Its nice getting started on this blog space. I will be sharing reflections on my activities during the Webskills online course. I have been blogging previously at www.namse.wordpress.com and www.thenamsechronicles.wordpres.com.
Setting up this blog did not pose much of a challenge but I learnt some new tips. I never knew you could convert words into hyper links. I can now hyper link words on my blog.
Blogs are a very good means of expressing yourself to the world. It can be a means of releasing creative energy. The concept of classroom blogging is quite necessary for both students and each. It helps introducing a non personalized approach to teaching and learning. It removes the terseness and inhibitions sometimes found in the classroom and provides a new frontier for student-teacher communication. There are however some challenges and questions that arise in the use of classroom blogging especially among we in developing countries.
On a technical level, many areas lack adequate infrastructure to cope effectively with the demands of classroom blogging. The perennial problem of power is a paramount challenge facing many communities in my area and hampers students and teachers access to the internet.
There is also the cost of internet access is also an issue. In Nigeria it costs approximately $30 (N6000) per month to get internet data to conveniently take a person for a month. There needs to be significant increase in internet access for classroom blogging to bear fruits in these parts.
On the other hand there are questions relating culture and local educational practices that need to be answered. At what age or class should pupils be allowed to blogging? In a country like Nigeria with a very diverse population it would be difficult to incoporate classroom blogging before university level. Many students well of families who attend high brow private school from primary level would be able to, but what percentage of the total population of students are they?
There is also a perverse conservative culture, where many people, even teachers are reluctant to embrace new technology. These are some of the factors that we teachers in Nigeria would consider before commencing classroom blogging.
