One of the interesting experiences about developing a blog for classroom usage is the nagging question "Am I doing this right?". Having the chance to explore how others use this type of technology doesn't necessarily answer this question, but rather open the door to a host of other questions. But it does reinforce the fact that blogging cannot be ignored in the classroom and that there appear to be endless opportunities for incorporating them into the curriculum.
Mrs. Chichester’s classroom blog is created for a Language Arts / English classroom and appears to be heavily utilized by both the instructor as well as the students. The page itself is very neat and clean and the information can be located quite easily. Color choices for the text and it presentable and clear, but lacks in terms of style. Likewise, there are a number of useful widgets for visitors to this site to use in addition to the links located on the top right hand side of the page. The links would have been a bit easier to navigate and utilize the links if they were a bit bigger and separated to differentiate among them. One additional observation is the general lack of visual images embedded throughout the blog. While it is certainly a benefit to include some images, I can certainly understand that time could become an issue if the blog is being updated frequently for daily classroom use.
The AP English Language blog site for Orange County High School of the Art is clearly a site that is designed for daily use by the students. As the information is organized, the classes appear to be taught in block formats, which could serve as an ideal format for allowing time to incorporate blogging (either in class or on days where classes might not meet). The site is easily navigated and includes relatively few images from top to bottom. Background, just like in the first example, is plain white with a color choice for the text that is easily read. A number of useful links, for both the students and anyone in general, appear on the right hand side of the page and are easily distinguished from each other. The only feature that appears relatively absent from this blog is the inclusion of widgets, but aside from this observation, this site appears well constructed, organized, functional and useful for this class.
Eldridge’s Los Al English Page is a blog site geared toward an upper-level college prep secondary education class. The page design is primarily plain (white) with a bit of formatting (or a least the usage of a template) that does break up the monotony of a plain page. The color choice of a light gray for the text is a bit washed out, but not so difficult to read that it cannot be distinguished or understood. A majority of the links for this site are located on the right hand side of the page and easy to navigate. However, aside from the navigation buttons located at the top of the page, the page is a bit more difficult to than most. One nice feature is a link to a calendar widget, but upon clicking on that link, there is relatively little located on that calendar. The site itself includes few visual images and few widgets, but nicely embeds a number of links for internal and external navigation.
Ms. Coon’s Poetry Class Blog is designed for an elective poetry class at the high school level. Immediately, the choice of a lime-green, blue and white design makes the page stand out – far more than previous examples. To compliment the background color choices, the softer beige text for the left and right navigation columns provides ample contrast and allows the user to easily locate the desired link. In its current format, the page does not appear to be used in a day-to-day format, but could simply be updated to meet that need. It does display an impressive list of resources and links that students could use. This list is in contrast to the absence of any noticeable widgets or gadgets. Nevertheless, this is a relatively simple site that delivers a wealth of resources.
Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog some more is the final site that I examined and despite being initially turned off by the inclusion of the exhaustive post regarding the district’s revamped mission statements (my feelings regarding mission statements could be a topic for numerous posts so I will spare you the ranting), I found this site to be the most visually appealing. Colored sidebars frame a white background that is heavily populated with visual images and embedded gadgets throughout. Interestingly, the majority of the links are associated with some form of an image that makes for quick and easy navigation. The expected resources are present accompanied with a number of useful widgets. Not only does one find images within this blog, but also you encounter the use of video (through youtube) to accompany the text entries. The only concern I have with this type of design relates to a recent observation in evaluating textbook anthologies for American Literature: the further we progress into the 21st century, the more visually stimulating these books have become – often at the cost of valuable academic information. Somewhere between an explosion of graphic design and a dusty tome from the 1950s the answer lies…and this site seems to have captured that delicate balance.
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