Educational Blogging, Podcasting, and Oral Histories

This week was devoted to educational blogging, podcasts, and oral histories. A blog is a personal website or web page on which an individual records their thoughts, ideas, opinion, links to other site, etc. on a regular basis. "Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet's New Storytellers" describes the ways in which blogging is bringing new voices to the online world. Although bloggers blog for several reasons (to entertain, to keep in touch with friends and family, to network and meet new people, ect), there are several similarities among bloggers. This study found that

• the blogging population is young and racially diverse
• the main reasons for keeping a blog are creative expression and sharing personal experiences
• bloggers are avid consumers and creators of online content

Since blogs are bringing new voices to the internet, why not utilize blogs for educational purposes and bring our students' voices to life? Blogs can be incorporated throughout nearly all classrooms to improve student-teacher communication, enhance teaching and learning, and serve as a form of reflection. "Content Delivery in the Blogosphere" provides the following suggestions for integrating blogs into classroom instruction.

• Consider blogging yourself
• Spend time visiting other classroom blogs
• Model blogging for your students
• Make the blogs more public
• Explain the "reach" of blogs to students

Aside from suggesting practical steps for implementing classroom blogs, this article also states several benefits of blogging on students' learning. The use of blogs helps students become subject-matter experts, increases student interest and ownership in learning, gives students legitimate chances to participate, and provides opportunities for diverse perspectives, both within and outside of the classroom.
          After reading about the many benefits of blogging on students' learning, I am definitely interested in incorporating blogs into my future classroom. Blogs allow each student to have their own personal, published journals. Blogs provide and opportunity for reluctatn learners to participate in classroom discussions. For example, in the classroom environment, shy students may be outspoken by their vocal classmates. However, blogging allows each student to have their own voice. Students can prepare and craft their responses before posting them to their blogs. Students can comment on each other's posts, allowing for ongoing discussion and communication. Students will be eager to share their ideas and opinions on their own personal websites.
          Podcasting is transforming education, as it is stimulation creative teaching and learning and introducing new ways of communicating. According to the article, "Why Every School Should be Podcasting," students and teachers are producing podcasts such as children's stories, audio diaries, plays, interviews, lectures, news, and reviews. Author George Cole suggests podcasting for several reasons, including.

• podcasts allow you to publish to a vast audience, using technology that gives you feedback
• podcasts are a great way to distribute learning materials, such as sound, image, and video
• podcasts are a great communication tool 

Aside from their versatility and usefulness in education, podcasts are simple to create. Teachers and students alike can quickly and easily produce podcasts on a range of topics.
          Oral histories are methods of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. In today's digital society, this raises a debate. Should educators record their lectures and make these lectures available online? Jeffrey R. Young's article, "College 2.0: More Professors Could Share Lectures Online. But Should They?" addresses this issue. Although lectures are being recorded throughout some colleges, most are only available to students registered in the course.
          When it comes to this issue, I realize both the pros and cons. On one hand, recorded lectures can be utilized as a study aide, allowing students to review information they may have missed in class. We all know how hard it can be to listen and take notes at the same time, especially if you attempt to write down virtually every word the professor utters. However, recording and making lectures readily available online also has several cons. The first thing that comes to mind is educators who may be camera shy. Personally, there is nothing I dislike more than seeing and hearing myself on camera. If I were required to record my lessons each day, I would be extremely uncomfortable. The classroom is a place for teachers and students to interact, without outside distractions and interference. In addition, particularly at the college level, students wouldn't think twice about skipping class knowing the lecture could be accessed for free online. Obviously this wouldn't be fair to those responsible students who attended the lecture in-person.
          The role of oral histories in digital literacy is sure to become a frequently debated topic. If this type of education would lead to decreased costs of college, I feel that many people will be on board. However, as the field of education transforms with the development of technology, this is something that will need to be discussed in further detail.