Let the kids speak out!

After my last post about the newest studies done in Switzerland, I happened to come across this interesting blogpost, which brings the experiences of several educationals bloggers together.

The author lets the kids speak about their own blogging experiences:
Shift to the Future

Hot off the press!!! The Internet helps pupils write better!!

In a very recent study done in Switzerland this year and published on June 12 this month, it was shown that kids betweent he ages of 7 and 10 reached a higher level of writing performance both in the quality and the quantity.
This was the result of a study done with 44 classes in Switzerland over the course of three years.
The first group used an internet platform to write, with the result that their texts were more directed to the reader, livelier in the use of language and better in terms of spelling  (in German- the normal school language) even thought the texts were not corrected by the teachers.

A further remarkable difference is that the quality of writing between boys and girls was about the same in this group, where in the paper and pen group the mainly the girls profited from the writing tasks.
If you understand German, you can find the results here.


I find that these results confirm my ideas about the use of blogs and other on-line platforms for as early as primary school lessons.

Blogs that I follow

Blogging is not just about writing posts, it's also about reading them. So I would like to show you how to follow blogs on your blog.

Nik's Learning Technology Blog   is full of advice for teachers who want to use digital tools to enhance learning (note the emphasis on learning rather than teaching!) When you go to his blog, also check out his other sites! They are full of inspiration.

You will see this blog on the right-hand sidebar and the 5 most recent posts. These are called feeds.
You can add feeds to your own blog easily, and it's a good way to keep up on the most recent posts.
Below you will see how to do this in Blogger.
You simply go to your 'Design' section   and choose "layout".
There you click on the little "add a gadget" buttons and scroll down to:

When you click on this, you can add the address of the blog you want to follow. You need to do this for every new blog address. You can also decide on how many posts you want to show:



I'll be adding the blog feeds I follow slowly but surely to the side bar, so come back and have a look a little later.

Edublogging- first steps

I've not been blogging for some time and my home blog is getting a bit rusty and dusty. So instead of doing some serious spring cleaning, I've chosen to start with a fresh page/template/blog....

http://illyasoet.wordpress.com/

 This just so happens to coincide with the beginning of a new blogging course I'll be co-moderating.
It's a chance for me to do all those things we ask our participants to do, beginning with choosing the platform and a name for the blog.

My choice of platform was rather simple. It was in part determined by the platform we are using on the course, but also by the ease of blogging on my iphone with the blogger app (which is also available on android!)

With the general changes Google has been making, the whole structure has changed quite a bit from when I last used it. My first impulse is not to like it. We so willingly avoid change, even if it means for the better. So I will swallow this impulse and take a subjective look at it.

A further task set to the participants is to think about how they want to use the blog. Will it be used within a class collaboratively, or as information? Is it for your own reflective purposes or is it to share with others?
This question I have also asked myself. I will certainly use it during the blogging course for my own reflections and to comment on materials and ideas, which will hopefully be useful to the participants.

After that I see this blog as a supplement to the training I will be giving prospective teachers. maybe it will encourage them to keep a blog for their own puposes.

It's nice to come back to blogging after that long break and find a new purpose for writing.