Blog 12 -C- Making Blogs Safe in school

This is an article written by Erin Richards in New Berlin and it is about implementing a safe environment for school teachers to access, use, and monitor a blog for their classroom. In the article it talks about how school districts are starting to use programs that will protect students work and identity while operating in assignments via the Internet. The programs that they bring to our attention are Virtual Office or Moodle and they are programs designed to make a blog a secured connection between the teacher and his/her students. It denies access to outsiders, but also allows room for adding teacher and students from other schools to join in on their blog. The article uses an example of a elementary school using a blog to discuss their favorite book and they teacher shows the students the importance and significance of using tools such as a blog to enhance their learning ability. A second part of the article discusses the plan to train teacher on how to utilize the blogs and the ability to use them. Some teachers say it is not really a blog, but more of a continued discussion/chat room. But no matter what the label may be when using the safety programs, the students will still be working together and learning new aspects about topics as well as share their ideas and thoughts in those areas.

It is really important for teachers to use technology in their classroom to enhance their curriculum, but they need to be aware of the potential danger and how to face it. It is refreshing to see that companies are making an effort to provide a safe environment for teachers to use programs for their students where they are out of harms way. I enjoy reading about other schools who are starting to implement blogs into their curriculum, because i intend on using them in my future classroom and they are providing prime examples on the effectiveness of them on a classroom. Blogs can allow student who don't normally talk up in class to have their voice be heard, as well as all the students to communicate and collaborate ideas and thoughts on certain subject areas/topics. It is really a amazing tool to use in a classroom and i hope the research and studies turn out positive on the effectiveness of a blog so that it will not hinder my future school from allowing me to utilize them.

To view this article pleas click here