• Personal Introduction
  • Education - you missed this
  • Work Experience
  • Educational Philosophy
  • Hobbies & Interests
  • Photo of you
  • Photos relevant to your interests, hobbies, etc. (Picasaweb)
  • Other relevant information
• Links to your CSUN website and personal domain
• Links to all Masters Degree Coursework
  • SED 618: Educational Multimedia
  • SED 619: Educational Website Development
  • SED 600: Research Methods for Ed Technology
  • Elective (SED 646) Computers in Math and Science
  • SED 690: Special Topics in Ed Technology
  • Elective (SED 671) Designing Instructional Materials
  • SED 610: Seminar on Secondary Education
  • SED 697: Preparation for the MA
• Links to the collaborative resources used for instruction

Blogging Current Affairs

How can teachers make student learning more relevant? Tie the course content to the real world.

A great educational application for blogs is to tie current events to what students are learning in their course. Over time, teachers and students will find themselves more engaged by their course.

I began teaching AP United States Government & Politics using Blogger/Blogspot in 2007. You can see how I have added current events with my commentary for the students to read and comment on themselves. Click here: http://apusgov.blogspot.com/

Students then made their own blogs to do the exact same thing. One example here: http://chrisblessing.blogspot.com/ You'll notice on this site that I was able to achieve a really cool side-benefit by getting the students to blog their own perspectives on course material - Chris B. has continued to post to his blog, indicating he has stayed engaged in civic affairs.

Educational Applications in the Classroom

We use a blog in my classroom for Science Literacy. I post virtual games/labs/articles relevant to what we're studying. The kids then have access to post comments.

Some of the ideas I want to apply this year include having my students create their own blogs to demonstrate knowledge. You can see our blog here if interested: http://chimescienceliteracygrade6.blogspot.com

We have a photoblog here on which I post photos from my classroom. http://lizzyjellybean.blogspot.com

Educational Applications

I use the blogs in my classroom in a football project I do. This way, kids have a portfolio of their writing for the assignment.

http://mrwilliamsblockw.blogspot.com/

Here is a student example.

http://fresnostate12.blogspot.com/

This blog is designed to discuss the educational applications of blogs. The primary purpose of blogs in my classes is to serve as an editorial tool.

Each student should find a partner who will serve as an editor for their work. Please indicate on your blog the name of your editor.

Editors review each other's work and provide weekly comments on their partner's blog. The purpose of this review process is to insure that students do not procrastinate, and that they have someone else to provide feedback before they submit their work. The review process helps insure that people are well prepared before they submit their work for final grading. Please take your job as a reviewer seriously.