Web Spaces - Blogs

Technology and online web spaces provide teachers and students with the tools to collaborate, encourage, engage, interact, and share on a deeper level. This blog entry explores the use of blogs and the benefits of using them within the classroom and ways they can enhance learning and assessment.

A blog is an online website that is regularly updated with journal-style entries. Blogs allow you to share news, ideas, thoughts, images, and videos about a particular topic and are commonly written in an informal or conversational format. Typically, blog entries or ‘posts’ are displayed in reverse chronological order so that the latest post is seen first. Due to their more casual format, people are more likely to engage and interact with the content whilst also being entertained. 

Gen Z students value inclusiveness and want to collaborate with each other, and this is why blogs are the perfect ICT tool to use within the classroom (Ratinecas, 2014). Whilst most blogs are usually designed to have a single author, you can adjust the setting to allow for a multiauthor when used in a group setting. Depending on the security settings selected, blogs have the ability to allow for comments by the general public, invited viewers or comments can be disabled completely.

As I have had prior experience in creating a blog through Blogger, for another unit of this course, I was confident in setting up an additional blog using the same Google account. Blogger is a free program and is incredibly user-friendly and simple to use. I was keen to explore some new features and wanted to make sure that this blog was in a different format and style theme than my previous blog.

Blogger offers a range of layouts and style themes, all of which can then be altered to suit your specific needs and topics.

 

Image: Blogger format showing various themes and layout options.

Adding links, images and videos is simply done using the toolbar. Videos from YouTube can be embedded and viewed within the blog post which is a useful feature, rather than sending your readers to an external page or site. 

 

Image: Blogger toolbar showing icons to include links, images, and videos to a blog entry.

One thing I have found a little frustrating is trying to keep the text style and line format the same in each blog post. I believe that keeping the format consistent throughout is important so it’s something that I have spent time making sure is correct, however, I also understand this may not bother others. I feel that it would be useful if the chosen text size and format were carried over to each blog entry, particularly when copying and pasting. It is also always important to 'Preview' your blog entries before publishing as sometimes the text format looks correct on the edit page but not on the published page. 

 

Image: Blogger toolbar showing the location of text size options.

A great feature that is worth noting: if you use Grammarly, the browser extension feature is compatible with Blogger and therefore you can pick up any spelling or grammatical errors before posting to the world!

Online spaces in a teaching context

Within my chosen discipline area of Home Economics, web spaces and blogs can be widely used. The SAMR model, Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, is a framework that demonstrates the role and use of technology within the classroom (Terada, 2020). With each stage of the model, educational technology becomes more sophisticated (Terada, 2020). By applying this model, here are some examples of how I can implement blogs and other web spaces within my classroom.

Substitution – uploading information to a blog or web space for my students to view rather than using photocopied handouts or textbook readings.  

This substitution does not change the learning process or outcome (Terada, 2020).

Augmentation – students can use blogs and web spaces to research and explore new ideas or watch demonstrations on YouTube rather than depend on teacher-led input. YouTube videos demonstrating a particular skill are a useful tool, particularly in a busy textile classroom.

Here is an example of a video that teachers can provide to students as a reference on how to thread their sewing machines. By providing this video to students, they are able to refer back to it for assistance rather than rely on teacher instruction. 

 

Modification – students can produce their own podcast or blog to summarise a particular topic, or a type of journal, which can then be used as a revision tool.

Redefinition – students can publish their assessment within a blog or e-portfolio so it can be shared and viewed by their peers and marked by the teacher.  

 

Image: An example of the SAMR model integrated with Bloom's Taxonomy objectives.

Schrock, K. (2013, November). Bloom’s and SAMR: My thoughts based on the work of R. Puentedura, A. Churches and L. Nelson. https://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html

Legal, safe and ethical protocols

Like with most learning activities, it's important to be explicit in addressing boundaries and rules to your students when using online tools. Guidelines on how teachers can best instruct and follow these guidelines are outlined by Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], (ACARA, 2022).

Image: ACARA: Practising digital safety and wellbeing.

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2022). Digital Literacy. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum.html/general-capabilities/digital-literacy?element=0&sub-element=0

Addressing students the importance of not sharing personal information and details is essential when using blogs and web spaces. Allowing students to use a nickname or code name when online is a great way to keep their identity safe. The security and accessibility settings of their blogs can be altered to ensure only the targeted audience has access to their work.

Students are to respect and protect the intellectual property of others and be mindful of copyright laws. This is important when including images, music, and videos in blogs.

Cyberbullying and harassment is an important issue that needs to be discussed with students before using online tools (Queensland Government, 2020). Students are required to act responsibly and be respectful when engaging with others online.

 

References

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2022). Digital Literacy. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum.html/general-capabilities/digital-literacy?element=0&sub-element=0

Queensland Government. (2020, November 24). Cybersafety in Queensland Schools. https://www.qld.gov.au/education/schools/health/cybersafety/cybersafety-qss

Ratinecas, P. (2014, August 9). Meet Generation Z. Forget everything you learned about Millennials. Sparks Honey. https://www.slideshare.net/ratinecas/meet-generation-z-forget-everything-you-learned-about-millennials-produced-by-sparks-honeyusa-new-york

Terada, Y. (2020, May 4). A powerful model for understanding good tech integration. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/powerful-model-understanding-good-tech-integration