My Introduction to the “Blog”

Welcome to my Blog! My name is Michelle McDonald and I am pretty excited about being here in the faculty of Education and also to be writing my first ever Blog. I am originally from Calgary, Alberta and graduated from the University of Calgary about 3.5 years ago with my Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry. I was sidetracked from my original goal of becoming a teacher when I was offered a job down here in Lethbridge, Alberta with Maple Leaf Potatoes. I loved my job there as a Food Safety and Sanitation Coordinator; however, I realized I was losing sight of my original goal and was eager to resume my education before it was too late. Not only did my previous career give me a lot of professional and life experience in a short period of time; but it also introduced me to the city of Lethbridge and the highly recommended Faculty of Education here. In my sheltered Calgary life, I imagined myself finishing my Education at the University of Calgary, getting a job as a teacher and settling down there for the rest of my life. Getting a job outside of Calgary has forced me to explore educational, career, and other lifelong opportunities that present itself all over the world! Though most of family lives in Calgary and Red Deer, I am not alone. Waiting for me at home is my hyperactive, 7 month old black Labrador retriever. You can imagine the challenge of raising a puppy and going to school at the same time, but it is well worth the effort and he is my comic relief on a stressful day.

What stresses me out? Well, the word "technology" and "headache" are synonymous in my mind. I often find technology frustrating, particularly the upgrades, updates and advances made to any technological application by the second. What I find more frustrating is the impact it has on my life when it fails... or when I fail to use it properly. Pressing the wrong key means anything I type appears in Korean. Or what about that long cord that connects my computer to the wall? A foot in the wrong spot cuts off the power sending 20 hours of work down some black hole into oblivion. My frustration is not limited to computers. Where my windshield wipers used to be is now power mirror defrost (who knew that even existed?). Or what about the new microwaves where a simple defrost now requires you to know the weight or type of food you are preparing. Even my bathroom scale does way more (or tells me way more) than I’d like! Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I will be honest. I use technology hundreds of times throughout the day and 95% of the time I value the use of technology, enjoy using it, and don’t know how I would survive without it. But that 5% of the time when something goes wrong...let’s just say that many tears of frustration have been shed!

When I first became acquainted with the blogging tool, I was impressed. I found my own blog easy to set up, easy to create and easy to edit. To me, the opportunities in the classroom seem endless! What better way to motivate the students to get involved in classroom discussions and collaboration with such a fun and informal tool. There are so many ways to incorporate this into the curriculum at any level and for any subject. A blog can be created for classroom use where students and teachers can post an entry and comments. The blog can also be used by individual students for academic portfolios, projects, or other academic and/or extra-curricular forums. As an additional advantage, parents and peers can access student blogs to keep up with their academic and extra-curricular life at school.

One of the outcomes of the ICT curriculum is the Foundational, Operations and Knowledge concepts. This category deals with general knowledge and understanding of technology; but, also the responsible, ethical and moral use of technological applications. Though blogging is a useful tool in the personal, academic, and work sectors, it has also caused a lot of problems as a result of misuse and lack of privacy. A blog is a public tool. Once posted, it is available to the public for viewing and response. What better way to encourage the responsible, moral, and ethical use of communication via the internet than with a blog?

The threat to young children and adolescents on the web has always been huge and part of the problem is that the children are unaware of how to spot the risk or unaware of the risk altogether. By guiding students from a young age as they create their own blog, they will have a better understanding through experience of the risks associated with the internet and how to avoid these risks. In addition to this, students can learn to respect the privacy of others around them, communicate with students and peers in a respective manner, and to abide by and follow school policies regarding the internet.

These are only some of the possibilities with blogging. The tool is an effective way to teach children communication and technology skills, but it also poses a potential threat to students due to the lack of privacy. However, by turning the risks associated with blogs into learning opportunities, the effectiveness of the blog could
double.