Because there are so few participants this round, your commitment to the discussion is heightened. Eric is the only participant this round who also participated last round, so my expectations for his involvement are that much more heightened. As we’ve discussed in class, the use of blogs and wikis to facilitate learning is relatively new, and therefore, requires constant critical evaluation.
As the teacher, I know what I hope the use of the blogs and wikis can do, but what I am interested in is the ways in which students themselves see the usefulness of technology-aided classrooms. Here’s where you guys can not only participate as recipients of a crazy teacher’s ideas, but actually step in and help mold the way teachers in general will or will not use technology in the future. So, while your weekend requirement is two posts, I’d encourage you to post as many times as makes the discussion a success.
Here of some potential questions you might explore (of course, I also hope you will come up with some of your own):
Does having too few participants in a blog discussion make the use of blogs counterproductive? Should I create a minimum number of participants and disallow students from choosing the Mega challenge if I don’t get the minimum?
Does the blog allow students to participate in discussions differently than they do in class? Positive/negative implications?
Does use of the wiki encourage students to think about technology differently?
Does use of the wiki allow students to display their ideas in more advanced ways?
Does it raise a student’s motivation knowing that “the world-wide” community can potentially see his or her work?
Do students engage their parents in conversations about what they are doing in class more often because they can “showcase” their work to their parents?
January 24, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Question 1: I think that more people participating in the discussions would help, and a minimum should be required. However, it should be low because this discussion, for example, was successful in my opinion. But if there are too few people, no one would have enough posts to be able to respond to.
January 24, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Question 2: Yes, the blog allows students to have different discussions than in class. This is because on the blog, a question is asked, and a conversation on one topic is started. In class, many topics are discussed, so each topic is talked about in less detail. Therefore, the blog is helpful for having detailed discussions.
January 25, 2009 at 12:05 am
Things that I felt worked well in the discussions.
1. I think that the questions or topics Mrs. Gutierrez posts help the students focus on one or two things, which enhances the process because each topic is talked about in depth.
2. The requirement of needing to respond to someone else was good because it made the students read each other’s comments. That way the students saw the question from a different point of view and it created a real discussion.
3. I think that comparing the book events with events in history helped the students understand why certain things were the way they were in “Animal Farm”. Using history also helped us learn about the time period in which the book was written (which is important because the time frame impacts the writer’s ideas).
January 25, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I believe a large group can make things complicated on the other hand a large group can enhance the way you learn about a novel by getting multiple answers from different people.
January 25, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I believe that if questions make you think then the answers will have more meaning and depth therefore making the blog more useful and fun for all of us.
January 26, 2009 at 10:05 am
Things I feel went well.
1. I like all the questions Mrs. Gu has posted and I have enjoyed answering all of the questions. I am a little disapionted in our small group.
2. I like seeing how Nick has interpreted the novel.
3. I like knowing that my ideas are being read.