Educational Uses for Blogging (Con't)

https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/avee/blogstoteach/ 

This practical site gives helpful information about the use of blogs for teachers.   The author has made an efficient delivery in regard to the blog from basic definition to the ethical issues faced when using this medium.    The content on this site is another confirmation that blogging builds literacy skills. Beyond that, several researchers have pointed out that blogging as a tool develops the writing process in another way that is appropriate for the digital world that students live and will need to thrive in.  Additionally, the article defines three different types of literacy that are developed when students engage in meaningful blogs.  All three literacy forms; functional, rhetorical, and critical provide students with what is needed for success in the digital age.  The blog also will form a natural network that creates collaboration and is conducive to meaningful peer review.

http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/

This article is reader friendly and is quite practical.  Though it is not cerebral in tone, it a useful in providing the blogger with help for making the blogging experience a successful one.  The content discusses the difficulty with cutting and pasting from Word, various copyright issues regarding images used, uploading images, linking, and copying other posts.   Every one of the five items listed had a link that expanded in depth to discuss the origins and the reasoning behind the issue addressed. 

http://www.techteachers.com/keynotes1.htm

Information shared in this web site covers many available digital tools that students use primarily for social and recreational purposes.  The most valuable aspect of this article is that the author shares the perspective of how student in the classroom today engages in a customized experience that spans all parts of their recreational life.   Subject matter is broad discussing Facebook,  MySpace, podcasting,  and Club Penguin among others. The author shares openly and honestly about the state of being a “digital immigrant” when she visits Second Life.  The insight is a valuable reflection of the new world teachers must learn to navigate to be successful in the digital age.  It clear that the teacher is at a disadvantage and must learn quickly.  Students are no longer observers in a passive stance; they have been conditioned to participate.  When it comes to the use of the blog, it must be considered as a useful tool that the student can participate in much like their world is currently.