Blog Benefits

Based on your projects, I've compiled a list of some of the benefits you all discussed regarding using blogs in the classroom.  

What are the benefits of researching with blogs?

1. Blogs offer a low-risk way of having students learn about source credibility.  Although books, journal articles, and newspapers are credible and are certainly needed in research, blogs remove the "guarantee of credibility" and make students delve more deeply into the sources to look for that credibility.  
2. Using blogs makes students research the research.  In other words, many of you had to conduct research on the people who created the blogs to determine its credibility/worth.  Again, this goes with debunking the "guarantee of credibility."
3. Blogs allow students to conduct research informally.  They can choose topics they want to pursue while learning how to be a researcher (i.e. how to let curiosity drive their searches).  Many times, students only view research as the "scary research project you do at the end of the year," and topics tend to be a bit more academic (i.e. dull).  Having students research through blogs on topics of their choices can help them better understand what it means to conduct research, and that perhaps not all research is boring.
4. Conducting research via blogs reminds us that we are ALWAYS researching.  How many times do you "Google" something in a day?  How many times do you think students Google something in a day?  Why not bridge "Googling" to school research practices?
5. Blogs allow us as teachers to discuss peoples' motivations for writing (via blogs, journals, etc.).  Examining why we write may enable us to look at the how and what as well.
6. Put your name at the bottom as a reply for bonus points;)

Blog Research Assignment

So we are moving onto the next project, the blog research assignment.  First, the easy stuff:  choose a question you would like to explore and investigate possible answers to the question by only using blogs (minimum of five but you may need more).  Refer back to the syllabus for details on that part.

Second, the not-so-easy stuff:  I want you to come to an answer/solution to your question solely based off the information you received from the blogs and explain why that answer is viable,etc.  In this component, you need to compose (via writing, audio, visuals, etc.--your choice--but if you hand in a MS Word doc, then your choice will become my choice, got it?) a reflection of your research process, including how you found the blogs, how you determined their credibility or worth, any hang-ups that occurred along the way, and any interesting things you found.  This is a vital component of this project.

Third, the also not-so-easy stuff:  I want you to think about what blogs/wikis/etc. offer students as they conduct research?  We have all heard teachers say to stay away from sources like Wikipedia, and I have heard you all ask if it's okay to use Wikipedia.  Why is there such a hesitation to use information that does not originate from a library database?  Is this an antiquated notion of research?  Are blogs/wikis credible?  If so, how can we tell?  If not, why are they so popular?  In other words, in this part, I want you to think about students, research, and source credibility in a more broad, critical way.  Make sense?

Some of you overlooked the importance of analysis in your remediation project (some of you did an AMAZING job on this component), which inevitably hurt your performance.  Remember, step one is only a third of the project.  The analyses components are what will separate the stellar projects from the lackluster ones--it's what set the remediation projects apart as well.  One more thing, pinterest can't be used for this one.  We all know how it works and what we can do with it.  Now find something else to expand your tech repertoire:)  Also, no recycling of technologies.  If you used it for a previous project, you gotta try something else.  Here are my exceptions to this rule (although the no Pinterest rule is firm):  if you used a combination of technologies last time, I am okay with some recycling, but there needs to be some new components as well (more new than old--got it?).  Also, if you want to use a combination of technologies this time but have never done so before, you may recycle one tool--but the rest must be new (my incentive to those of you who are interested in mixing and blending technologies).

So, here is an image of a blog project I did a while back--when I was just learning about technology (so, it's rough, and certainly not model work).  It's an interactive show where each image is a suspect in the JFK murder case, and each image is a link to one of the blogs I used.  I repeat:  I am not showing this to you to model yours after.  I am showing this to you so that you can wrap your head around the project a bit more, and make this your own.  Notice that I did not include my analyses component for you to see--that's on you (plus,I don't want my opinions about blogs and technology to taint yours).

Put your questions below, and sign your name so I know you read this.