I can see the potential for utilising a blog to engage high school students learning metal fabrication. Currently, I am involved in a project to build a bio-diesel plant which has a number of community sponsors. High school students completing their Certificate II in Engineering are involved in working on the plant as part of their studies.
A blog could be created as a project with the students to share with the community sponsors the progress of the bio-diesel plant. For the students, this would enrich pride in the project, knowing that the public is seeing and appreciating their progress each week. Often the students’ high school teachers are unaware of what they are achieving at TAFE, this blog could function to inform them of what their students are achieving. These positive benefits of the blog would serve as a tool to enhance learning through engaging the students.
Another purpose of the blog could be to support the teacher. The teacher could post on the blog to remind students of the upcoming lesson and what they require to bring and be prepared for. As I only see the students once a week, this could facilitate the students being better organised and maximise the learning achieved in the lesson. A blog’s content can be controlled by the teacher, and is transparent, being delivered to the public as a whole, rather than personally communicating with individual students.
Updating and maintaining a blog takes time. This could potentially be a weakness in utilising a blog. If the teacher fails to keep the blog updated, it can be interpreted as lack of interest and this could be reflected in the students’ engagement. Technical issues could pose a threat especially if the teacher is not skilled in technology. Some students may not have access to the internet, and this can be seen as discriminatory if those students are disadvantaged.
Other legal considerations would be obtaining consent from parents if photos of students are to be published on the blog.
References
Working legally, safely and ethically online : the issues. (2013). FAHE11001: Managing E-Learning, CQU. Retrieved from http://moodle.cqu.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=88334
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