Thursday, April 24, 2014

Engage in Social Media Class Blog

I created this Blog for the Engage in Social Media online class through Riverside Unified School District in California. We were tasked with reviewing several free blogging platforms (WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Edublogs, and Kidblog). After visiting each site, I chose to use Blogger by Google. Blogger was chosen because it is part of the package of google tools that I already use so it made sense to use it. I can use this tool instructionally to post my reflections on projects that my students have completed. I was going to say that I would post assignments and directions on the blog, but that would not have been honest. I already use the District's Haiku platform for that purpose - and my students are trained to look for content there. I am fortunate to work at a school site which has consistency from one teacher to another in terms of how students (and parents) access materials online. This leads to efficiency in deliverance of information, and it becomes second nature for students. My students currently use Blogger to document the projects that they create in class. I can use this blog to announce new books in our library as well as contests and programs. The blog can also be used to organize my PLN. It is fun to be creative while generating a useful tool for my professional life. I was not sure how much detail to include in this post on specifics about the other blogs that I have created, or on my students' blogs that information was already posted on the discussion board for this assignment. I anyone would like the links to some of the student blogs, just ask and I will post some.