Numero Uno

Hello bloggers,

       I would like to begin my first post by admitting that I have had a blog prior to this one. One of the things I have learned through blogging is that it is essential to update your blog with a new entry at least once a week, thus your blog will receive more views and hopefully followers if your content is liked.  When I had to create this blog I was a bit hesitant because my past activity in blogging was not  as much active as it should have been. I always tried to keep an interesting content but I was never able to update my blog every week, due to my busy school schedule. Hopefully it will be different with this new blog of mine.

       I also have learned that in order to acquire a decent amount of readers, you have to spend a lot of time networking and reading other blogs, commenting on them and copying your blog link under your comment, thus hopefully  generating traffic to your blog.  As a journalist, I am not so fond of receiving my information from bloggers but on the other hand there are trusted bloggers from media networks such as CNN, The New York Times, The News Record and The Enquirer, which I follow  and receive my news from. It is important to know that some bloggers try to act as reporters and may provide their readers with inaccurate, even false  information. This is when the readers should question whether the blogger is credible.

      Besides the credibility issue, I find blogging to be a creative outlet for writing and expressing yourself on current news or topics of your liking.   It is very empowering to be the person behind the blog because I get to chose what I would like to write about and hopefully create intellectual discussions  with other  bloggers regarding the topics I would be addressing.

     In order to take blogging to another level it would be a good idea to give it a try with my future students because it would serve as a great source of teaching and learning aids.  One of the advantages of the students’ blogging would be for them to improve their writing skills, since they will be more critical of what they are writing because they know it will be on the internet for everyone to see. Also, the students will be able to find bloggers who are interested in the same topic.  “According to social constructivism theory, knowledge is generated through social intercourse, and through this interaction, we gradually accumulate advances in our levels of knowing (Kanuka  & Anderson, 1998).   I believe that the students would like the interaction in the blogging world and would complete their homework assignments easily  if it were to post a new blog entry every other class.  I could also use  blogs by inviting other schools or  classes in the US or  foreign countries  to participate in the topic that is discussed.  For the quiet and shy students who do not like participating in class, blogging would be an outlet  where they can express their views free of the classroom restraints.

   It is  equaly  important that the security setting on the blog would be set to private, so only selected users  will  be have access to posting comments on the blogs. In order for the blogging assignment to work it must meet two essential goals: the teacher should monitor thoroughly the in-depth discussion and promote online opinion participation among the class through blogging.  "The educator should be in charge of navigating the blogging assignments and activities,  ensure that the in class discussion is connected to the online discussion, protect participants’ privacy and encourage participants to voice their views on the blog.”( Wang & Hsu 85)

   After each one of my students has  completed  his/her first blog entry, I  would  ask them the following questions: Do you like the blogging activities I am assigning, and if so please explain why or why not?
I will also ask them if they have any suggestions on how I can better this blogging adventure in order to make it more interactive for the  entire class?
Last but not least, I will ask them:  if  you as a student  could change one thing about blogging as a class activity what would it be?

 Finally, I would like to share an interesting  short CNN video clip I found  of how an English teacher who utilizes blogging in his  classroom: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyh4UeP-IY&feature=related

Thank you for reading.

Till next time,

Kate