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Blogging with students

The blogging genre is, although a more public medium for writing and publishing, I would argue a more informal style of writing. Bloggers typically write about the thoughts, opinions and discoveries. For students (and teachers!) this style of writing can be liberating. I also think that blogging also allows small glimpses of personality can shine through, whereas in many academic forms of writing this is discouraged. That is not to say that blogging work is not as polished, but I feel because of the authentic audience, there is more consideration for allowing ideas to float and evolve through audience engagement and feedback. I personally find blogging an instinctively natural genre!

Why blogging is suitable for the engaging students:

• Blogs can mould to a variety of uses and audiences of uses
• Form part of a journal style presentation for an individual
• Can be frequently or infrequently
• Can be presented in an informal or conversational style
• Can incorporate a range of commentaries
• Can integrate a range of tools including video, audio, text, pictorial through embedding
• Can draw together a learner's online presence into one spot through rss feeds and plugins

• Blogs can be used as e-Portfolios to present student work
• Reflection of learning activities as part of an assessable journal
• Class portals - learners can access class work, homework, resources, feedback and announcement platform
• Public face to the classroom - display what is produced in everyday classroom activities, student achievements, goals, involvement in projects either offline or online
• Encourage collaboration between two distance schools/institutions
• Blogs invite comments from others which can then stimulate conversations, debate and reflection

Blogs of Note:
So lastly I have done a little investigative work and selected a few classroom or student blogs of note. Most of them are lower primary but hopefully I have made up for that by pulling together some international examples. I have also tried to find a range of blogs which use different tools and plugins and blogs where the teacher has set up the space for slightly different purposes and audiences.

Mrs Cassidy's Classroom Blog (Canada)
Tools used: You Tube, Audio messages using Vocaroo
 
Wojtera's Words (USA)
Tools used: Looky Book, Voicethread, Shelfari

Year Two Blog (UK)
Tools used: Teacher Tube, weekly "blogstar" featured , Follow the adventures of Sam the Class Tiger
  
Little Voices (NZ)
Tools used: Capzles, Blogger video, FeedJit Live traffic feed
 
Mrs Toa (China) -
Tools used: Google Translator plugin, Photos fed through with Picasa, Flip cameras, Blog roll
 
Mrs Millers 10 Classroom Blog (USA)
we read, we think, we discuss... we post
Tools used: Due dates calendar, Google Reader RSS of interesting things to read, Wiki plugin
  
2M Gems (AUS)-
Tools used: Skype, Google maps, Voki, yackpack

So, do you have any student blogs from sectors other than school that you have come across? Do you have any great examples to add to my list? What do you feel are the benefits or disadvantages or students blogging?Feel free to leave a comment!

Tags: bloggingcorner09 students blogs blogging corner
Posted at 01:21PM Feb 24, 2009 by Alison Hall  |  Comments[0]

Dr. Michael Webb and the MMGS

This morning I had the honor of listening to Dr. Michael Webb present a very engaging and enjoyable presentation at the Term 4 conference of the South Australian branch of the Australian Society of Music Educators (ASME). The topic of the day, as I mentioned in a previous blog post, was Closing the Gap: Engaging students and delivering educational outcomes through pop culture and technology.

Dr Michael Webb, is a lecturer in music education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He researches and publishes in the fields of ethnomusicology and music education. His current research activities include new literacies and classroom music learning, popular culture, ethnomusicology and education, and Melanesian hymnodies.

Michael presented on the topic of "The Music Motion Graphics Sequence (MMGS) and cross media listening", which was based on and article entitled "Music Analysis Down the You Tube" which he wrote for the British Journal of Music Education. In it argues that as school students are almost constantly immersed in an entertainment media environment, that this in turn has a great impact for classroom listening habits.

How many times have you heard yourself or colleagues say "the kids just don't listen", or "they don't focus when we are doing analysis work" or "they don't know how to sit still and listen", "they love doing practical but I have to just about tie them to their seats when we have to do listening!"

In this talk today Michael presented the idea of encouraging music analysis and listening through the Music motion graphics sequence (MMGS) and cross media listening. And I feel he is definitely on to something, because when you think about it, we hardly ever just sit and listen to music! Music always accompanies something else - driving, washing the dishes, talking with at a social gathering , standing in a lift, walking the dog, watching a movie or TV program, even watching an orchestra on stage - we don't pay the privilege of going to a concert to sit and stare at a blank wall or behind a screen whilst a 100 piece orchestra plays on stage hidden from our view! So why do we insist on making our students do it??

As educators we need to consider the way that music analysis and listening activities are presented, and need to take into account the myriad of aural, visual, spatial and kinaesthetic ways in which structured music listening activities and analysis can be successfully engaged in.

So what is MMGS? According to Michael MMGS involves the presentation and creation of  "visual musical works, pieces from moving image genres that are structured according to the codes, materials, devices and processes of music."

I hope the following clips Michael shared with us on You Tube will help to demonstrate what MMGS is all about and the creative opportunities our students can have by similarly responding to music through the use of with technology and constructing their own learning !

Rowan Atkinson performs on the Invisible Drumkit (there are many from Rowan Atkinson more including The Piano Player and The Conductor). When you are watching it think of the learning possibilities to be extracted including timbre, call and response, rhythmic and melodic devices, instrumental range, layering etc.

Tags: asme engaging mmgs students pop culture australian society of music educators you tube
Posted at 03:51PM Nov 22, 2008 by Alison Hall  |  Comments[5]