Examining and Reflecting on an Award Winning Teacher Blog

Using Blogs as an Educational Tool

A blog (short for "web log") is an online collection of personal commentary and links that can pertain to whatever information the writer wishes to focus on. For teachers, blogging offers several benefits - from documenting research and teaching approaches to involving students in working collaboratively online, blogs provide an open platform for sharing perspectives and experiences with a global community. To examine the use of blogs for educational purposes, I've taken a look at an award winning teacher blog to see just how useful they can be as an educational tool.

A Closer Look: "Connected Teaching and Learning" Blog

Connected Teaching and Learning is an award winning blog created by Ann Michaelsen, an administrator at Sandvika videregående skole, a high school in Norway. She has taken to documenting her progress as an educator through the use of her online blog which not only shows viewers her ongoing journey in teaching, but also frequently links many other credible authors if viewers wish to further their understanding in the topics she discusses. Michaelsen's posts often use her students as an example of how successful the integration of digital platforms and devices can be in the educational context.
For the students of Sandvika vgs, technology use in the classroom has become the norm as they access the school-wide wireless network through their individual laptops in a student-centered learning approach. As communities of educators begin to realize the potential of online networks to provide both vast amounts of knowledge for self-directed learners as well as an outlet for creative individual works, the integration of this kind of resource only becomes more crucial. When students can instantly access a wealth of relevant information outside of school, why attend school at all if lessons are directed in an outdated, limited fashion? The remaining challenge then becomes how can teachers effectively bring technology into the classroom to better their students' learning experiences while still providing them with the fundamental guidance necessary for students to thoughtfully, constructively, and innovatively engage in their own education?

Some Examples of Michaelsen's Posts..

#1: "How technology is helping me learn, and why schools are slow in transforming!" 

In this post, Michaelsen discusses how making technology a part of a school's curriculum can be difficult, as many parents or even local government agencies fail to "see the value of testing computers that differ from the standard they have chosen for their schools". It's no surprise that factors such as available funding (from parents or the state) can be limited, and providing students with compatible devices in particular can also be a challenge. But in overcoming this obstacle, students and teachers become free to explore education in a variety of new ways. Whether students are hand-writing notes on tablets, reading from multiple textbooks using a thin, lightweight device, or delving into new realms of thought by connecting to the web, technology is becoming a far more effective way for students to collaborate, create, and share their work. So why are schools so slow in taking on this transformation? Michaelsen addresses several factors at play, including the assumed hierarchy of a school, teachers' awareness levels of the impacts of technology, and overarching thoughts about the purpose of schools in relation to students. In the end, Michaelsen quotes an article by Richard Wells, a fellow educator and blogger, in saying, "Adapt or lose your students". 

#2: "Innovate or Die"

Here, Michaelsen directs attention to the importance of continuously striving to improve the educational context - regardless of how innovative or successful a school may be. "It is inevitable that when you as a school leader think your school is headed in the right directions, you stop paying attention," she states, "the focus is on continuously getting better and understanding what needs to be done." As educators, it is our job to prepare students for the future, and how can we expect to do this using curricula that doesn't align with the changes taking place in our societies? George Couros, The Principal of Change, expands on this idea in his own blog, stating, "This is not asking what would work best for you (the adult). It is asking you to try your best to understand your students, their realities, their viewpoints, and take that learning and create something meaningful for them." So how do schools become and stay successful? Jyoti Rahaman, an intern with Unesco and student of Global Development (GLOBED), observed Sandvika vgs and summarized the following: block scheduling is an important element to a technological learning setting, teachers are highly motivated, creative, and willing to learn how to incorporate technology into their classrooms, the school is encouraging, inclusive, and holistic in environment, school leaders take risks to implement new ideas, and teachers and students have lots of flexibility and freedom in learning approaches. By molding the educational context to the needs, inspirations, and realities of our students, we succeed in fulfilling the purpose of educational institutions: instilling learners with the skills and mindsets necessary to become independent, creative, collaborate adults who can continue to improve the future of our collective communities.

#3: "For Students, the Importance of Doing Work That Matters | MindShift"

For my final post mention, the focus is "work that matters". What does this mean? According to Michaelsen, "it's work that is created for an authentic audience who might enjoy it or benefit from it even in a small way. It's work that isn't simply passed to the teacher for a grade, or shared with peers for review. It's work that potentially makes a difference in the world." Work that matters is work that has real-world applications, work that is meaningful to the individual student. By shifting the traditional methods of education from standard assignments to student-organized and centered projects, learners can cultivate a stronger sense of connection to and passion for their own education. Contrary to what many might think, learning is a lifelong process - it doesn't end upon high school or even university graduation. As we allow students to take their education into their own hands, they become far more likely to enjoy, and thus be determined to continue, learning mindfully in the future. Though this approach may make things like grading student progress more difficult, we must consider what we are sacrificing by limiting education to strict assignments and standardized testing. This is not to say that assessment is unnecessary, but rather, we should begin to consider alternative ways to measure student success as we gradually integrate ideas that are more focused on supporting the individuality of our students and less focused on quantifying student ability from a mass perspective.

Do You Think Blogs are Helpful?

In reflecting on the information above, I believe that blogs are a wonderful tool for teachers. In organizing and discussing one's own experiences, blogs provide a means for reviewing and documenting information that has been acquired as well as sharing that information with others to broaden their individual perspectives. For example, though I believe the integration of technology should be an important goal for modern schools, I have not personally had the experience of actively participating in such an integration to prove that doing so would benefit students globally. However, after reading through some of Michaelsen's successes, I have more confidence that schools around the world can succeed in helping education become more customized, engaging, motivating, and realistic for all students. By sharing ideas through platforms such as blogging, we can connect with like-minded (or not-so-like-minded) people around the world, offering each of us - teachers, students, parents, and friends - a wealth of experiences and understandings that we might not have had otherwise.