Thinking about teaching with blogs in science class?

 

What do the experts say?

“Web logs have an important place in the science curriculum. Students need to know how to write, problem solve, and form educated opinions to be science literate. Blogging can be the answer by engaging learners to reflect on real-world problems by learning how to express themselves and communicate by writing” (Duplichan, 2009, p. 35) .

 

What do you think?

Want to read it?

“Using Web Logs in the Science Classroom”

Expand your notion of literature

Learning across content areas

Team 1


Ebony, Katherine, Wanda, and Erica created a Prezi that highlights the importance content area literacy proponents place on using supplemental texts and expanding notions of what counts as literature.

 

Reading to learn & learning to read

 

Team 2

 

 

Stacie, Jenna, Hannah, Allison, Maria, and Tessa's concept map points out that content area literacy is about reading to learn, learning to read, general learning strategies, and ways of reading in the disciplines. Any questions? New thoughts?

Helping students learn to learn

Team 3


Jerry, Lindsay, Catherine, Amanda, Lindsey, and Allison felt

content area literacy efforts tend to focus on reading critically, aiding students before, during, and after reading, and helping students learn to learn.  Any questions? New thoughts?

 

Students at the center

Team 4


Kyle, Chelsea, Vee, Chris, and Tanya believe content area literacy is about student needs, instructional methods, and measures to reinforce those methods.  Any questions? New thoughts?

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Welcome to Our Learning Blog!

Assignment

Purpose:

• To think critically about what you are learning from the readings
• To use as a springboard for conversations with other readers
• To actually use technology to learn
• To practice using a writing to learn activity (blog posts)
• To imagine how you might use a blog in your class
• To learn to write for an audience beyond the teacher & classmates

 

You might be asking, “No, really, why are we blogging?”

Here are two things that influence my thinking about this:

 

 

 

 The Benefits of Writing to Learn

“[Writing to learn] is low stakes writing. The goal isn't so much good writing as coming to learn, understand, remember and figure out what you don't yet know. Even though low stakes writing-to-learn is not always good as writing, it is particularly effective at promoting learning and involvement in course material…” (Elbow, 1994).



Efficacy of Blogging

“Blogs constitute a fast online publishing tool. Educators have been examining the opportunity to use blogs to support students’ personal reflection, to collect teaching resources, to showcase students’ projects, or to establish communication channels among instructors and students…With greater flexibility, blogging tools offer a richer learning environment than traditional course-management systems” (Hsu & Wang, 2011, p. 71).

 

Want to read more?

Elbow, P. (1994). Writing for learning--not just for demonstrating learning. http://www.oberlin.edu/ctie/Elbow-Learning.pdf

 

Hsu, H. & Wang, S. (2011). The impact of using blogs on college students’

     reading comprehension and learning motivation. Literacy Research and Instruction, 50,
    68–88.