Blogs In Social Studies Classrooms

Teaching Social Studies in a Participatory Culture

How blogs support 21st century literacy in social studies classrooms

Pre-Workshop Poll

Visit http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/blogworkshop to take the Pre-Workshop Poll

The “New” Rs

Dr. Willard Daggett – International Center for Leadership in Education

Rigor, Relevance, RelationshipsWhy is change needed?What needs to be changed?How do we implement such changes?

An Answer to the WHY

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2007/06/did-you-know-20.html

In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Eric Hoffer

Gathering data for the WHAT

http://www.leadered.com/nesswelcome.shtml

Items to Consider for the HOW

Learning profile of the digital nativesEmerging 21st century literaciesRigor and relevance frameworkImpact of Web 2.0 technologies on

learning

Learning Profile of Digital Natives

Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast.

They like to parallel process and multi-task.

They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants – Marc Prensky (NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001)

Learning Profile of Digital Natives

They prefer random access (like hypertext).

They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and

frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work.

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants – Marc Prensky (NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, October 2001)

The New Literacies

Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings as a form of problem-solving

Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery

Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes

Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content

Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century - Henry Jenkins 10/19/06

The New Literacies

Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment and shift focus as needed to salient details.

Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities

Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal

Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources


The New Literacies

Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the flow of stories and information across multiple modalities

Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information

Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.


Rigor/Relevance Framework

http://www.leadered.com/rigor.html

Web 2.0

The evolution of the semantic read/write web

Web 1.0 Web 2.0

BlogsGiving students a voice

Blogs

A blog is a website for which an individual or a group frequently generates text, photographs, video or audio files, and/or links, typically (but not always) on a daily basis.

Why the sudden popularity of blogs?

RSS - Really Simple Syndication

RSS – Really Simple Syndication

http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000528.html


http://www.edutopia.org/tech-teacher-cut-web-noise







Bloglines

http://www.bloglines.com/

Google Reader Labs

https://www.google.com/reader/view/

PageFlakes

http://www.pageflakes.com

Netvibes

http://www.netvibes.com/

The Power of RSS

RSS + Feed Reader/Aggregator = personalized learning/affinity network

RSS is not limited to blogsNews feedsPodcastsWiki edits and discussionsSocial bookmarking

Multiple users

Blogs in School?

Blogs are tools, and like any tools they can be used or misused. Misuse occurs more often when there's a

lack of instructionBlogging in school models appropriate

online behavior and offers teachers the chance to address issues of online safety and intellectual property

Why Students Shouldn’t Blog

People will read it. People might not like it. They might share test answers with others. They might be found by a child predator online They might write something inappropriate. They might find something inappropriate. They might get other students to start blogging.

http://blogging101.wikispaces.com/whywhynot

Why Students Should Blog

People will read it. They might like it. They might share what they've learned with others. They might participate in a collaborative learning

project. They might become inspired to learn. They might inspire others to learn. They might get other students to start blogging. If they don't talk in class, they might on a blog.

http://blogging101.wikispaces.com/whywhynot

Blogging Tips for Students

Never, never, NEVER give out your full name or any other personal information (address, phone number, instant message screen name, etc.).

Plagiarism is still wrong. Don't copy more than a paragraph from anything and ALWAYS give credit and a link to the source of the information. After all, you'd like for people to link to you, right? It's only fair.

Don't go to meet people who talk to you online.

http://blogging101.wikispaces.com/bloggersbeware

Blogging Tips for Students

Just because someone wrote it doesn't mean it's true. That cute person that wants to meet you might be a

32 year old who wants to hurt you. Photographs can be faked or could be of someone

else. Don't use them as proof of who someone is. You are writing for a GLOBAL audience. Don't

get angry when a teacher, classmate, or (oh my gosh!) parent finds and reads your blog.

You are also writing for a LOCAL audience. The content of your posts should always be safe for discussion in class.


Blogging Tips for Teachers

Get permission slips from the parents before you even think of having your students in a blog.

Even with permission, do not identify your students by their last names.

Assume that whatever you post will be read by your students, coworkers, and superiors, because the one time you don't think they will, they will.


Blogging Tips for Teachers

In the same vein, don't link to something if it's not safe for your students to see.

If you absolutely must rant and complain about your place of employment in a global forum like a blog (bad idea), have an alternate blog under an assumed name and don't mention ANY real names or locations. You still might get caught.


Integration Ideas

Ways that blogs can be incorporated

Daily Scribe – What we did today

Extending Class Discussion

Student Work Showcase

Student-Initiated Content

Student Sharing

Successful Tips for “Book” Blogs

Get comfortable with blogging Choose a relevant book [article, topic, etc.] Devise interesting questions Solicit the author’s involvement Welcome bloggers [experts] from outside the

classroom

Erik Langhorst – “The Dixie Clicks” 12/1/2006

Blog Hosting

Blogmeister – http://classblogmeister.com/ (school code required)

Edublogs – http://edublogs.org/

Blogger – https://www.blogger.com/

21 Classes – http://21classes.com/ (free service is limited)

http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/+Blogs

Getting Started

Surf a few educational blogs to get a feel for how teachers use them with students and also as part of their professional learning

Brainstorm application ideas for blogs in your classroom

Decide if your needs require a service that allows for all students to have a private blog in addition to the class blog

Sign up for a service and start blogging (it’s addictive!)

What Connects People in all These Places?

USA United Kingdom Brazil New Zealand Portugal Canada Turkey Germany Japan Spain Finland India Columbia Guinea Italy China Oman Hong Kong South Korea

Singapore Czech Republic Taiwan Ghana Uruguay Ireland Malaysia Poland Australia Palestinian Territory Chile Argentina United Arab Emirates Mexico Vietnam Thailand Indonesia Sri Lanka Israel

They are in my learning network

People from all those nations have read and/or commented on my blog as of July 8, 2007

The power of connectivity

http://cliotech.blogspot.com/

To Learn More . . .

http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/+Blogs

Lab Session

http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/blogworkshop

Technology

Blogs In Social Studies Classrooms