Blogs I have Read - My Comments

                                     










As I venture into the world of "educational blogospere" there were quite a few blogs that captured my attention. One in particular was blogger Stephen Downes http://halfanhour.blogspot.com  In his response to the question: What is your vision of the school of the future? He answered with this diagram:-

The picture is labeled school 2.0 and he went on to point out that the end point of new education technologies is that society as a whole becomes the "immersive environment."  This particularly endorses the point where he said that what  new technologies will enable is the possibility of taking education outside the school to have children and young adults learn by participating in the functioning of social function - everything from creating community maps to documenting history and more.

I was also awed by the post of Around the Corner at http://mwacker.blogspot.com. In his blog post "Ed Tech Experts Choose Top 3 Tool via thejounal.com . I specifically liked the way he articulated his points in his post. I was also amazed that he ranked blogs as the number one tool for learning in web 2.0 agreeing with Steve Hargadon number one choice.  As a new blogger I can concur with him that "blogging can be a literal, adaptive, and also tranformative use of technology." He cited that blogs allow for scaffolded and secure use, while naturally lending itself to differentiation of instruction in the classroom.  

My last blog is from the post of blogger http://edtechpower.blogspot.com  where she interviewed Steven Hargadon on his reflection of the early days of classroom 2.0. You may watch excerpts at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEG391LbN8I

I find it easier to identify pros than cons in reading educational blogs:

Pros:

1. You can learn from other colleagues

2. It is a means of reflecting on classroom practices

3. Social networking

4. Creating and sharing ideas, strategies, and techniques that have proven successful.

5. Collaborative tool

Cons:

1. I am still thinking of one. I will be sure to add it in my next blog post it I think of it.

There are many benefits of using a aggregator like google reader as it servers as a RSS feeder (both online and offline) where you can be easily linked to your blog account and other web 2.0 tools such as twitter and delicious. You can read your bogs and posts of bloggers that you follow. It just servers as another handy management tool. 

My blogs can impact my teaching in a positive way. For I see it as a journal. One that I can write my reflections in (as I am doing right now).  I am hoping to develop a habit, of it hoping it will be more relaxing as then I will not be graded on my posts.