Teaching with Technology Blog—Using Technology to Enhance Your College Teaching

Sharing information or thoughts and having others respond to them is an effective strategy to get students and teachers to communicate and evaluate ideas in a short period. One way to share scholarly information is by using a blog.  Blogs are electronic documents or websites where a community of learners discuss events, post comments or just give their views about a variety of subjects. Chai and Kim (2010) state that  blogs  are innovative knowledge sharing technology in which bloggers can share the information with others ,the information could be text, video, or audio-based materials. A formal assessment of recent research has indicated that blogs are used as reflective learning tool that assists students to improve learning and collaborative sharing. According to Dabbagh and Kitsantas (2011) blogs emphasize the social aspects of the internet as a medium for communication, collaboration, and creative expression.

Using blogs as a teaching and learning tool will help students develop self-discipline as well as their time - management skills. Blogs will also, assist students to become active self-regulated learners and help them acquire basic and complex personal knowledge management skills. The integration of blogs into the teaching and learning process is important in the classrooms of the twenty- first century. Today’s college students are digital natives, they have an essential attribute for digital technologies, as they’ve been integrated into their lives since early childhood (Puybaraud & Hahn, 2012). Incorporating blogs into my teaching practices has the potential to start significant educational innovations; however, blogging has challenges. Some of the disadvantages include the fact that many students are self-conscious about others seeing and critiquing their work. Privacy issues can also be a challenge, many teacher and students are unwilling to share views in an open environment.  High level of trust is needed.  Blog can play an important role in teaching and learning of most students in spite of the challenges. The true potential of blogs in colleges can be seen when students and teachers use them as publishing tools. The best way to fully recognize the value of blogs as a teaching and learning tool is to become a blogger.  Educators should blog to show students that it is something of value and to model appropriate ways of doing it. Also, it is important that students, parents, and administrators are clear about the expectations and the reasoning for using the blogs. Many students are already blogging, so they are attracted by the blogging tool and will be comfortable with it being used as a teaching aid. The main reason for incorporating a blog into my teaching is that it gives me another strategy to observe and monitor my students’ progress and identify their learning needs.

Blogging is a new experience for me. As I reflect on the skill and knowledge I have acquired over the past eight week I am left with a positive impression about the positive effects that the integration of blogs into the teaching and learning process can have on both learners and teachers. My experience with blogging has made me realize that Learning on demand is becoming a type of lifestyle in the classrooms of the twenty-first century. Learners are constantly seeking information to address a problem at work, school, or to just satisfy a curiosity. Students are now taking advantage of blogging and other digital and networked technologies to seek and share information. I am now able to fully appreciate the fact that Blogs provide educators with the opportunity to connect with students in a manner that continues to provoke thought and discussion outside of the classroom setting. The use of blogs encourages learners to behave in such a way as to have an effect on each other and may increase engagement and interest in the course content.

References

Chai, S., & Kim, M. (2010). What makes bloggers share knowledge? An investigation on the role of trust. International Journal of Information Management, 30(5), 408–415. Retrieved from the Walden University Library databases.

Puybaraud, M., & Hahn, H. (2012, February). Digital natives: A tech-savvy generation enters the workplace. Workplace Design Magazine. Retrieved from http://workdesign.co/2012/02/digital-natives-a-tech-savvy-generation-enters-the-workplace.

Kitsantas, A., & Dabbagh, N. (2011). The role of Web 2.0 technologies in self-regulated learning. New Directions For Teaching & Learning, 2011(126), 99-106. doi:10.1002/tl.448

Teaching with Technology Blog—Online Learning Resources and Professional Development.

Some of the online learning technology available for teaching and learning at the college where I teach include the learning management system, Moodle, video streaming, blogs, wikis, discussion tools and synchronous presentation tools such as google docs, Adobe Connect now and Skype. I am relatively comfortable integrating, wikis, blogs, the learning management system and Skype into the classes that I teach. I use some of the synchronous applications in my regular classes, and the students are expected to use them whenever they are absent from school. The technologies are also used for inviting virtual visitors, mathematics specialist and other educators into our classrooms; this strategy allows the teaching and learning experience to go worldwide.

Adobe Connect is a fairly popular online learning resource at my college; however, I have not yet learned to use many of its features. I realize that if I am to use this technology appropriately I should learn how to project audio and video simultaneously as well as sharing files and conducting web meetings. Web blogs are powerful tools that can be used to get students to communicate and evaluate ideas; however, I am relatively new to blogging and as such have not yet used this resource for teaching and learning in my mathematics classes. Blogs can be used to assess my students’ academic growth as well as store portfolios of pupils’ work. I need to master this teaching strategy; it would enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics. The final decision as to what type of technology I will use as a part of my teaching strategy will be guided by Dr. Toney Bates (2013), S.C.T.I.O.N.S model.

The administration of my college has recognized the value of professional development for the academic staff as it relates to online teaching and learning. Training in the form of online courses, workshops, Webinars and forums are provided every term for all teachers. Lecturers are also given the opportunity to share ideas and information with other online teachers and professionals from other colleges. The professional development training should empower the teachers to perceive the significance of 21st century literacy skills, which include strong academic, and teamwork skills, thinking and reasoning skills, and proficiency in using technology. Policy makers should understand that “professional development programs can improve instruction when they immerse teachers in inquiry investigations” (Gerard, Varma, Carliss & Linn, 2011 p. 409). Professional development should help teachers to be able to assess their capabilities as they relate to using technologies such as learning management systems, web based simulation tools and content-specific software and hardware.

  One reason I would give to the leadership of my college for improving their support for classroom technology is that the use of technology is extremely helpful to all students especially for those with special needs. The various technologies can help teachers to motivate their students, accommodate different learning styles and teach students the importance of collaboration, a skill necessary for success in the twenty- first century.

 

References

Gerard, L.F., Varma, K., Corliss, S.B. & Linn, M.C. (2011).  Professional development for technology-enhanced inquiry science.  Review of Educational Research 81 (3), 408- 448. doi: 10.3102/0034654311415121

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013b). Dr. Tony Bates: Evaluating technology for teaching and learning [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu