This You Tube video, Why Let Our Student's Blog, has been developed by Rachel Boyd from New Zealand. It offers and excellent overview of the purpose of blogs in education and would be very helpful in igniting a school and staffs’ interest in this technology. This video makes reference to blogging in primary schools, but the same principles apply could be applied to secondary.
So many of our students have acquired skills and understandings about blogs and wikis and social networking. If teachers had the knowledge and skills to match those of the students then the use of such Web 2.0 technologies could be used more efficiently across the curriculum to engage students with the tools that many of them use with ease in their own communication worlds.
Therefore it is important that teachers feel confident withi the use of web 2.0 technologies so they can be used within classrooms. So often, students have greater skills than their teachers, and whilst teachers may identify the benefits of things such as blogs and wikis, they do not have the time to develop their skills to such a level that their students will benefit.
Perhaps the most essential things students need to learn is protecting their privacy when using Web 2.0 technologies. In schools, it's about no names, personal information, photos. This way we are teaching them about "audience" and essential 21st Century skills including being respectful when interacting with others.
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