Would you expect a student to read Shakespeare before teaching them to read? No.
Would you expect a student to solve an equation before teaching them how to count? No.
Would you expect a student to analyze a country's undemocratic government before teaching them about democracy? No.
Would you expect a student to write an essay before teaching them how to write? No.
So, how can we expect a student to create a meaningful, purposeful and authentic blog without first teaching them how to blog?
21st century students are the pioneers of technology, Anne Mirtschin argues on her educational technology blog. Never again will a group of students be at the forefront of such change. Therefore, as educators we must guide and nurture students towards being responsible digital citizens. How do we do this? By explicitly teaching students the hows, the whys, the whats of online behaviour of course!
A senior student was applying for university in the United States. Coming from a rural village in Nepal, she clearly couldn't afford to pay for a university education in the States, so she applied for some scholarships. Having observed her online presence from a distance, the school counselor suggested that she might like to Google herself, as the scholarship providers surely would. Shock. Horror. The first three pages of Google were her ask.fm profile, her FaceBook profile, her Twitter feed, her Tumblr profile and so on and so on. This student wasn't lucky enough to be taught how to be a responsible digital citizen and how to leave a positive digital footprint. Not only were her different social media profiles open for all to see, but the content surely wasn't the image she wanted to project of herself. She immediately either deleted these accounts or changed the privacy settings and thanked the counselor profusely. Had one of her teachers (science, English, maths, computer science - it doesn't matter) taught her how to behave appropriately online, she wouldn't have had to learn this valuable lesson about cyberspace.
Teachers often bemoan the lack of hours in the day. Oh, if only we could have a 26 hour day, they say. Only 181 direct teaching days this year? But how on earth am I going to cover all of the skills and content these students need?! What? Now you want me to give up precious class time to teach students how to blog? Actually, yes.
Explicitly teaching a student how to blog involves more than just how to set up a blogger account, how to create a new post, how to comment on others' posts etc... So much more. It improves writing skills, persuasion, arguing, questioning, reflection and proofreading, so it really is worth incorporating it into class time.
Having trouble engaging students in your persuasive writing unit?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Are your students proofreading skills lackluster?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
When the audience increases from one to thousands, it suddenly seems more important to make sure they're/their/there are spelt correctly.
Do your students see reflection as challenging or, even worse, pointless?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Reflection becomes embedded when students can share their work easily with parents, teachers and one another. Comments spark natural reflection.
Do your students struggle with debating respectfully?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
If a teacher takes class time to teach students how to comment respectfully, even if it is disagreeing with the bloggers argument, students will become skillful (and respectful) commenters.
So, teachers, I implore you to take the time in class to teach your students how to blog. Not only will it improve engagement, writing and arguing skills, but it will teach them the life-long skill of being a responsible digital citizen. They'll thank you for it.
Works cited:
http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/keeping-students-cybersafe/
Would you expect a student to solve an equation before teaching them how to count? No.
Would you expect a student to analyze a country's undemocratic government before teaching them about democracy? No.
Would you expect a student to write an essay before teaching them how to write? No.
So, how can we expect a student to create a meaningful, purposeful and authentic blog without first teaching them how to blog?
21st century students are the pioneers of technology, Anne Mirtschin argues on her educational technology blog. Never again will a group of students be at the forefront of such change. Therefore, as educators we must guide and nurture students towards being responsible digital citizens. How do we do this? By explicitly teaching students the hows, the whys, the whats of online behaviour of course!
A senior student was applying for university in the United States. Coming from a rural village in Nepal, she clearly couldn't afford to pay for a university education in the States, so she applied for some scholarships. Having observed her online presence from a distance, the school counselor suggested that she might like to Google herself, as the scholarship providers surely would. Shock. Horror. The first three pages of Google were her ask.fm profile, her FaceBook profile, her Twitter feed, her Tumblr profile and so on and so on. This student wasn't lucky enough to be taught how to be a responsible digital citizen and how to leave a positive digital footprint. Not only were her different social media profiles open for all to see, but the content surely wasn't the image she wanted to project of herself. She immediately either deleted these accounts or changed the privacy settings and thanked the counselor profusely. Had one of her teachers (science, English, maths, computer science - it doesn't matter) taught her how to behave appropriately online, she wouldn't have had to learn this valuable lesson about cyberspace.
Teachers often bemoan the lack of hours in the day. Oh, if only we could have a 26 hour day, they say. Only 181 direct teaching days this year? But how on earth am I going to cover all of the skills and content these students need?! What? Now you want me to give up precious class time to teach students how to blog? Actually, yes.
Explicitly teaching a student how to blog involves more than just how to set up a blogger account, how to create a new post, how to comment on others' posts etc... So much more. It improves writing skills, persuasion, arguing, questioning, reflection and proofreading, so it really is worth incorporating it into class time.
Having trouble engaging students in your persuasive writing unit?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Are your students proofreading skills lackluster?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
When the audience increases from one to thousands, it suddenly seems more important to make sure they're/their/there are spelt correctly.
Do your students see reflection as challenging or, even worse, pointless?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
Reflection becomes embedded when students can share their work easily with parents, teachers and one another. Comments spark natural reflection.
Do your students struggle with debating respectfully?
No problem! Blogging is your answer.
If a teacher takes class time to teach students how to comment respectfully, even if it is disagreeing with the bloggers argument, students will become skillful (and respectful) commenters.
So, teachers, I implore you to take the time in class to teach your students how to blog. Not only will it improve engagement, writing and arguing skills, but it will teach them the life-long skill of being a responsible digital citizen. They'll thank you for it.
Works cited:
http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/keeping-students-cybersafe/
Sarah, your opening questions set the grounds for your belief that teachers do need to teach students how to blog.
ReplyDeleteUp until now, as educators we have been essentially modeling, gearing up to, relating, editing, guiding our discourses verbally. The students now have a 24-7, endless and global opportunity to express their views, only to get “infinitely more,” as Andrew Sullivan put in his video, How To Blog Like Andrew Sullivan. They can choose their own space and mode that best suits them. They can be as verbose, creative, reflective, conclusive, and dubious all at the same time.
Importantly however, as you stated the caution and guidance given to students with the digital footprint when once imprinted, leaves an impression to prospective employers, teachers, friends, and family. I can relate to your story of the senior student as when I was told about one’s ‘cyber’ digital footprint a few years ago…and that it wasn’t only the pictures that I had put up on Facebook, but those that others put of me in theirs. I set out to check my own ‘footprints.’ Phew! Check. Realization. Responsibilities. Choices.
Lastly, you got me thinking about how teachers bemoan the number of hours in a day to get the myriad of things done. I totally believe that a teacher should be a well-versed, reflective example and advocate of anything new taught in class. For those like myself (and there are definitely hundreds like me), would it not be a good idea to make sure the school’s IT department designs its IT curriculum in such a manner that both student and teacher get taught at the same time? This way, it is not yet another extra ‘inservice’ for the teacher. Blogging is an IT skill first. Instead of the teacher staying back in the classroom – planning, having coffee, or surfing the Net – how about she attend the IT class with her students? Just a thought.
Resources
How to Blog Like Andrew Sullivan
http://socialmediaclassroom.com/community/wiki/introduction-blogging
Nice post Sarah. While I like most of what you've said, I do think it is a stretch to compare blogging to Shakespeare. Blogging is meant to be a casual way of sharing opinions. While we want to encourage good grammar, punctuation, profound thoughts - blogging is a casual tool for journalling. I believe it should remain this way. As Andrew Sullivan points in his video on http://socialmediaclassroom.com/community/wiki/introduction-blogging, if you are truly blogging you are leaving more than 2 posts a day. So blogging is more than just having your students post a piece for interaction - it's a practice of constant presence and journaling on the web.
ReplyDeleteThere are two issues wrapped into this discussion. The benefits of blogging in the classroom and being responsible with what you post.
I completely agree with constantly needing to remind students to be smart with what they post online. You can never truly take back something said online once posted. Screenshots could be taken and pasted on to others before one has the chance to remove it. But being a responsible digital citizen is an ongoing education and not exclusive to blogging.
Sarah, I like your writing style and as part of your audience I do feel you've been persuasive. I would also like to address a few of the comments. Shalini relates how busy teachers are and how the IT department should include this in their curriculum. I see this being much more effective if blogging just became a normal way of communicating and sharing in classes, not a separate skill taught in a class. It wouldn't get taught all at once of course, but over time, as the students grow and learn about the platform. With reference to Paulo's point about "if you are truly blogging you are leaving more than 2 posts per day" I feel that is probably the upper limit. It is also very important that we take the time to think through what we say and how we say it. A good post synthesises ideas from other writers. Even for a full-time blogger it might be difficult to write 2 profound posts a day. Some blogs I read are glorified Twitter accounts with just a few sentences, a screenshot and a link. That's not bad, but its not fully-developed blogging or writing. Ultimately, its a flexible platform that allows anyone to find their voice.
ReplyDelete