art ed + web 2.0 + [e]merging media blog

I have been reading that one blog called 2centsworth that's pretty interesting. I was excited that one of the blogs I read regularly showed up on that list in the reading!

We can harness that desire by getting students to blog about the art works they're learning about and making. This seems simple, but I think it's the best place to start...why make it more complicated? Students need to learn to be able to discuss their ideas and explain their thoughts if they want to be successful at college or in the business world...so why not get them used to posting their thoughts to a blog as practice?!

I am currently student teaching at Oak Knoll Middle School with Coleen Shepherd. We have 3 sections of computer art. Each class has about 20 students and only 5 computers. This is a problem. The students need to have more than one project going at one time, a computer project, and a project that they can to at the tables by hand. The students are put into groups and every day there are 2 groups that get on the computers for 45 minutes each. The groups rotate. This is where Mrs. Shepherd gets parent e-mails complaining that their child did not have an opportunity to get on the computer to complete the assignment. It gets very hectic when their are several projects going on at once. It is also hard to demo because you want the students on the computers to have their full 45 minutes to work, but you don't want to demo a project twice. It is also hard when a lot of students need your help on so many different things at once. One way I have found to help a little is to get students that know what they are doing help their classmates. I am still learning how to handle this situation. I came into my student teaching placement with a fear of computers and technology, but now I am becoming more and more comfortable with computers.

Danielle,
Maybe a way to deal with parents is to create a handout that explains the format of the class and the rotation schedule. If you have students and parents sign the form and return it then they will not be contacting you complaining. If you create a video of your first demo then the children who missed it the first time can watch the video when it is their turn to do the activity.
Using the more techsavvy students to help their classmates is a great solution to the problem of not having enough time to get to everyone. There also may be parents who would come in to act as aides in the classroom for the computer time.

One idea that I think can certainly be effective is having students blog about what process they went through when they learned/discovered something new. In fact, it's an important type of documentation that is often overlooked. For example, in my work at Discovery I often find the answers to issues I'm experiencing on other people's blogs. People had the same problem that I did, found a solution and then documented it. By documenting it, they contribute their knowledge to the global community, aiding every person that comes along in the future and has the same issue.

Think about 5 students working to solve a math problem. They may come up with 5 different solutions, all perfectly viable. By blogging those solutions, students would get a chance to see how their methods differ from their peers, and perhaps learn alternative, possibly more effective, ways to solve the problem.

The answers themselves are pretty irrelevant. What's really critical is the process taken to find those answers, and much can be gained by having students share that.

I like the idea of using blogs to document process. It seems like a great way to help keep students focused on what they are supposed to be writing about.