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Walking Stick Blogger

A Learning Space for Literacy and English Language Learners

All Student EduBloggers Welcome!

You have been told by your instructor to post ideas to a blog as part of the course(s) you are now taking. Why? You ask. Why now? How will this benefit me? What skills will it help me develop? How will it help me get gainful employment? How will it help me tackle my…

Addressing Critics of Blogs

I have been having conversations with colleagues, and I am getting interesting feedback on the use of blogging for instruction. Several comments have been made dismissing edu-blogging as useful. Blogging has been referred to by some educators as “past news”, “a waste of time”, and “time-consuming”. I would like to address these detractors, and the…

Why Blog? – An Initial Reply

Blogging is a different approach; the classroom is one space that blogging can occur for learners; the emphasis, however, needs to be to invite learners to step out of their well-worn shoes as students, and determine what they want to write, why, and for whom. If blogging is used by teachers to reinforce the rules…

Optimal Conditions for Blogging

Asking learners to embark on a learning journey using blogging is asking learners to take a step into the unknown. Blogging is not just about writing skills, it is about cultivating critical self-reflection and promoting self-efficacy and confidence to give voice to ideas and express and discuss opinions among others in a respectful, inclusive manner….

Controlling Edubloggers – Issues for Teaching Beginners

http://www.teach42.com/2008/10/08/should-blogging-be-moderated/ In response to the thorny issue of whether to moderate blogging posts of students or not, I would like to outline the teaching context I work in. I work as a College instructor of adult literacy. I completely agree with the necessity of creating a safe space for individual learners to begin sharing their ideas with their…