Blogging Overload

As I assimilate into this blogging world, I believe I have encountered some major frustrations that are inevitable with students. First and foremost; (1) becoming accustomed to checking/ updating my blog is hassle. Luckily I use gmail, so the log in process isn't too painful. But this leaves me thinking about others. What if you  have a separate e-mail account? Suddenly logging in and remembering a new username and password combination is a chore. How many of you have so many websites where you need to enter a username and password you often forget which set is the right one? IT HAPPENS TO ME ON A DAILY BASIS. Granted that may be my memory, but a 8, 9 or 10 year old may face the same difficulties.


(2) There is an extreme amount of pressure to create an original and meaningful blog. This stress alone can cause students to steer away from the blogging world.


(3) Time. Time. Time. Sure time would not be a factor if all student blogging was done in the classroom, but lets be realistic. Not all classwork gets done in class. Which leads me to my next point..


(4) Access from home. Not all students are able to access a computer/ Internet directly from their home.


(5) By far the most overwhelming aspect of blogging is the constant updating from people you are following. When I log in and see that there are 7 new blog posts my head spins. As educators we know every single person learns and interprets information differently. I need to take things one at a time, seeing 7 new blog posts distracts me and unfortunately unmotivated me. I do not mind reading 7 different posts (not to mention comments) one at time, but the set up of them all together is nearly impossible for me to concentrate on. It is like logging onto facebook. Your newsfeed is pages and pages long of status updates, photo uploads and random facts like "so and so is now friends with so and so". Do you ever see all the updates and get overwhelmed? Well that is how I feel about blogging. Too much information at once.

Blogging? For school?

For my first official blog, it would only be appropriate for me to discuss how I got here. Simply for an assignment. Why would I be assigned such a bizarre task? Social media is at a all time high, and as future educators, correction, technology educators, we need to be able to take societies interests and apply them to the classroom. Besides facebook and twitter, blogs have allowed anyone to express themselves and publicize their opinions. 

Inevitably this includes students. Some students blog themselves, while others just read blogs. Either way 21st century children are exposed to them. So what does this mean for education? I can think of a plethora of things.What are your ideas?


Blogging will change the classrooms.