The Journey Begins

I want to start my first blog entry by thanking my instructor, Mr. Smith ,for pushing me into this new adventure. It has been an interesting week exploring the world of blogging. I have come to see the advantages to participating in the Web 2.0 culture. Furthermore, I have been convinced of the advantages of utilizing these tools with my students.

This week started with some frustration over trying to locate an educational blog. The searching seems to be the hardest part but luckily I have found a few for me. My greatest find was Art Education 2.0, hosted by Craig Roland. This site concentrates on integrating technology in the art classroom. I have only begun to tap into the information available here. My blog entry on the site received some excellent comments which have been very useful. One of them was a link to another blog which I would like to share here. Check out the video about how blogging was used in a sixth grade classroom. It is very inspiring.

Dr. David Thornburg has convinced me that teachers need to consider using technology "to do different things" in the classroom. Using technology "to do things differently", is helpful and can be motivating for both our students and ourselves, but if we are to catch up with the technology curve we need to concentrate on altering our pedagogy and practices (Thornburg, 2008). I am looking forward to learning how to apply blogging in the classroom using new pedagogy along with safe and effective practices.

A thought to leave with you...... as I grow to become an advocate for using Web 2.0 applications in the classroom such as blogging, how can I effectively convince administrators, parents, and my school board of their importance? Thus lifting the great "block". Any thoughts?

That is my impression.

Thornburg, D. (2004). Technology and education: Expectations, not options. (Executive Briefing No. 401). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/expectations.pdf