Reflection Four (4) : Blogs

B L O G I N G! My absolute favourite. This topic was very interesting and familiar for me because I already own a blog on word press. As a result, I quickly assimilated the information into my existing schemes for blog. Those of you who are familiar with Piaget’s theory should know what I am talking about.  Now, what I realized from the onset was that there were differences in terms of the actual layouts of both word press and blogger. 
The functions of a blog are inumerable.Many take advantage of this feature to advertise their business or products, share information, connect with others who share similar interests and for persons who love to write it’s a hobby. I follow many blogs some including: fashion, art, contemporary issues etc.

In my fourth lesson, we were introduced to the basics of blogging. We had to create the blog, as well as come up with a name and a web address for the blog. Additionally, we created our first post (a welcome post ) and explored the different features such as design , layout and gadgets. Adding a gadget, was particularly interesting because I’ve never used that feature before. Our lecturer told us to be creative. I took full advantage of that, adding pictures and customizing my design.

We blogs can definitely improve classroom instruction and communication in a number of ways. Teachers can share additional information on the blog with students such as notes that couldn’t be presented in the class due to time constrain. In addition, teachers can share information via the blog that students would need, to be prepared for an upcoming class. Further, the blog can act as a reservoir for homework and assignments, where students can post and the teacher can mark at his/her convenience. The blog can also help students to interact and engage in fruitful discussions by expressing their views on a particular topic. Through expression, teachers can decipher which cognitive level their students are at .Students also get the opportunity to showcase their work such as art pieces, French menus, chart etc. The blog is an amazing feature and definitely something that both students and teachers should take advantage of.

The only drawback to this lesson was the device I was using ( iphone).  I would have much preferred a computer but nevertheless the class was captivating as usual.

"Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, and more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.” Andrew Sullivan