Communication+and+Collaboration+through+Blogging

Communication and Collaboration through Blogging

Description & Purpose This instructional media is a blog created on blogger.com. The official link to the video is [] and the title is //Sr. Phillips’ Blog//. A blog is an area online created by a user of that particular application that posts opinions and other information to which others can be permitted to comment on and contribute to, depending on the author’s settings. This blog was created by me and was intended for instructional use. The goal was to establish an area where students could post ideas, respond to prompts set by the instructor, and effectively communicate and collaborate. This blog achieves this goal for various reasons.

In asking students to post information about the unit that they just learned, they are given an opportunity to reflect on course content. This assignment asks them to review information and serves the purpose of an effective review. Often times, in classrooms, students are reluctant to summarize out loud because of the classroom setting and for fear of misspeaking. This blog gives students the privacy necessary to summarize and review course content that they perhaps otherwise would no do in the classroom setting. Lastly, this blog achieves the goal of asking students to develop 21st century skills. Using Web 2.0 technologies and requiring them to create personal products is exactly what educators should be doing to prepare their students for the future.

Analysis & Process For the prompt on my blog, I chose to have students do two different things. I wanted them to actually create something, a product, based on what they’d learned. So, one part of the prompt is asking them to greet everyone and introduce themselves. They must also greet two other people on the blog and start a simply conversation. I created this aspect because I didn’t want students to complete a simple assignment. I wanted students to actually have to use what they had learned to communicate. Moreover, my students are very talkative in class. I think this assignment tailors to their needs to communicate but it is done on their own schedule and at their own pace.

The second aspect of my prompt asks students to summarize what they’d learned in Spanish in this unit. However, they complete this aspect in English. I had them complete their project to inform their parents about the topics they are learning and their current capabilities in Spanish. I created this aspect of the blog for various reasons. Another excellent purpose is that students like to be in informative positions. Many of them enjoy describing their knowledge to others, especially to their parents as most parents ask anyhow. This way, students can refer them to the webpage. There’s no better example of an assignment where students must create a product using 21st century skills and Web 2.0. Moreover, the students really do see the purpose and value of this product and get to enjoy the benefits of quiet time while their parents go off to read online!

 Reflection

As everyone in education and technology knows by now, getting the students’ hands on the computers in the overall goal. Educators and others in the field all want students to be the producers. Students should no longer be sitting back and “enjoying the show.” We want students to be the authors, artists, designers, and presenters in today’s world. Globally, we want students to contribute to our society and do so through 21st century skills that they’ve learned in school. Creating a blog that asked students to contribute to with purpose addresses this technological standard of the 21st century.

On my blog in particular, I required that students contribute two different items: expressions of courtesy in Spanish and a unit review to the parents. The first aspect of my blog was to get students to use the basics of Spanish that they had learned in this unit; greetings, farewells, courtesy expressions, and introduction vocabulary. In completing this aspect of the post, students had to physically use what they had learned to post something on the blog. They had a purpose and creating this type of situation is backed by sound research to establish purpose in learning the language. The second aspect of the blog was for students to review what they had learned and provide a summary on the blog for their parents to read. Clearly, this allows students time to think and reflect on what they had learned. Of course, throughout the entire process the students were allowed to skim through other posts on the blog to help them review their assignment. Below is a link to the instructions from my blog. Enjoy!

media type="youtube" key="3UeKMN4D9_E" height="285" width="340" References Irvine Valley and Saddleback College, .(n.d.) //Blackboard 5 south orange county community college.// Retrieved from http://www.saddleback.edu/itc/user/blackboard/blackboard/blkbdsocccd2.html Graphics By GIMP, (2009) //Logo designs//. Retrieved from [|http://www.flamingtext.com]

YouTube, (2010) //MOV00544.MPG//. Retrieved from [|http://www.youtube.com]