Call for Proposals

A New Way of Classroom Communication

In a typical classroom the teacher-student communication usually goes something like this: the teacher poses a question, the student answers in the form of homework, then at some point in the future the student receives the teachers response in the form of a grade (usually after the topic has passed). Sometimes a student is even blessed with a one-on-one conference. The advancing world of technology and the use of blogs are helping to shape a different, more effective type of communication in, and outside, the classroom. By using a blog, teachers can comment more quickly on a students work helping with the revision process, and it proves to be easy and open communication that is ready at a student’s fingertips. These spaces can present a place for collaborative thinking on certain topics or help with the peer revision process that is vital between students. A blog can also allow those students in class that are afraid of face to face criticism from peers a chance to voice out their opinion and receive feedback that takes some thought rather than a snide remark one might blurt out in class. Students are constantly on the Internet as it is and blogging poses a new form self-expression students are already familiar with from their experiences with social network. Participants will learn that a blog should be an extension of the classroom and should not take place of discussions that already exist as long as they are presented in the correct manner.

Bibliography

Hicks, Troy. The Digital Writing Workshop. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2009. Print.