Online Collaborative Inquiry: Classroom Blogging Ventures and Multiple Literacies

What this article begins to mention is that with so much technology available to students teachers first need to weed through which technologies are best for the academic purposes of the classroom. I agree with The National Council of Teachers of English that in this digital age students need to be readers of multiple literacies. Students are required to analyze, synthesize, collaborate, critique and evaluate information.

I agree with Arzt and her use of the NCTE, IRA and ISTE guidelines that blogging allows students a creative outlet to share their learning as well as a collaborative environment to share and critique ideas. Students need to learn how to write their ideas coherently, read others ideas and comprehend what the message is, as well as respectfully respond to peers ideas.

Seeing a first grade teacher use blogging so effectively in her classroom gives me hope that it is in fact possible and is seamless when run effectively!  Her students' blogs allowed them to have a voice and to become real writers. My students writing has come so far this year and I can only imagine how much further I could push them if they had that individual accountability and drive to work on their own creations.

The Skype Literature Circle idea that Aviva Dunsiger uses in her classroom are simple but amazing and resonate with students. Allowing students to participate in traditional literature circles allows them to share their thoughts. Yet, adding the technology component of Skype to the conversations changes the students audience and allows them to practice speaking to people outside of their classroom. Again, it is more practice students can get in working with multiple literacies, discussing their thoughts, agreeing and disagreeing with peers on their arguments and supporting those ideas with evidence from the reading or writing.

I have many friends from my undergraduate degree who teach in other states. How amazing would it be to collaborate with them and use their classes as resources during literature circles or in buddy reading programs.

Out of all the collaborative strategies mentioned in "Online Collaborate Inquiry"which do you think are the most beneficial and which would you use in your own classroom?