There are a variety of ways that a blog could be used when it comes to teaching. Some teachers might choose to have students create their own blog as a way of submitting assignments. In this example, students are able to customize the look and feel (or even the slightly obnoxious bird sounds) of the blog so it immediately takes a step in the right direction of engagement and ownership for them and the content they submit.
In the case of international teacher Dr Abella, student work from class is one of the main focuses of the blog. She posts YouTube videos that students have either created or modified to suit meet assignment requirements, interesting articles related to biology, and even a school newsletter. This doesn't appear to be a way of presenting new assignments to students so much as it is a way of recognizing the work students have done. I can see this being a great way of showing students that what they are learning has merit. It could also be useful to show future classes some of the past students work as an example of what is expected of them.
Instead of using a blog as a tool to communicate with students (let's be honest, students won't check a blog outside of class), many teachers have focused their efforts on communicating with the parents. In this example Mrs. Buswell uses her blog to remind parents of upcoming tests, field trips, book fairs, and even what they are reading and working on in class. This could be a great way of informing parents of all the little things that kids forget/choose to not tell them about. The only problem I can see with it is frequency. It would need to be kept up to date or parents might not take it very seriously, or even forget to check it.
In the case of international teacher Dr Abella, student work from class is one of the main focuses of the blog. She posts YouTube videos that students have either created or modified to suit meet assignment requirements, interesting articles related to biology, and even a school newsletter. This doesn't appear to be a way of presenting new assignments to students so much as it is a way of recognizing the work students have done. I can see this being a great way of showing students that what they are learning has merit. It could also be useful to show future classes some of the past students work as an example of what is expected of them.
Instead of using a blog as a tool to communicate with students (let's be honest, students won't check a blog outside of class), many teachers have focused their efforts on communicating with the parents. In this example Mrs. Buswell uses her blog to remind parents of upcoming tests, field trips, book fairs, and even what they are reading and working on in class. This could be a great way of informing parents of all the little things that kids forget/choose to not tell them about. The only problem I can see with it is frequency. It would need to be kept up to date or parents might not take it very seriously, or even forget to check it.