Instructional Strategies and Web 2.0 Technologies
Blogs are a very valuable tool to use in the classroom that can work in conjunction with a number of different instructional strategies. Constructivism is one instructional strategy that can really flourish when using blogs. Reflecting through blog entries, analyzing articles through blogs, and responding to other class members’ blogs are all ways in which students can use blogs to construct understanding. At the heart of constructivism is the idea that students are making sense of things themselves. Blogs really pave the way for students to reflect and analyze others’ opinions while coming to their own understanding.
Another instructional strategy that works well with blogs is the inductive strategy. In the inductive strategy, students are given examples and required to come to a rule regarding the different examples. A blog would be a great tool for this approach. Students could post a blog entry on each different example and demonstrate how their understanding of the overarching rule/concept is evolving through the presentation of additional examples.
On the other side of the coin is the deductive strategy, which would not be the best fit with blogs. The deductive approach is hinged on the fact that the rule/concept is given to students and they are required to do examples based on the concept that was given to them. When the concept is given to the students, there is less need for students to reflect in an attempt to discover the concept.
One of the ways I could implement blogs in the classroom would be to place students in groups, and then give each student an example problem to copy on their blog. Next, students would examine the examples form an opinion on what the general rule is for solving the problems. They would be required to post their understanding on their blog and then respond to the blogs of their group members. This would be a collaborative effort using the inductive strategy.
Although I stated that web 2.0 technologies, especially blogs, do not easily support the deductive strategy, there are ways that web 2.0 technologies can utilize the deductive approach. Even if the concept/rule was given to the students, they could still collaborate through blogs about the answers and rationales. Often time’s students are given the concept, but fail to understand it. Thus, I could place several more advanced students with some that are struggling, and have them each complete a few problems on their blogs. The students could then respond to the correctness of their group members’ answers. This would allow for the more advanced students to provide the struggling students with individual assistance that I cannot always give due to time constraints.
Another instructional strategy that works well with blogs is the inductive strategy. In the inductive strategy, students are given examples and required to come to a rule regarding the different examples. A blog would be a great tool for this approach. Students could post a blog entry on each different example and demonstrate how their understanding of the overarching rule/concept is evolving through the presentation of additional examples.
On the other side of the coin is the deductive strategy, which would not be the best fit with blogs. The deductive approach is hinged on the fact that the rule/concept is given to students and they are required to do examples based on the concept that was given to them. When the concept is given to the students, there is less need for students to reflect in an attempt to discover the concept.
One of the ways I could implement blogs in the classroom would be to place students in groups, and then give each student an example problem to copy on their blog. Next, students would examine the examples form an opinion on what the general rule is for solving the problems. They would be required to post their understanding on their blog and then respond to the blogs of their group members. This would be a collaborative effort using the inductive strategy.
Although I stated that web 2.0 technologies, especially blogs, do not easily support the deductive strategy, there are ways that web 2.0 technologies can utilize the deductive approach. Even if the concept/rule was given to the students, they could still collaborate through blogs about the answers and rationales. Often time’s students are given the concept, but fail to understand it. Thus, I could place several more advanced students with some that are struggling, and have them each complete a few problems on their blogs. The students could then respond to the correctness of their group members’ answers. This would allow for the more advanced students to provide the struggling students with individual assistance that I cannot always give due to time constraints.
Labels: blogs, collaboration, deductive, inductive
posted by Brian Ericson at
11:20 AM
2 Comments
