Pupils at a primary school in the county of East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, are adopting blogging as a way of improving how they learn, and as a way of communicating with other schools around the United Kingdom and Europe.
They are involved in blogging, and creating podcasts, including recording themselves speaking French. It aids their learning as they are able to download their own audio files at home to listen again to their work.
The pupils use blogs in other ways — such as the creation of a “healthy passport” blog which focuses on maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The BBC news web site reports:
Permission from the local education authority has allowed the teachers to innovate in their use of electronic communication methods.
Ms Spence said that East Dunbartonshire Council have been responsive to her requests for solutions to problems such as the monitoring of posts to the blogs.
She praised the education authority’s flexible responses to the school’s demands for permissions and their help in creating solutions to the security problems posed by blogging for minors.
Ms Spence said: “We are trail-blazing and we come up with ideas to which the authority responds with permissions and solutions.”
She added: “We are finding new ways of working all the time. Video blogging would open up so many more doors and although there are currently many barriers to this, we will do it!”
To aid security, the pupils’ blogs can be password protected, and posts and comments moderated.
(Via BBC News)
Author: Andy Merrett
Andy Merrett is a London-based full-time blogger writing for several Shiny Media technology blogs and various other projects. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
I think that this is an excellent idea to use in schools today. Blogging is everywhere in today’s society, it interests kids, applys to their daily lives, and is a skill that they will continue to use in their future. So, why shouldn’t we teach how to blog and the proper way to do so in an educational or professional setting. Blogging also provides students with the chance to communicate with students from all over the world and share ideas with them. It actually could open up the opportunity for collaberative projects and individual creativity.
The major drawback that may arise is student access to computers and the internest both at school and at home. If this can be provided then blogging would be an excellent eduactional tool.
I second the above commenter. :)