Technology With Tether

Check this sweet wikispace out done by moira tether.

THis is a sweet video about wikispaces

Having other contributors

Blogs are a cool tool because you can allow other people to contribute to a blog. Like this is another user adding this post.

So how can I use a blog in my classroom?

Blogging can be used in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes. I will provide a couple of ideas and examples below.

1. This can be used to enhance your own professional outlooks and to form pedagogy. A couple of blogs that I frequently check out to keep myself informed in the education world is a blog created by Dr. Alec Couros who is a professor at the University of Regina. His open thinking: rants and resources of an open educator has helped to inform me of emerging technological tools as well as ethical and pragmatic resources to incorporate into the classroom. Another blog that has helped me a lot in my Mathematical teaching has been a blog by Dan Meyer in San Diego California. He recently took on a new position with Google and his posts haven't been as formative but previous ones from his classroom teachings were fantastic! His blog is called dy/dan: less helpful.
There are many different professional blogs out there you just have to search around and you'll find what you're looking for.

2. Blogs can also be useful in the classroom to help bridge the gap from school to home using student generated content. There are tons of examples of student generated content on blogs and wikispaces from abroad and within our division. One of the best blogs that I have seen with this format set up is from Winnipeg, Manitoba at Sargent Park School. The blog is called 816 Math Blog: a place where students explore Math and has tons of cool examples of both teacher guided and student generated content.

Either way there are certain limitations but these are two very practical and effective ways of incorporating blogging in your professional life.

To Blog or not to Blog that is the question?

In the world of the blogosphere according to the Blog Herald there are approximately 70 million blogs and 63 million of these are hosted by the biggest eight blog host sites. This raises a lot of questions about available audiences and the ability of your blog to be recognized, if this is your purpose. However, if you have a specific target audience who is obligated to check, like say a class of students.

The first Post on a blog

A blog post is a way of displaying information and opinions on different topics. The most basic way to incorporate web tools into your blog is to post a link. For example, take a look at my wikispace.

Also a blog may have a cool video embedded into it and then some commentary on that video. Check this embedded video out.






You see there is a cool way of posting information on here, kind of like a public journal. You can create an informed discussion with either colleagues or students.