RSA#4 Promoting
Collaborative Learning: Blogging
Communicating and collaborating online is not just for
adults, many children, starting with pre-schoolers, are using the Internet.
When the Internet is used for collaboration and communication there is high
potential for young children to use it for educational purposes. In the book, Building Online Learning Communities,
Palloff and Pratt state “When students engage in discussions with each other
than with the instructor (or teacher), the possibilities for collaboration grow
significantly.” Chapter 8 in this book focuses on promoting collaborative learning and how
to go about successfully making the learning meaningful for the students in an
online environment. Near the end of
chapter 8 the authors list forms of collaboration, which included blogs where
students can reflect and comment on others’ reflections.
The article, Should
Kids Blog?, by Rhondall Rapoza, describes the benefits of kids blogging.
She lists five reasons why one should encourage kids to blog, including that
blogging can expand their knowledge of the English language, improving writing
skills at a young age. Also, blogging can give kids a sense of responsibility,
improve communication skills, and strengthen their creative side. Lastly, she
describes how blogging can increase a kid’s vocabulary knowledge. They can
learn how to use thesauruses and dictionaries. The article states, “Blogging
gives them an opportunity to play with words and makes them think. They will
learn how to use words that affect their readers. (Rapoza , 2010)
The article explains how parents should look for ways to use
the Internet and how blogging is a useful online tool that allows kids to show
their creativity and writing skills. The book, Building Online Learning Communities, looks at collaborative tools
from more of an instructor’s point of view, going into detail about the types
of online collaboration as successful ways to manage these online sites,
including using dialogue as inquiry, using real-life examples, providing feedback,
and resource sharing (Palloff & Pratt, 2008). Both resources encourage and
describe the benefits of online collaborative learning.
References
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2008). Building online learning
communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. (2nd ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.
Rapoza , R. (2010, March 2). Should kids blog? here are 5
reasons why kids should blog. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Should-Kids-Blog?-Here-Are-5-Reasons-Why-Kids-Should-Blog&id=3844412
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| Comic taken from http://home.messiah.edu/~tr1201/tech-in-print.html |
My second graders use Kidblog.org. Watch this quick video to learn about Kidblog!
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