Reflection on a Blog ( required)

I found one particular chain of links that I followed very interesting. I began by following the link "Adventures in Educational Blogging." This website is very insightful. I really enjoyed the variety of topics that the author address. The author was also very interesting. She is not currently in Asia, working to bring technology into the schools there. She seems to be very well traveled and encourages the use of technology as a tool to keep up to date on world issues. What really intrigued me was one post that she had on the events that have happened in Haiti. She mentioned that in her attempt to get up-to-date information she almost had given up in frustration when she found a sight on twitter that offered the names of a few individuals who were giving twitter updates from the ground in Haiti. I followed this link and was amazed to find daily updates that provided insightful information about issues that the country of haiti is currently facing in epidemic proportions. Some of the tweets also had links to articles and websites offering more information on different topics. The first one that I followed was about the problem of the vulnerability of women in Haiti and the prevalence of rape. This was very eart- wrenching and hard to read. As I finished the article I found myself amazing that I had just learned valuable information by following a chain of various technological tools. This I believe is really what teachers should strive to do in their classes.

What:

The blog I chose to follow was very closely connected with the international community and the importance of connecting students around the world to global issues. This was seen in the link that I read regarding twitter updates about Haiti.

So What:

Teachers should offer "chain" of resources that students can use to discover information. This can include many different technological tools. In this case the author of the blog provided a link to Twitter and then a link to internet articles that gave updated information about Haiti. I never considered Twitter to work in a classroom but now I can see it is an invaluable tools to connect directly with someone who is in another part of the country or overseas. This could also be a great tool to follow an important author or public figure.

Now What:

I plan to use this idea in my own classroom. I really like the idea of having a blog for parents and also to use this blog as a place to put links to other websites such as Twitter. I hope to explore this tools more in the future and to connect my students to other individuals that are in other parts of the world. I think it would be cool to follow one person a month and to read their twitter updates as a class as part of a morning activity. This I believe is a very tangible way to be connected to the world.

Adventures in Educational Blogging

Live Twitter in Haiti

Rape in Haiti