Article #4: Multimedia in the Classroom The educated blogger:Using Weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom

Huffaker, D. (2004). The educated blogger: Using Weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom. First Monday, 9(6). doi:10.5210/fm.v9i6.1156

Summary:

Main Points:

This article looks to support the integration of blogs in classroom settings.  Huffaker (2004) argues that blogs promote literacy through storytelling, allow collaborative learning, can be accessed at any point during the school day, and are interchangeable across the curriculum. Approximately half of all blogs started today are maintained by kids of the ages 13-19.  Since blogs are so popular with the young youth today then it makes sense to say that blogs would promote engagement in the classroom setting.

Reading and writing have always been the foundation for education.  Today we refer to this foundation as verbal literacy.  If you don’t know how to read or write at your grade level, than other subjects besides reading will undoubtedly be affected.  The new technology driven classroom that we see today has created a new form of literacy, known as digital fluency, which requires students to be comfortable with many different tools.  Blogs are the perfect medium for literacy.  As Huffaker (2004) states, “Authors must read and write as they would on paper, while increasing their comfort with computers and the Internet.”

Blogs are a great tool to use in the classroom for multiple reasons.  Student blogs allow for multiple avenues of creativity, whether it’s in the storytelling itself, or the layout of the blog.  Blogs are also user friendly, which allows for both students and teachers to easily manage accounts.  “In the classroom, students can have a personal space to read and write alongside a communal one, where ideas are shared, questions are asked and answered, and social cohesion is developed” (Huffaker, 2004). Blogs are extremely collaborative and can be used in multiple class settings.  Besides using blogs in the classroom, because they are situated within the Internet, blogs can be accessed outside of school.  

Reflection and Application:

I have to admit, after reading this article and seeing the cross curriculum advantages to blogging, it is something I may consider introducing in my own classroom.  I was unsure of the blog that we created at the beginning of our first class and whether or not I would continue to access it outside of our cohort.  I feel that the most influential part of the student blog is the collaborative piece and the conversation that has the potential to start outside of the classroom.  I do think that a blog can be extremely powerful if used the correct way.

I would like to start using blogs for my current events in Social Studies.  I feel like the blogs would be a great way to foster the communication of large worldly topics.  I find that in class the discussion piece that I would like to see with current events is always lacking.  Perhaps if students had the time to read each other’s summary and reaction to a specific article they would be more inclined to comment on the topic at hand.  Blogs are definitely something I want to start to use in Social Studies and then see if I can’t incorporate them into my English classroom.