#1 Are blogs important in education?

My Response: I would definitely use a blog in the classroom because this will most likely be a beneficial tool in the future during college years as colleges and universities introduce technology in undergraduate and graduate classes. the concerns I would have are unequal access to computers and limited oversight on the Internet. In the first instance, the gap of inequities between school systems might widen as technology in education becomes more of a requirement in school systems. However, the oversight or regulation of the use of blogs, RSS, and Internet in general, would need to be a priority for school administrators and parents. Just as we have learned to evaluate websites this past week, teachers will need to develop or advance their skills to instruct students on the use of blogs. Nonetheless,these should not be reasons to block the use of the blogs in the classroom but as with other new forms of educational tools, there should be clear guidelines to protect our students without sacrificing knowledge and exploration.

One article I researched this week described a fantastic use of a blog in the classroom. The article discusses blogs and wikis using JiTT (Just in Time Teaching) with college students. I selected this article because I believe it is as important to examine with what is happening at both the college level--technological trends and expectations of students in higher education--as well as elementary school with regard to technology. The article introduced the concept of JiTT which I found fascinating. JiTT consists of three steps for teaching and learning (1) Day before class--instructor asks students to respond to questions pertaining to homework difficulties (2) Day of class--instructor identifies common theses of areas of difficulty; (3) During class--instructor allocates time to address problematic areas. This seems to me quite practical, organized, and a helpful use of time and material. And a great way to use a blog.