What are the Benefits of Blogging in the Elementary Classroom?

This study examined the benefits of blogging in the elementary classroom. Research was conducted in a fourth grade classroom that used student blogging on laptop computers as a part of the writing program. Data was collected through observation, teacher and student interviews, and examination and analysis of student blogs. The findings show that blogging is highly beneficial for elementary students, resulting in increased motivation, strengthened writing skills, and engagement in an authentic activity. In order to increase student learning, teachers must motivate their students by creating authentic and purposeful learning activities that involve student engagement, communication and collaboration with one another, and technology-rich experiences that bring out of school literacies into the classroom

What are the Benefits of Blogging in the Elementary Classroom?

Abstract This study examined the benefits of blogging in the elementary classroom. Research was conducted in a fourth grade classroom that used student blogging on laptop computers as a part of the writing program. Data was collected through observation, teacher and student interviews, and examination and analysis of student blogs. The findings show that blogging is highly beneficial for elementary students, resulting in increased motivation, strengthened writing skills, and engagement in an authentic activity. In order to increase student learning, teachers must motivate their students by creating authentic and purposeful learning activities that involve student engagement, communication and collaboration with one another, and technology-rich experiences that bring out of school literacies into the classroom. BENEFITS OF BLOGGING IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM 3 What are the Benefits of Blogging in the Elementary Classroom? Technology can be used in the literacy classroom in a variety of ways to support and enhance instruction. Integrating technology into literacy instruction is becoming increasingly important as teachers are faced with creating a literacy environment that is appealing to a wide range of reading levels and learners, and the world is becoming one of technological literacies and global communication. Students of today are competent and fluent in the technologies that are available to them at home and outside of school, using them regularly in their personal lives. Technologies such as computers, iPods, and the many forums available on the Internet, such as instant messaging, emailing, and social networking websites, are all second nature to children today. It is necessary for teachers to find ways to bring these technologies into the classroom in order to close the gap that exists between home and school and engage students in ways that are familiar and comfortable for them. One of the ways to use technology in the classroom is through the use of blogging. BENEFITS OF BLOGGING IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM Theoretical Framework In order to determine how blogging in the elementary classroom can benefit students, it may be helpful to consider how literacy is acquired and language is learned. Sociocultural theory and New Literacy Studies are two theories that offer specific framework pertinent to the research that has been conducted on the topic. Sociocultural Theory Literacy is defined as a socially based practice, mediated by a person's culture BENEFITS OF BLOGGING IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM 5 communication and acts as a functional system within the social context and beyond. Children learn language in order to participate in the communicative world that surrounds them, but also learn language for social reasons as well. Humans are born with an innate desire to be social and share emotional bonds with others, and are able to facilitate this desire through the learning of language. As Barton and Hamilton (1998) suggest, literacy is a social activity that can be found in social interactions among people. Therefore, literacy practices involve all the socializing that is done each day, through both formal and informal interactions with others. This socializing begins in the home with a person's primary discourse, or communication that is culturally based and done with intimates, and is later extended to include secondary discourses, or ways of communicating with non-intimates beyond the home. Blogging is one way to communicate in a social context through the medium of technology. According to From this perspective, conceptualizing learning creates a shift from the traditional teacher-centered/student-centered classroom to one that is learning-centered. This means that in the classroom, according to For elementary students who are still developing their uses of language and forming their literacy skills, social interaction is key, as it broadens their perspectives and allows for the sharing and communication of ideas. New Literacy Studies BENEFITS OF BLOGGING IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROO

What are the Benefits of Blogging in the Elementary Classroom?

This study examined the benefits of blogging in the elementary classroom. Research was conducted in a fourth grade classroom that used student blogging on laptop computers as a part of the writing program. Data was collected through observation, teacher and student interviews, and examination and analysis of student blogs. The findings show that blogging is highly beneficial for elementary students, resulting in increased motivation, strengthened writing skills, and engagement in an authentic activity. In order to increase student learning, teachers must motivate their students by creating authentic and purposeful learning activities that involve student engagement, communication and collaboration with one another, and technology-rich experiences that bring out of school literacies into the classroom