Name: Scott Salter
Age: 22
Appearance: I’m in your class. Look towards the row near the door, I am the kid with his face pressed up against the monitor zoning out. Just kidding.
Major: English Education
Other Stuff: I am a gamer/English nerd. I know it and I am proud of that. I love writing, talking, learning, living, and reading (if it is good material) and before you ask… Yes… I am addicted to Halo 3…
The idea of working with blogs as a means for education is simply fascinating. It adds a sense of connectivity that will strengthen the bond between teacher and students. The classroom rarely provides a sufficient amount of time for interaction as much of that time has to be spent teaching the matieral. However, blogs allow for more of an equilibrium in this equation. I feel using blogs professionally for educational purposes allows students to feel as though they are in class even when they are not able to be. In other words, a student absent from class will miss the lecture, but still receive a synopsis of the day’s activities and any other miscellaneous points of interest that may prevent the student from falling behind in the course.
My personal experience with blogging is mostly limited to the famous (infamous?) Myspace. The public display of information whether it be personal or general is something all bloggers should keep readily in mind. Richardson specifically notes this when it comes to parents reading the blog. All policies from the school system must still be adhered to. Do not post anything you do not want everyone to read. This can be circumvented via privacy settings on most blogging websites. I’ve had my blog for nearly two years and there was a time when I would add musings and rants, but as of now I generally use Myspace as nothing more than a flashy version of Hotmail.
There is a great deal of skepticism floating about concerning the validity of Wikipedia’s articles. I have yet to be let down by the information I have gathered from the site. The evidence Wikipedia provides may differ slightly from sources that are seen more so as “legitimate academic material.” Google is basically the only search engine I use. Results from Wikipedia are oftentimes some of the first listed since Wikipedia contains articles about everything imaginable. Wikipedia is far from tamper proof. Richardson described such an attempt to undermine the site, but within little time the erroneous information was corrected. I feel that Wikipedia will continue to be a great place to search for additional information for that term paper or just learning leisurely.
