I’ve had blogs in my classroom with my students for six full years. When we first started, we could only find a few others around the world who were doing this same kind of work. We ended up in the New York Times, on CBCand on Cnet as well. I saw blogging as transformative, giving students a voice to the world. I was proud to proclaim that I would never again have a classroom without blogs as they changed the possibilities.
I spoke too soon.
Last year and this year I have seen a change in my students. Whereas blogging in the past had pulled in many students, engaging and motivating most of them, in the last two years, I have seen more of a drift from the platform of long blogging. It required more work as a teacher to motivate students to write and fewer students were writing simply for the joy of writing. It seemed like a classic case of diminishing returns.
Yet I was confused as students stayed motivated by using technology. Skype calls with others classes and with outside experts brought excitement and interest. Time spent in chatrooms, taking photos and producing videos all brought students together and motivated them to work for sometimes hours on end. This was not a case of the “flash” wearing off.
Taking the time to consider this deeply, I’ve reached the conclusion that the killer app in classroom blogging isn’t the platform. Kids aren’t motivated by blogging because they have a cool space to write. The killer app in blogging isn’t blogging after all – it’s connecting and communicating with others. It’s about the community that develops around your platform.
While I’ve always talked about networks and communities in the past, these connections were always visited as one benefit among many. Now, in my understanding of technology based pedagogy, the aspect of community has moved front and centre. Kids are motivated by technology for the connections it helps them to establish. Whether those connections are based on blogs, on flickr, youtube, a wiki or in a chatroom – the aspect of communicating with other real people around the globe is what motivates and inspires learners. The connections inspire accelerating returns and positive feedback loops. The connections gives students a window into other’s lives and spaces.
This is why I am thinking of making a change next year. For years I’ve worked within a standalone blogging community. I have had a mother blog for my classroom and the students have each had their own spaces. Next year, I am thinking of building around a structure that makes the community aspect front and centre. I am wondering about centring my classroom community around a buddypress site with wordpress multi user activated. A site like this would allow students spaces for long form blogging, as well as spaces for shorter work such as groups. It would also allow students to share other things such as photos and videos in a single place.
Time for another reconsideration of technology based pedagogy….
Interesting observations, Clarence. I use blogs in the course I teach in Teacher Ed, and it has been very successful, but of course, the students are much older, and we do build community using other tools, such as twitter, among others. The most unfortunate thing, is that no matter how the connecting and sharing is done, too many students do not have the opportunity at all. I look forward to hearing how things go with this new approach.
I agree with you and am moving in the same direction. One problem I see with your solution is what has plagued me, the fact that a shared space is difficult to share on. Posts get buried too fast, especially when you have a lot of students. I discovered this while using a ning with my classroom.
What if instead of one large blog, what if we allowed students to create their own shared blogs? Instead of a large number posting to one blog they could limit the number to 5 or 6, perhaps even inviting a few other “guest” bloggers to share as well. I think this could create “conversation nodes” where students would have fewer opportunities to comment but more chances to have conversations.
What do you think?
I think this is a great idea. I agree with your experience with ning. I used in nings in my classroom for projects, but would not consider using one as my main space for the school year. Moving to a buddypress site with wpmu turned on is a way around this as it provides for several spaces all located at one URL. Kids can still have their individual blogs, but also have shared spaces such as the groups, etc in a ning. I am hoping that by moving to this kind of model, it provides for both individual long form blogging spaces as well as more shared spaces that might be the focus of shorter conversations based around passions and interests.
What a great post. We are trying to use blogging as a tool for students to share their work from school with others. We’ve got a Ning up and running that encourages the community side but even that is limited in its audience. Encouraging that community outside our school is truly a challenge and I look forward to seeing how you move forward next year. Keep us posted.
Thanks again for the great post and observation.
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This is an intriguing post. The scenario reminds me of an experience I had in a graduate school course on the writings of John Milton. The professor had a specific exam style in mind. A group of students, myself included, formed a study group to prepare. During the course of our study and conversation, we identified connections between Milton’s life and his writings in much deeper ways than we would have alone. Prior to the exam, we approached our professor and asked if he would consider allowing us to create an exam question on our own. He agreed. The resulting work took each of us to much greater depths of understanding Milton’s work that any of us anticipated. I was so thankful that he trusted us and I always remembered the experience as I approached final exam time with my own students.
I think the answer to your question may lie in the shifting role of the teacher. It sounds to me like you are empowering your students as learners and that you may need to shift your role – and your assessment of their learning. Perhaps the answer doesn’t really lie in the format of the interaction, but in what the students, themselves, recognize they are learning from it. Consider identifying the learning outcomes you are seeking, and let the students, through self-reflection and documentation, identify how they have reached (or approached) the targets.
Bottom line, I give you loads of credit for reflecting on what is working and what may need to be shifted. That is the hallmark of a great teacher.
I think Joanne that you are right about this being part of the shifting role of the teacher. As the ground moves under our feet part of what we need to do is help our students to see the possibilities for themselves. Communities provide multiple, safe spaces where students can develop a voice, a group and a passion. I believe an essential skill for our time is growing a community and motivating it towards action. Is something many teachers would see their role as?
I think that one of the most valid points you make is that technology on its own is not going to engage kids. It’s what you do with it. Writing a blog post that no one but your teacher is going to see is not much different than writing a paper. It is when we truly engage students in a community, dialoguing with others, that the magic of engagement kicks in!
Thank you once again, Clarence, for sharing your timely wisdom. In preparing this week’s Web 2.0 resources for teaching my undergraduate University class, your comments on using Web 2.0 to develop community aligned perfectly with our plan to explore community and communities within Web 2.0 environments. It also aligns nicely with Daniel Light’s article ‘Doing Web 2.0 Right’ in the February issue of Learning and Leading with Technology.
I continue to follow your work as it is both enlightening and a great place to guide my pre-service teachers in their quest for effective technology integration!