I can see an opportunity for class conversations to continue in the Blog world. As lessons are learned and new topics and concepts are introduced in class and in readings, my classroom blog can be a great place for students to log in and discuss these topics in further detail, or perhaps to find answers to questions they may have had in class or in readings. My blog can be a place where questions from students can be posted and answered by either me or another student. This can be a wonderful tool for student collaboration!
When introducing a new topic in class, having a little exposure to that topic ahead of time can be very beneficial. In my blog I could post the new topic or lesson and some thought provoking questions for students to start thinking about. I would need to design these questions to really capture interest to get them to start thinking. One way to do this is by using video blogs to bring the material to life.
This will allow the class to really hit the ground running with the new topic.
This will allow the class to really hit the ground running with the new topic.
Unfortunately there is only so much time in class which needs to be used to cover new material and hopefully, manipulate the new material in some way for better learning. I think to really understand some concepts in science and biology, further discussion can also really lend to better learning. Blogs can be a great technology for continuing the conversation started in the classroom into the virtual classroom. I could envision having blogging debriefing sessions where students can post what they got out of the lesson and others could further learn from their insights.
Of course, in order for all this wonderful stuff to happen, students need to go to the blog. So, I'm not sure how to make this happen as to whether going to the class blog should be a routine part of homework or if the blog should be an additional resource for students if they so choose. It probably depends on what I'm using the blog for at that time.
I definitely see blogging as a part of my future class and expect it to be a valuable teaching tool.
Your idea of "new topics can be "pre-introduced", and outcomes of class lessons can be drilled into more deeply ... is now coined as "FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM." Your embedded video is such a great example. And the result is significantly more time to actually work in labs, work on problems that traditionally would be called homework, etc. It will be fun to see how you experiment with some of these ideas in your Practicum and Student Teaching.
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