BLOGS

Blog is short for Web log. It serves many purposes from online newsletters to reflective writing on a particular subject, or a publicly accessible personal journal and displays the information in chronological order. Blogs can be written by one person or a group and entries can contain comments/feedback, links, images, videos/YouTube as well as a search facility may be included (Answer.com, 2009; The University of Melbourne, 2007). I have never done a blog before. I am finding it easy to navigate around the blog and working out how to add gadgets, edit my work, add a new post and many more features like links, photos, media etc. I am finding it fun, easy and interesting. It is a straightforward device that can be use in the classroom hence I feel digital immigrants LM would have no trouble employing blogs into their teaching. As blogs are form of technology, they fit comfortably within Keasley and Shneiderman's engagement theory, “Engagement theory is intended to be a conceptual framework for technology-based learning and teaching” (1999, p. 1). Also the students of today have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using tools of the digital age, for example, videogames, computers, video cams, cell phones, and many more (Prensky, 2001) therefore this technology can be used to facilitate engagement with students with the features offer on blogs photos, video, links, media etc. (Kerasley & Shneiderman) . There are many ways blogs can be utilised in classroom by the following means:

• Mentioned in Topic 4 - delivery technologies, they can be accessible to parents, by parents involving themselves in their student school work by seeing their achievements, what they are studying and how they are processing in that particular subject they are studying (CQUniversity, 2009).
• Mentioned in topic 5 – student-centre technologies, an excellent way to encourage students to write is by them recording their own learning journey via a blog. Students can add to their blog daily via LM building regular reflective activities into their teaching so that students have an opportunity to post to their Blogs (CQUniversity, 2009). Collaborative assignments may also take place outside the school setting.
• LM can post lessons for specific subjects and students’ homework. Allowing students, learning manager and parents to share their school work. This will help and prompt students with their school work and allow students to be able to receive feedback from other students. This will also allow LM and parents to see where the student is at with his/her school work.
• LM can inform students who are sick or away from school for extended period of time of the lesson taking place in the classroom and students can do their work via the blog to keep up-to-date.
• I think blogs would be great for students in rural areas who can not able to tend school five days a week. LM can post homework and lessons onto their blogs.