Creating the blog was fairly intuitive and easy.
I found the Jenkins article to contain good reasons for blogging for members of the academic community. What a great way for current students to get a foot in the door for post graduate work or for the job market. It's too bad that my two sons take English as a second language (only kidding-but they both dislike the writing process-probably because their father was an English major). Maybe if blogging was available in their high schools in the same manner it is used at MIT, the writing process would have been reinforced. Jenkins does believe that not only the blogging itself, but also the demands of the blogging schedule, increased the quality of the students' writing.
Jenkins also made clear the use of blogging as a marketing tool to attract and educate prospective students into the program.
I can see how students' motivation is increased when faculty members continue the class conversation after class in a blog. This would definitely increase interest in the subject between classes. This would be great in a high school curriculum or even middle school. I know that in the high school in the district in which I teach, the technology teacher has a blog. This should be carried over to the academic subjects.
When hosting a blog, Jenkins states, "The crucial point is that running a blog is a commitment, and has to be understood as part of a larger set of professional obligations." In other words, the blogger must make a strong commitment to posting on a regular basis and to make sure that you have the time, or to make the time to continue the posts.
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I was thinking as I was reading this that this would be great opportunity to share your tech skills with your sons. Encourage them to start a blog. It doesn't have to be on class work. Maybe one writes poetry or songs. (I receive many links from males in my school who write and want to share their work.) Or books they read, especially if they are into graphic novels or zines. (both very hot with teens.) Or post sports reports on games. Most newspapers have blogs, which include a sports blog. Be sure to encourage them to include links. If they have pics from a game, they could post in Flickr and link to that in the blog.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan, but if you are comfortable with them using MySpace, you could encourage them making a page. (Make you you have permission to view - be added as a friend.) They do have to be 14 years old.
Commitment is a huge thing. Honestly, after this class I'm not sure I will keep up with blogging even though I do find it very engaging. I have always found writing down my thoughts very liberating. I know when something is on my mind I find that if I write it down somewhere I can address it better and think through the problem.
ReplyDeleteAs for your sons creating a My Space I think it's actually a good idea. Both of my daughters have facebook pages. The only stipulation was that I had to be a friend. We discuss what is appropriate to put out there and what isn't. They find it a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. But most importantly it a great teaching tool. There are more reports about sexting and other inappropriate activities going on with kids, but I'd bet that most of their parents have never even seen what facebook or texting looks like.