Digital Tool 1

Blogs for learning

Blogs can be a useful tool for students to explore their thoughts, ideas, and understandings of a particular learning area. The benefits for using blogs includes the reflective and explanatory skills involved with typing about a given concept. However, this is only a benefit to students who have a strength for typing/writing and communication skills. For students who lack these skills, this environment may be intimidating for them, which leads to their lack of interest and innevitable lack of trying. Another positive aspect of this type of learning environment is its ability to support technologically minded students with the opportunities to make links to other areas on the internet, including the student's own previous blog entries. I would use blogs as a learning tool for reflective purposes, explanatory activities, as well as online communication ethics. The online communication activities would have to be preceded with scaffolding to ensure the student understands what is and is not appropriate behaviour online. This includes the ability to give and recieve quality and appropriate feedback. With this type of learning environment, the teacher is also able to view what students have added to their individual blogs and their comments on other student's blogs. Although this process may take some time to complete, the end result may very rewarding with regards to knowing student's ability to link knowledge, reflect, and interact online. 

These understandings can be linked to my developements within my own blog: http://belinda-uni.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/well-i-recently-realised-just-how-far.html