Ways to use weblogs in education.

Technology is part of our lives. We use a lot of different tools that help us to improve our abilities. The use of technology in education is an excellent way for teachers to keep themselves up to date. 

Blogging has a lot of advantages, and the uses of this online tool are awesome. 

You might like to create a reflective, journal type blog to:

• reflect on your teaching experiences.  

• describe what worked for you in the classroom or what didn’t work. 

• write about something you learned from another teacher.

• share ideas for teaching activities or language games to use in the classroom. 

• explore important teaching and learning issues.

 What can I post in my blog??

• post class-related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments and other pertinent class information.
• post assignments based on literature readings and have students respond on their own weblogs, creating a kind of portfolio of their work.
• communicate with parents if you are teaching elementary school students.
• post prompts for writing.
• provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities, or grammar games.
• provide online readings for your students to read and react to.
• gather and organize Internet resources for a specific course, providing links to appropriate sites and annotating the links as to what is relevant about them.
• post photos and comment on class activities.
• invite student comments or postings on issues in order to give them a writing voice.
• publish examples of good student writing done in class.
• show case student art, poetry, and creative stories.

 

You can encourage your students to blog:

• their reactions to thought-provoking questions.
• their reactions to photos you post.
• journal entries.
• results of surveys they carry out as part of a class unit.
• their ideas and opinions about topics discussed in class.