Thursday, 19 April 2007

Why let our students blog?

I have made a presentation on "Why let our Students Blog?" and hosted it on Teacher Tube (also viewable below). I have been meaning to address and this write a post on this for a while: to identify the benefits and reasons why we should have students blogging in our classrooms.

UPDATED 2008 VERSION 1.5 VIDEO


When I viewed Simon's (Educating the Dragon) great response to "Why Teach Technology?" I realised that writing about the benefits of student blogging was not the only way I could present my ideas. I am currently on school holidays so I have put together this presentation inspired by Simon's!

Movie/video is such a powerful medium. I created the presentation on good old PowerPoint and uploaded the jpgs of each slide to imovie. I've kept the transitions to a very basic cross dissolve mostly to not detract. The music is nothing flash - "English Channel" from Freeplay Music but it does the job.

Hope you enjoy it - it's only my first "draft" so please feel free to leave comments and mention anything I've forgotten or need to include :)

22 comments:

  1. Good work Rachel. That is a cool video. Keep up the great work.

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  2. Great message and medium. Well done Rachel

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  3. Well done Rachel. This will be useful to show staff who think that blogs and wikis are not for them and its from a NZer (may have more impact!)I will certainly be pointing my staff your way.

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  4. Hi Rachel
    Cool Video, would be great to use at a parent evening! We have had some parents reluctant to give permission for their students work or images to be put on the web. A video like this showing images of students in the class would be all that was needed to get them on side. You have given me food for thought and a project for my next beginning of the year parent evening.

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  5. Great message and video Rachel - if that's your first attempt - I look forward to seeing your next! Well done.

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  6. Rachel this is just great. Well done. It is great to be reminded that a picture is worth a thousand words. I love the way you have combined a great image with a very few words to convey a powerful message. This is what I want my kids to be doing. Thank you.

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  7. Well done Rachel - great to see you exploring the medium you're promoting in this way! The movie clip is well-paced, and I like the simplicity of the text, and the powerful use of imagery to reinforce the message.
    Have you thought of creating some similar videos based on your kids responses to simple questions... "why do you blog?", "what's educational about using cell phones?", "why are iPods cool?" etc?? They'd also have some great ideas for images I'd bet. Keep up the good work.

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  8. Dear Rachel, what an inspiration. Congratulations on a cool video and a clear cut blog. You have everything that is needed.
    I belong to the Webheads in Action Community of Practice where most of us are EFL teachers all over the world. We participate in free six-week workshops every jan-feb and keep in touch through a yahoo list throughout the year. I feel there is a lot we can learn from you and will mention your site if you don´t mind.
    All the best and keep up your excellent work. Cariños from Berta.
    A Venezuelan EFL teacher presently in sabbatical in Canada at the University of Toronto.

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  9. Rachel tu blog y el de tus niños y niñas es muy bueno me gusta seguirlo por que me parece formidable la utilización que haces de este medio con alumnado tan joven.
    Seguiré visitando estos blogs.

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  10. Google Translator translates the above Spanish comment to:

    "Rachel your blog and the one of your children and children I am very good likes to follow it so that the use seems to me formidable that beams of this means with so young pupils. I will continue visiting these blogs."

    Cool getting a comment in another language huh!

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  11. I am completing and ICT paper and part of my assignment is about how blogging is being used by teachers and students in NZ.Your blog and your classes blog was really useful and made me think about how I could use blogs with my class. Thank you!

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  12. Hi Rachel,

    super reasons to blog with children. Why not add 'preperation for the globalised world', 'children ARE publishers'?

    Sharon

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  13. I like it! The pics are good and relate to the words and the music is upbeat. I especially like the facial expression of the one young man you used for engagement. His look is precious! I'm putting this on my static site for parents to view. Great!!

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  14. Great work Rachel.
    Looking at work like this is really getting me fired up to try new things in my class and i'm sure it will also help me with my ICT paper.

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  15. Rachel,
    Great video. I can't wait to link my teaching pals to it. Sometimes it can be a bit of a challenge to justify using technology with early learners. Many people don't think the little ones get much from utilizing the technology tools. This video will assist me in making my case! Thanks so much for putting this together.

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  16. Rachel,

    This is an awesome video. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I would like to share this with my parents and school administrators. I will also post it on my blog once Teacher Tube is back up. Your work inspires me to create my own video presentations. Thanks for sharing.

    Tony Powell, Delaware, USA

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  17. Bellissimo video Rachel!!!
    I love teachin with blog!!!(Scusa il mio inglese)
    Leila

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  18. Great job Rachel. Can I translate your presentation into Polish? I run www.EDUNEWS.pl educational internet portal in Poland and promote modern tools in education. Please write me if you agree: edunews.pl(at)gmail.com (and if you can, send me the original file to facilitate translations).

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  19. Hi Rachel!
    I like it!Now Your video is in my blog!!! I theac in italy primary school and This is what I want my kids to be doing. Thank you.
    france

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  20. Hi Rachel,
    I would like to ask you if is possible to insert your video :” Why let our students blog?” in my youtube channel and in this blog : www.blogdidattici.splinder.com.
    Don’t’t worry if there are a problem for you.
    I’m waiting for you answer.
    See you soon!
    Leila Moreschi
    My school’s blog: www.maestraleila.splinder.com

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  21. This is great! I think this video will be helpful in introducing the benefits of blogs to hesitant teachers and administrators. Students will be able to show their parents the video, too. Thanks for providing this great resource.
    - Jon Mundorf, Marco Island, FL, USA, jmundorf.edublogs.org

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  22. I love this blog post!
    This is inspiring and encouraging.
    Since I come from a hi-tech family, my youngest have asked me about blogging last year, when he was only 5, officially kindergarten here.
    Following his nagging I decided to help him create an offline blog, with is drawings and small, few words descriptions of his day. He has a blog notebook and he is very proud of it.

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