BP2_20091101_Edublog

Education & Blogging...

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Edublogging by Larry Harris Jr is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at lharrisjretc.blogspot.com.

Blogging & Education

In 1857, over 150 years ago, The National Educational Association asserted in the preamble to their constitution that their cause was, “to elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching and to promote the cause of popular education in the United States.” (Richards, 1892, 32). Among their first goals was, “To create and permanently establish a teacher’s profession by methods usually adopted by other professions.” (Richards, 1892, 24). Why should this call be any less relevant today. Blogging has grown into a part of many professions. Professional blogs are utilized by the medical, legal, design, marketing professions and according to Murry Consultants found that more than 39% of professional bloggers are using blogs as sales leads in industries ranging from insurance, and financial investments to culinary arts. The point here is relevance. The pedagogical community, in order to stay up with current professional trends, should be using the professional development tools that are fast becoming a business standard. Beyond professional development, 21st century educators must also realize the long-term needs of today’s students. These students will be entering a workforce that is already using blogging and will likely increase its use progressively.
According to publications by Academic Exchange Quarterly and the Kappa Delta Pi Record, College students have found increased academic performance when using blogging to support instruction. There is also mention of an emergence of self-regulation in these studies. The target audience for this research was college students ranging in age from 19-59 with an average age of 27.

What about the public school arena?

While searching for educational uses of blogging, I found little about its classroom use in the public schools. There are, however, many teacher as professional blogs available and blogging is being utilized by Parent/teacher associations around the country. Goochland County Schools in Virginia uses a blogging site to provide students & parents with instant access to homework, study guides, class notes, and other academic supports. Classroom teachers have individual blogs for their classes. It is set up more like a classroom webpage than a collaborative or discussion based learning environment. (http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/). This is a start, but does not use the potential of blogging to its fullest.
When facilitating the education of minors, there are other factors that must be considered. Access to the resource is often an issue. Many school districts, under the umbrella of cyber-safety, have filters that block potential blogging applications from being used in the schools and not all students have Internet access at home. Schools must account for legal liability and the different cognitive, emotional, and social developmental stages of their students.
The art of teaching has new tools in the 21st century, and students are preparing for a professional life that is being inundated with many of these tools. As educators in this time of change, we must embrace the best technology has to offer our students but remain mindful of the dangers that exist and the specific developmental needs and strengths of our students.