readings wk 4 thoughts...

Blogging is a simple but powerful tool that is available to classrooms and teachers wishing to make the most of the connectivity that is part of the world in the 21st century. Teachers can utilise their students' acceptance of new technologies to make their learning within schools as relevant as their learning out of school. (Pericles, 2008, p.5-6). Some functions/activities that teachers may find useful that have proven useful at Belmore South Public School include:

* sharing on class science experiments, plays, reports on excursions, books read, periods in history, debating results, athletics carnivals, and maths constructions (Pericles, 2008, p.6).   

* students can prepare blogging posts at home as well as at school (Pericles, 2008, p.6).

* blogs connect students to their learning and allow them to connect to other students around the world and get feedback and comments from their peers from around the world.   

Barone and Wright (2008) state that: 

* students should spend their first day in the classroom getting to know their teacher and classmates, getting materials, and learning the new rules and expectations. 

* Connections to the internet provided scaffolding for many classroom topics, thus building background knowledge (p.293). 

* Professional support is crucial, and having a group of technology-savvy students can be a great help to assist teachers and other students (p.300).    

References: 

* Pericles, K. (2008) "Happily Blogging at Belmore South", Scan, 27, 2, p. 4-7. 

* Barone, D. and Wright. T.E. (2008) "Literacy instruction with digital and media technologies", The Reading Teacher, 62, 4, p.292-302.