Module 2 Reflections

Blogs As Assessment

This year has been a fun one of exploration of internet tools. Using Blogs and Wikis have been very exciting. The uses of them in education are enticing. After learning more about them, especially blogs, and sharing that info with some of my teachers, that excitement rubbed off on some of my staff. We have discussed how to use blogs within the classroom--mainly in an English class. And assessment has been one of the main components of our discussions. My teachers and I talked about the use of blogs in assessing student understanding of topics. Our discussions centered around the idea that many students don't participate in class. That brings up the concern about whether or not students are understanding what is being taught. Our thoughts were that with blogs, students might feel free to discuss their thoughts on topics. We were also excited that, if the use of a blog opened up more student discussion, we would be able to assess whether or not we were covering the curriculum correctly, and could then adjust our classroom teaching if necessary.

It is interesting to see the varied backgrounds in our class. Some seem to believe in online education only with no f2f. Some want blended (like me). Some are just getting their eyes opened to these new tools.