Journal #4

“Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog” by Patricia Deubel, Ph. D

The author of this article supports a lot of what the previous article we read states about blogging. She goes into further detail with the many uses that it presents including, parent communication, student portfolios, management tools, enhancing discussions and assignment postings. The author states that in order to benefit from theses things the students must know the ethics behind blogging and using this type of technology. She believes that every unit should have clear set goals and ideas, as well as minimizing discussions to one or two questions and giving a set deadline for work. A blog is continued because others are able to respond to them and give feedback. This is almost an essential requirement of the class. With that said students need to realize what a respectful response or comment looks like. This also ensures that everyone is viewed as a valued contributor to the class and the material presented.

What are some things that I would be sure to include in my class blog if I were to create one?
I would definitely speak to my students about appropriate communication with one another. I would encourage constructed comments and expanding on someone else’s work. I would set it so that the public would not have access to it, only my class, parents and administration could view its content. I would like to recourse outside sources including videos or audio clips from either myself or others. I think that it would definitely help to reiterate information or offer more clarity. It seems like it would be a lot of work to get going, but worth it in the end.

How can students access the blog if they do not have computers at home?
Make sure that class time can be arranged in the computer lab at school for those students who do not have computer or internet access. A list of places including the school and local libraries could be given to the students with the hours and phone numbers on it.