Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms.

1.Discuss your thoughts about blogging with students. What are some steps that should be taken to prepare students before blogging?

I think that blogging with students is a good way to introduce technology to students in a good way. There is so much bad stigma about kids and the internet and their cell phones that having students use blogs as a tool for homework would maybe change that up a bit. When students become more and more comfortable with blogging it can open up a whole new world to them.

I would think the best way to prepare students for blogging would be to have them read blogs and even respond to blogs just to get a feel for what blogging actually is. Blogging is something that needs to be hands on learning and the students will get better and better the more they do it.

When it comes to blogging safety, I think it is important that the parents of these students are involved. And that they know what kind of things that their children will be posting to. I also think it is important that the students themselves feel safe, and should only have to put as much personal information on their blog that they feel comfortable doing.

Good uses for blogging in the classroom include; posting homework, a way for students to keep connected, and for teachers to post links that may be useful to the students.

2.National and State technology standards.

http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=54

The standards that are met when blogging are;

• Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity.
• Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments.
• Model Digital Age Work and Learning.

3. Lesson Plan

https://docs.google.com/View?id=ddv49vkt_51chgfp8hq

Objectives:

In this lesson students will comprehend texts by making predictions.The power of this activity is derived from the fact that students can work collaboratively with students that are located anywhere.

Technology Used:

• Google Accounts
• Computers with Internet access

Standards:

• Make inferences and/or draw conclusions based on information from the text
• Identify, interpret, compare, and/or describe components of fiction or literary nonfiction