Unit 2 - ED 668c

Well, I've just finished reading Chapter 3 of "Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms." This chapter helps the reader understand a blog and its educational applications as well as how to set one up through this very server, Blogger. My experience with blogging is not very vast, but waaayy back in 2003, I set up a personal blog when these were new, or at least to me. It was utilized more as a personal journaling, and I realized how dangerous this could be very quickly. As Richardson (2006) states, " Public writing demands discretion, especially in an educational setting." In the age of MySpace and Facebook, individuals feel the need to post anything and everything about themselves and it can be detrimental both personally and professionally. I feel that weblogs can be an incredible tool for communication when used appropriately. Additionally, I have established a blog for the students in my class to respond to different topics, but I do recognize that not all students and parents have the resources to engage in a blog communication. "Although you can use blogs even if students don't have outside access to the Web, the possibilities for their use are much greater if they do" (Richardson, 2006). Interest has waned in our class website's blogging capability since the start of the school year, but I feel responsible for this for not adding new topics with great frequency, or discussing the blog in class as much as I could. I hope to improve in this arena and pique student interest. Though I did ask for last names not to be attached to comment posts, some were, and I want to reiterate this to parents to protect the privacy and identitiy of students in the class. I feel the implications for blogging in the library atmosphere are unlimited with responses to book questions and incorporation for "Reading Olympics" selections. Similiarly, students could suggest additions to the collection based on popular reads or topics for research.