Loves to learn but hates school

'I love to learn, but hate school'. These are the words that Clay Burell from Beyond School identifies with - as do probably thousands (perhaps millions) of students today. After spending some time looking through his Blog page I came across a short video he has produced on using blogs with students. Students who would write only when absolutely required to are now blogging daily. They are writing about things they see as important in their lives - not what the teachers are telling them they need to see as important.

I have over the course of this GDLT thought about using blogs within schools but something kept jumping out at me to say BEWARE! I think because I am still learning the ropes of how it all fits together, and I do worry alot about the safety of the internet and students. I decided that I needed to get some more information on the subject, so I could make an informed decision. Clay Burell identifies with students who don't like school but love to be immersed in learning opportunities. He shows that for students who don't like to write in the standard way (the way I was taught at school) but love to connect via the computer, using a blog is ideal. These students are being assessed on the blog - therefore a criteria is being set, however they are writing on a subject that is important to them. Its not what they write but how they write it that is up for the assessment component (perhaps there are some limitations).

My thoughts on this have widened and I would really like the opportunity to introduce students to blogging after school hours. Obviously I would need to sit down with the IT staff at the school, have guided limitations, have lessons on using the internet and its safety, discuss things with parents and make it as safe as possible for the students to access - this would required more research on my part - but I see some huge benefits to students writing each day.

Reflective blogging is an amazing way to introduce students to self paced learning, higher order thinking, reflecting on what they have learnt and how they may use that knowledge to link into other areas of their lives and gain self confidence in writing on a regular basis. These are all important skills needed to live in the 21st Century and beyond.

We are entering into a new world of ICT's for learning and I want to jump on board to give the best I can for the students I manage.