“Self expression has become the new entertainment"
I thought I was completely new to blogging and quite apprehensive about the task ahead of me. However, according to the article in which Arianna Huffington stated the above, we are almost all bloggers to some extent. The article, 10 Secret Benefits of Blogging, suggests that almost everyone blogs, just not necessarily on the medium of a blogging site. Take social networking for instance, where we are constantly updating people on our lives, our news, our stories and our advice. Just like on Blogger.com, people are able to comment on these posts, whether it is on Facebook, Twitter or even business sites such as LinkedIn.
I do find the idea that we can type up just one sentence, and it can become available to people all over the world, a fascinating one. It is something that can have so many benefits but does also have its downsides. The above article mentions many of its benefits such as becoming a better writer, becoming more creative or a good researcher and just generally adapting to the current technological world that we live in.
And these benefits do not just apply to adults, but also to children, where technology can be used in the school environment. Technology has become a key teaching aid. When I look back to being at primary school, I can't remember using any computers but these days children aren't just using computers in school but also using Wiis and iPads. The school I worked in last year even ran an iPad club and children as young as 5 were using them.
In our ICT session on Friday I was absolutely amazed at all the activities children can do in the classroom with ICT, from using Skype to making ther own computer games and blogging.
So the 10 secret benefits of blogging can apply to children. Aren't we constantly trying to get children to be more creative and become better writers? Now they can be, in a fun learning environment. We watched a video on children using blogging in the classroom and it was great to see the children's enthusiasm for their blogs and how their blogs could help to benefit others by giving tips and advice on Numeracy or Literacy. They were able to show their work to family who perhaps lived elsewhere, or research their interests and share them with other people. Whilst being able to do all this, they are constantly learning and being creative. I think it is an excellent class activity and something I definitely want to do with my class when I become a teacher.
However, we do need to be aware of the downfall of blogging and using the Internet. E-safety is such a key issue in schools as unfortunately there are dangers to using the Internet. The risks fall into 4 areas- Content, Commerce, Contact and Conduct as you can see from the information provided by a college based in Milton Keynes-The 4 C's of E-Safety. These areas highlight the dangers to children including cyber-bullying, grooming, scams and access to inappropriate online materials. As a result, it is so important that schools promote the importance of E-safety to both the children and their parents or carers. There is an excellent site available -Thinkuknow- which promotes the importance of E-Safety to children, teachers and parents and carers.
Schools should especially be promoting E-Safety and many regularly participate in the annual 'Safer Internet Day', which will next be taking place on the 5th of February 2013. The website has further details - Safer Internet. E-safety is a responsibility of all the adults in a school as it is the school's statutory duty for the safe-guarding and protection of the children. There should be security levels and blocks on the school's computer systems and E-safety should be taught as part of the curriculum.
If we do encourage the importance of E-Safety then there is no reason why children should not be able to use, learn and enjoy from the web and why they can't enter the blogosphere world and blog, blog away!
