Deubel, P. (2007). THE Journal, February 21. Moderating and ethics for the classroom instructional blog.
This is a very good article focusing on how blogs might be used in the education setting. The author no longer teaches K-12, and in the article she is speculating how she might use blogs if she were. As she points out, the purposes of a classroom blog are very different from public-setting blogs, and so some defined "rules of engagement" are necessary to ensure students get the most of of using them. There are a whole bunch of benefits to using blogs in education - using them can foster the collaborative spirit in peer-to-peer learning, they can enhance classroom discussion (allowing the quieter students to participate for example). The author has some very good recommendations for making sure there is focus on the blogged topics and ensuring that all students participate and engage. But of course, the main requirement is that all the students have access to a computer. Many students may not have a computer at home and so will have to find time for assignments in school time or use those in their local library. The teacher has to make sure that these students are not disadvantaged.
Questions:
1. Would I delete comments that didn't meet the expected standards? This is one of the questions posed by the author. No I wouldn't, because they are there as examples of posts that didn't meet the standard. As the student progresses in learning, it would be useful to reflect on improvements in his or her postings. As the moderator on the blog, I would remove comments that appear to hurt others, but I would try to ensure in the "rules of blogging" that this situation wouldn't arise.
2. What might be the additional time demands placed on the teacher in reviewing the students postings and replies to each other's postings? I think this would be substantial As the author points out, in a class of 25 students, if each is required to post once and make two replies to other postings, that's 75 comments to get through. If there's 35 students (a typical class size from what I've seen), then that number is 115! It's therefore difficult to see it becoming a frequent activity.
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Exactly, I spent hours and hours reading the 422 class blogs. As a matter of fact, time is constantly cited by teachers for not being able to use technology in their teaching. I guess the whole class can pitch in and read and comment on other people's blogs. The teacher should not be the only "policeman" who monitors blogs.
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