Blog Project Building Literacy Online at the Greater Essex County District School Board by Jenni Donohoo

 

What is a blog?
The term 'blog' is short for web log. It is an online, record of correspondence that is finding a place in education with the potential of enhancing literacy.

A couple of months ago we launched a pilot project, entitled 'Building Literacy Online', involving intermediate teachers and students in five schools. The purpose of the project was to increase the development of literacy by providing students with additional opportunities to read and write in the classroom through a different vehicle - the blog. Blogging provided opportunities for students to write with a specific purpose for an authentic audience. Students have become instantly published authors on the Internet. Blogging also provides additional relevant reading opportunities. This new medium of expression - proved to be a motivating factor with students in the project. As one student put it, "I love blogging. I like to see what other people say about things".

One of the biggest benefits to blogging is that it fosters collaboration among students by enabling communication with others that would not necessarily be possible otherwise. Classes from the five schools were partnered, teachers choose the topic and students began to collaborate with their peers across the county. Michael Huggard (Glenwood Public School) and Mona Renaud (Jack Miner) as well as Mary Carlesimo (Queen Elizabeth), Gloria DiMenna and Ken Dundas (Jack Miner) have teamed up to present their classes with blogs about current events. Nick Arundine (Glenwood Public School) and Kevin Klassen (Colchester North Public) are collaborating with each other and each other's students about techniques writers use to make their writing more interesting. Demetri Vacratsis (Glenwood Public School) and Janice Butters (Forest Glade Public) are working together on a blog about quotes.

There are many free blog hosting sites on the Internet. These sites allow users to create and customize their own blogs and instantly publish them on the World Wide Web. For the purposes of our project, blogging sites were evaluated and in the end it was decided that 'The BlogMeister', created by David Warlick was the best choice. The BlogMeister was created with teachers and students in mind. A teacher can create an account, specifying a title for their blog, password protect it, and specify the students who will have rights to read and post responses to the site. The other online blogging tools do not address privacy issues or have the built in functionality of tracking student's writing as the BlogMeister does.

The blogging begins with the teacher posing a thought provoking question as demonstrated in the blog posted below by Mona Renaud, Ken Dundas and Gloria DiMenna.

A Pit Bull Ban 04/5
A Policy Must Be A Policy
Stephanie Ascott is a woman who has recently had some hard times in her life. She has lost a leg and is in the middle of a divorce. During this hardship, Stephanie has leaned on the support of her dog, Taco, a pit bull which she rescued from the freezing cold this winter. Unfortunately, Taco was not registered in time to be spared under the Ontario Government's new pit bull ban. Consequently, Taco is to be put to death.
Pit bulls have been banned in Ontario. This is a rule made by the Government because of the increase in dog attacks in communities across the province.
Should the government make an exception and allow Stephanie to keep the dog?
What will other dog owners do if she is allowed to keep it?

Students access the blog via the Internet and post responses. Everyone who is a part of the group can read and respond to the record of dialogue that takes place over a period of time. Students enjoy reading their partner classes' opinions and are provided with feedback about their own writing. Some of the teachers have noticed that some students are more willing to revise and edit their work as they are aware of their audience.

A binder of resources is being developed and in the middle of May a student and teacher evaluation will be conducted. To find out more about the project, please feel free to email me or visit David Warlick's BlogMeister.