Educational Blogging and Main Ideas of Classmates' Blogs

An education blog, or edublog, is a blog created for educational purposes. Blogs offer huge instructional potential as an online resource"(Universidad de Alicante). Blogs can be used in a wide variety of ways including group discussion, peer reviews, and collaborative projects. It can also be a way to engage students because they are familiar with the internet and most already know what a blog is. It is also a great way to incorporate technology into the classroom. 

Person types on computer

The first blog post I read is titled Working with Deaf Students and Interpreters. I have started taking ASL classes and I know a little bit about interpreting so I thought it would be cool to hear from someone who is majoring in interpreting. The post discuses interpreters in the classroom and some challenges they face; it also discusses about accessibility for Deaf students. I am going to quote a line that I thought was important for future teachers everywhere to hear, "My teacher always states that accessibility for one is accessibility for all". This line is so important because several students can benefit from added accessibility options such as captions (Working with Deaf Students and Interpreters). The second blog post I read is titled The Arts. When dealing with budget issues, schools and school systems often cut funding to their art departments. This blog post discusses the importance of the arts and the impact it has on students. The author mainly focused on music and shared some skills students can gain including knowledge, study skills, teamwork, and compassion. Music may not be considered academic, however, I believe it is an important facet of humankind. The arts have so many benefits for students and should be kept in schools as a priority (The Arts). Lastly, the third blog post I read is titled School Safety. The author of this post researched at the Tennessee School Safety Specialist Program, so they have a unique perspective on the topic. The post emphasized the importance of training and how it can keep students safe. School is where most students and facility spend a lot of their time so it should be a priority that they feel safe. With the rise of gun violence students feel even less safe. Although stricter gun control laws could be a solution, we cannot do anything to make those laws happen. So in the meantime, we should focus on how to prevent and respond to situations like those (School Safety).

I have had a little blogging experience over the years. At one point in school, I was asked to blog for a school assignment and I remember fiddling with it then. It surprisingly came back to me quickly as I was able to set up this blog without any issues. I plan to teach high school special education and I see a plethora of ways I could use blogging in the classroom. It teaches good technology skills and can be used for a variety of subjects. It can also encourage cooperation between students, allow students to be creative, and allows them to show the information they have learned from class. It could also be a good way for teachers to update parents and students of what they are doing and will be doing in class.