Russell Street School in Palmerton New Zealand has embraced blogging whole heartedly. When I look at this school, I see the power of using a web log in a school and I see how powerful an initiative such as this can be when an entire school community "buys in". It is obvious that blogging is an integral part of the school culture at Russell Street School.
Overall, this looks like an effective method of communication between home and school. The school can inform parents what is going on, what's coming up,etc but it goes beyond the role of a "digital" news letter. It seems almost like an organic entity that is part of the learning process as well.
From a teacher's perspective, it looks like blogging is widely used to have students reflect on their learning and as tool to help students learn. I really liked one activity where the class was filmed practising a traditional dance and they were asked to watch the video and see how well they each kept step with their class mates. That is great example of assessment for learning or as I like to say, teaching like a coach.
From a student's perspective, having their own student blog makes a lot of sense. Their thoughts and work are all in one place that is nice and organized. They can show off to their parents what they did in school quite easily. Also, it looks like their teachers use blogging in an engaging fashion by posting videos, asking engaging discussion questions and using variety. This gives the students a voice and I'm sure the students find value in the use of blogs.
Parents must be supportive of blog use as well. There are tips for parents on how to help their children and they can see the daily activities their kids take part in. As a parent, I know how empowering this can be.
I think Russell Street School should be congratulated on it's effective use of this technology. They have gone beyond the simple transfer of information, by embracing blogging technology, they have made blogging apart of their culture and everyone in the school community benefits from it. I now have a pretty clear picture on the power of web logs and how they can be effectively used in schools.
I agree with you that the parents seem very involved in the blogs and aware of what is happening. I love this form of parent involvement, do you think it took very long for parents to be supportive of this process?
ReplyDeleteThat is a good question Erika. In my community, parents tend to be reflexively nervous about any perceived change. I too wondered how parents became comfortable with this level of openness and transparency.
DeleteIt's hard to say. I can only imagine that when their children come home and talk about all the exciting stuff that goes on at school, the parents would get behind school pretty quick. My opinion is solely based on my own experience with my kids of course.
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