Communication is the Key: Blogging

Communication is the Key

In his book Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer John Dewey (link)   stated,

 

"What nutrition and reproduction are to physiological life, education is to social life. This education consists primarily in transmission through communication. Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession."

 

  As you interact with this blog I would like you to think about the ability you have right now to communicate, not only with me, but with the community around us that chose to partake in our discussion. Dewey realized that the sharing of thoughts and experiences was essential for learning. Dewey certainly did not have web logging (blogging) in mind as he developed his theories. After all, he authored Democracy and Education in 1916! For an interesting video on progressive education during the 1940's link here. (link)

            While blogging has been alive and kicking on the internet for years now, it has found a relatively new home in classrooms around the United States. Educators, including myself, have begun to see the ways in which this method of communication can enhance learning for students, and quite possibly, parents also. By establishing a structured guide for communication with my students I have been able to offer a vehicle for communication that provides benefits that our regular classroom time cannot.

The following is an article by Dr. Shiang-Kwei Wang, Assistant Professor of the Master of Science in Instructional Technology Program at the New York Institute of Technology, and Dr. Hui-Yin Hsu, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education Program at New York Institute of Technology. In this well-written article (link) found in the May/June 2008 addition of Tech Trends, the authors examine blogging's place in education. Of particular interest is the focus they take on how blogging assists social constructivism (link), something that we all experience every day of our lives.

  One of the unique features of blogging is its ability to offer extended wait time on a particular question or topic. In the typical classroom educators often try to provide wait time of ten seconds or more when posing a particular question. I can vividly recall countless times that I, as a younger student, developed a response in the classroom about a minute or two after we had moved on the next level of the lesson… too late. Assuming that all children can formulate their best thoughts during a classroom discussion is ridiculous. We are, as educators, somewhat limited to the scope of a 40-minute time period with our students. Blogging, instead, allows us to pose a topic fro discussion and allow students several days to post an idea. Students are given time to research a fact, develop an opinion, or support an argument.

            Another characteristic of blogging is its collaborative nature. In our classroom blog entries are posted for all the students in the class to see. As one requirement of the assigned posting, students may have to develop their writing by addressing a classmates’ previously posted idea. The chain of shared ideas is known as a threaded discussion. Learning is exercised as a dynamic process.

 

            Knowledge

                        Blogging is, in and of itself, a tool. As we know not all tools are used for all jobs and tasks at hand. As the students in our class become familiar with the blog format we will be discussing the concept of knowledge. Declarative knowledge is the most basic of the three types of knowledge and can be thought of as factual knowledge, things that can be stated. Blogging can certainly facilitate the transfer of this type of knowledge, however for studies related to research, a blog would not be our tool of choice. Procedural knowledge is the knowledge related on how to perform a task. Think of mathematical calculations or instructions. Here blogging could again be useful, particularly if a blogging assignment was structured around a multi-stepped, challenging task. Conditional knowledge deals with application. This knowledge is knowledge about when a student should use a particular skill. An example of this would be deciding what particular type of note-taking strategy is best for assigned reading. Each and every blogging assignment in our class will be approach with a conditional foundation, discussing why the blogging format will suit us well.