Communication+and+Collaboration+Through+Blogging



This assignment was two-fold. Before even beginning, however, I needed to read several instructional articles and watch videos on what exactly blogging was. To be honest, I have only used a blog once prior to this assignment. I do not know a lot about them and definitely did not know how to create one. After reading up on blogs I found that they can be used for pretty much anything; communcating with friends and family, journaling an important event or events, and for this class as a means of educational communication with students and parents. When I started to look at some of the blogs that had been created by my peers I was a little intimated because of how fantastic they looked...I wasn't sure I could create something that was as innovative as theirs!! I decided to take it one step at a time. First, I created the template design based on what I wanted my students to learn about. I thought that one great topic that would relate to any historical topic is photography...the idea that a picture is worth a thousand words is definitely true. The ways in which people's perceptions of war changed once they could actually see the destruction it leaves in its wake is indescribable. War went from being a romantic notion to a despised and feared reality. I thought this was a great topic to discuss in a blog because everyones views on photography and whether it should be censored or even viewed by the public could definitely spark great debate and heated discussion. Once I read about blogs and how to use them I began the first step in this assignment, which was to participate in the class blog. I wanted to do this prior to creating my own blog because I thought it would be a great way to learn the ropes. Through participation I could see how a blog is supposed to look, the comment set-up, and then use this information to create my own blog. It was definitely beneficial to see how to set up the blog. I also really enjoyed reading everyone else's comments about blogs and how they use them in their own classroom. I definitely think their creative ideas sparked some new ideas for how to incorporate blogs into my classroom. I then went to the[| Blogger] website to create my own blog. I signed up, picked a template, and began designing the blog. I wanted to add an RSS feed from the History Channel because it is so important for people to understand the important events that occurred in history. I also wanted to add a few of my own favorite historical images to help personalize the blog. I added a poll to see how people felt about photography-should it be censored, or should we be allowed to see images from the battlefield? After this I decided to play around with the site to see what other sorts of items I could add. I put a search engine onto the blog, another RSS feed to interesting pictures in history (not necessarily images from battle, but just historical images in general), and links to great websites. I also added a youtube video that goes through historical images that most people should know and recognize. I definitely have a long way to go with blogs--I learned a lot, but I still don't feel as though I know enough to feel comfortable with them. I think it will just take practice...a screencast tutorial on blogs would be a great tool for showing someone how to create a blog and add items. This would be great for a visual learner like me... To see my blog click [|here].
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