involved the filming and editing of the fantasy baseball draft. My video broadcast students would film and edit the fantasy draft for the Math 1 class that would be completing the fantasy baseball unit. I really enjoyed the idea of incorporating fantasy baseball into math, as proven by my team members, this idea can be used in almost any class or subject.

Blog Entry 10

The section that I found the most interesting was the section on optimizing technology. This section tells of a history teacher in Australia that was tired of “the role of confiscation” (pp. 119) when it came to students bringing in technology. He instead decided to integrate mp3 players into his classroom. “During the project, he checked in with students to make sure the technologies were not continuing to pose a distraction.” (pp. 119) The teacher was surprised to learn that students responded positively to the experience and thought they learned better this way.

I really enjoyed reading this section of our book. I like the idea of using technology that is usually frowned on by teachers and administrators as a teaching tool. The only problem I can see with this idea is that some students will always try to abuse the privilege of having the “banned” devices in school. Another problem is that all students don’t have access to mp3 players or mobile phones. I don’t think I will be trying this idea anytime soon but, it sounds like it was very successful in Australia.

Boss, S., & Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing project-based learning. Washington, D.C.: International Society for Technology in Education