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March 21, 2008 at 8:06 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Since I would like to be an English teacher I decided to write my research paper on blogging in the English classroom. I wanted to break everything down for myself and weigh the pros as well as the con’s and see if it something that is worth while and practical for ALL the students.

At first I thought it was a neat idea to continue class outside of the classroom. Being able to send links, ideas, homework, and other notes over posts and give the students materials they missed in class. Even allow the student who stayed home sick to still be apart of the class discussion. I also like that it is an introduction to the new world. No more pens and pencils, lined paper and cursive, just allowing the students to focus on the content…which lead me to a problem. What will be the point of spelling tests when there will always be spell check? What’s the point of learning how to write in script when it is a font style on the computer. If computers are really going to replace the pen and pencil…why do we still make students take standardized test, like the ELA, on paper…writing. When all other major papers and projects are expected to be typed, double spaced, in 12pt font?

Going back to the blogging on of my major problems was when someone said in class, “…students don’t have to focus on spelling and grammar…” this made me nervous because if they are not practicing it…they are not learning it…and soon all blogs with be spelled wrong and contain poor grammar. These posts…the one I am writing right now…is going to be posted on the Internet! Everyone can access this is judge me by it…spelling and grammar is important. Now, if there is a written assignment, like a journal entry, then I can see the excusing spell check and grammar, but, if it is an option on the computer…it should always be used…which brings me back to the, “If they’re not practicing it, they are not learning it…” Which is why I like blogging because it is a tool the students can take with them after they leave the classroom and enter into the real world…which is slowly eliminating pens and pencils, stamps, lined paper, and mail boxes. Also, it may help when they need to write e-mails…a students who is familiar with these skills at a young age will be able to adapt better in the real world when the technology has changed, but, at least they have the foundation and understanding of where it has been.

Please criticize this and let me know of other con’s if I have not mentioned them! =)

6 Comments»

  Greg Kinslow wrote @ March 22, 2008 at 12:56 pm

There is a nice video that touches on the ethics bloggers should have. I found it on youtube when I typed in Howard Gardner. It might be nice to look at.

  Stephen Ransom wrote @ March 24, 2008 at 7:46 pm

Kristin, your thinking is right on. Somehow with technology we have a way of making new tools seem bad – like spellcheck for example. Yes, spellcheck will often give you a visual cue that something is misspelled. Is that a bad thing? Is that any different from a teacher’s red ink all over your page? Yes… it is better! And, do we ever forbid students from using dictionaries and thesauruses in their writing? No – we BEG them to use them. Now, these tools are just a right-click away… and the little red squiggly line can now do the nagging once done by teachers. Now, this is all mechanics. A grammatically perfect piece of writing can still be junk. Hence, the need for effective writing instruction – the art of writing that no spell check or blog can ever teach. But the blog or wiki can be a place to receive valuable feedback and it is a great place to network and publish. No one wants their lousy work published for all to see. So, motivation toward excellence can be much higher. However, we, teachers, must help students to become creative and critical thinkers, evaluators, problem-solvers, and help them strive for excellence in all that they do. We still NEED great teachers 🙂

  Mike Van Der Woude wrote @ March 27, 2008 at 12:59 pm

My biggest problem with using these social network sites is relying on them too much. Along with your observation of not using their writing skills, they are also not improving their interpersonal skills. Teenagers today seem to not have the ability to communicate, however, put them on a computer or text message phone and they are click clacking away. The trouble is if their technology should crash they will be the ones to struggle. Social networking, like blogging, is important but teaching hand writing skills and interpersonal skills will always take precedent with me.

  angela wedgwood wrote @ March 27, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Kristin, What you said here really hit home for me especially because I have a 9 year old at home growing up in this advanced world of technology. Critical learning and thinking is something that needs to be assessed with the technology of the future. Technology is getting stronger and we must learn that the computer is a tool to learn with not a tool we learn from (2000, Jonassen) Humans are naturals at trying to find the easies way to get something done this includes learning. Unfortunately technology has mad it easy for us all to cheat the minds natural growth and finding something to take its place (ie the easy way out). So as a teacher keep stressing the importance of our natural tool (our mind). Just like in math, I will not allow my children to use the calculator until they have solved the work problems on their own. They are then permitted to use the calculator to check the problems in search of error. I feel that stressing this will help them in the future to only rely on tools to take the place of their brain as a measure of feedback and not necessity.

  Steve Ransom wrote @ March 28, 2008 at 10:01 am

@Mike, rather than one set of skills taking precedence over another, can we perhaps begin to give them equal value? I think this is where we need to go – a culturally relevant and yet still balanced perspective. When we get stuck on which skills are perhaps more valuable than others (subjective), then often we fail to give time to new emerging skills that do have value. We really need to prepare students for the world that THEY are living (and will live) in – not the one our parents (and us) grew up in. But, as you say, we still need to protect those things that have enduring value (like interpersonal skills). It is just that our traditional view of what interpersonal skills are is evolving to encompass all kinds of communication – both face-2-face and virtual.

  Steve Ransom wrote @ March 28, 2008 at 10:06 am

@Angela – great perspective. David Jonassen is one of my favorite conceptual authors. If we keep technology-as-tool in focus, then we can focus on which tools help us learn, communicate, think, problem-solve, network, collaborate, manipulate, understand, create…. These are all attributes that transcend any tool. But to ignore new tools that help us do all of these things is a mistake, I think. We must be certain that we are not holding out from using these tools because we think they cannot be used to accomplish all of these things.


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