Using Blogs in the Classroom

I really enjoyed the article titled Don’t Feed the Trolls (Richardson, 2008) because I have encountered and been the recipient of nasty emails while attending online classes about three-years ago. The emails were not directed just at me but the entire learning group in a business class; stressful, nerve-racking, and frustrating are just a few words that come to mind about the experience that could have made a passing grade a failing one. The impact that one individual had on people whom he had never met in a learning group at a university was and is still unsettling. It was a valuable lesson in what to say and when not to say or respond in any way.
Having been on the receiving side of unfriendly discourse, I believe that helping a student think, respond and take responsibility will impact how they address each other over the Internet. As an adult who uses the Internet, I can honestly say that there have been many times that I have written a response, walked away from it and come back to revise and reflect; making certain that it appropriately conveys the message I want to send.
In response to Sargent Park Math Zone, I really had to explore the site, trying to make mental notes about all that is available to the students. I can see kids (my own included) could really embracing the opportunity to express in another form that paper, pencil and circling the answer. How a math zone could expand learning for students at individual levels, how it could help those than do not grasp a problem the chance to work a problem from the answer backwards to self-teach. I want to learn math with You Tube! That is so cool!
An idea I now have about how to incorporate blogs into my classroom of the future is to first start out small, expose students to 21st century learning day one in the classroom. Gather parents and students for mini-lesson introduction with hands on exposure, and then in the classroom with your SMART board and in tech lab create, expand thinking. Introduction could take place mid-year too- as an extra credit assignment, for creative pop quizzes, a chance for a student to revisit concepts they are struggling with or contact for the student home sick. The possibilities are infinite.