Journal #4: Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog

"Moderating and Ethics for the Classroom Instructional Blog," by Paricia Deubel

This article was interesting because it provided some guidelines for running a blog as well as some of the perils associated with one. One of the interesting points made in the article was the sheer amount of work on behalf of a teacher that surrounds running a blog. Reading 75 paragraphs per class per week is a lot plus you need to post the original questions and provide responses. The article also made the point that there are some ways around this like having different students aide in moderating the blog etc.

Would I use a blog in my class?

I’m not sure in what form I would use a blog myself. I feel I am fairly technically savvy so I think I would definitely have a website for the class but whether the site is used in the blog form where students have discussions, I am not sure. Like the article said running a site where one must moderate posts can become quite a project and I’m not sure I would be ready to handle something like that, especially in the first few years of teaching. Plus, there would also become concerns about whether students have access to the blog and technology.

What learning tool would be the most useful in a blog?

I think in a blog the most powerful learning tool is the ability for the teacher to get students to write short thoughtful responses and posts. I think that one of the powers of a blog would be to get students thinking on a subject and forcing them all to respond to it instead of having the two or three more outspoken students dominate any discussion. Blogs allow a safer avenue for students to respond where they do not have to worry about being publicly embarrassed and I think students will feel they have more control over how their posts will be received.