Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Post 1: My First Blog

Welcome Bloggers!

My Fur Kids - Libby, Fergie & Sophie
I am a third year doctoral student specializing in Learning, Instruction, and Innovation at WaldenUniversity.  Currently, I am also a teacher/research consultant for a small public school district in Southern Alberta, Canada.  I have taught Grade 6, and high school Business, PhysEd, Learning Strategies, Art, and Psychology.  This past year I helped my district develop a research project to study the impact of various cooperative learning approaches on student engagement.  I am interested in student engagement, trends in assessment, measures of student achievement, and instructional strategies for 21st century learning.  In addition to education, I have a background in business (accounting and marketing), and have coached volleyball at various levels for the past 20 years.   I love learning, travelling, cupcakes, sports, and my fur kids.

As required in part for EDUC 8401, I have been asked to create an innovation blog.    Blogging has been found to engage people of all ages in the learning process (Morris, 2013).  It helps students develop their writing ability, gain creative multimedia skills, develop and manage an online community, and communicate with family and friends (NWT Literacy Council, n.d, p. 3).  Tutor, class and learner blogs (Campbell, 2003) encourage discussion, reflection, and questioning outside of the classroom in a safe and respectful manner.  Blogging is great educational medium for sharing resources, nurturing a sense of belonging, developing critical thinking skills, and including all levels of learners.  As a blogging newbee, I can feel the ZPD dendrites growing already a midst the moderate discomfort that I am feeling – also known as learning (Laureate Education, 2012).

References:
Campbell, A. C. (2003, February). Weblogs for use with ESL classes. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Campbell-Weblogs.html
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Anatomy of the brain. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Morris, K. (2013). The benefits of educational blogging. Retrieved from http://primarytech.global2.vic.edu.au/2013/03/08/the-benefits-of-educational-blogging/
Northwest Territories Literacy Council (n.d.). Blogging in the classroom: A great way to engage and inspire learners. Retrieved December 11, 2013 from http://en.copian.ca/library/learning/nwt/blogging/blogging.pdf
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3 comments:

  1. Unknown12 December 2013 at 17:52

    Genevieve,
    Thank you for explaining how to use blog to impact learning in the classroom. I was having a hard time to come up with some real reasons because I have never used blog or seen it being used with students. I thought it was something the grown up did in order to differentiate themselves from the youth chat rooms. However, after reading your explanation, that makes sense. Thank you. Great blog.

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  2. Dr. Harland14 December 2013 at 04:01

    It sounds like you already are into the research aspect of a PhD! I assume its your business background that helps with this! Markets and all?

    As for blogs, have you ever seen/searched for classroom blogs? Have you seen the power of blogs have for students? You are right, it provides a place to belong, a place to peer edit, and a chance for an authentic audience.
    Dr. Darci

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    Replies
    1. Unknown15 December 2013 at 17:42

      Hi Dr. Darci:
      I have a colleague who is working on her MSc Education Technology at Walden, and I believe she recently created a classroom blog for her flipped classroom instructional approach with Physics 20 students. I will have to follow up with her in this regard.
      To be honest, I barely have time to keep up with my e-mail and test messaging, much less all the other social/educational mediums out there. I am working on it though :)

      Delete

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