Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Reading Reflection 7


In Blogging in Ancient Rome, discusses the introduction of blogging into classrooms, focusing on the middle school ages. They used the program kidblog, or kidblog.org, so that the teacher is able to go over all the posts and comments before they are put into the web as well as having little risks of inappropriate content being put in the blogs. The assignments were based around stories they read that had to do with the culture and history of ancient Rome. The students were to write from the perspective of a character from one of the stories they read. Before the students began writing the blogs, there was instruction and guidelines put in play for handling the blogs and Internet safety. This assignment really allowed students to be creative with their work while learning about Ancient Roman society.

I really liked the idea of the assignment. Being a history teacher, I see this assignment as doing a great job with connecting the students of today with a culture that was thousands of years ago. With just a textbook, a student can have a hard time finding the material interesting. But adding technology to it makes it more fun for the student and they are more likely to absorb the material. This assignment had its guidelines, but room for the students to be more creative. I am a firm believer that students learn a great deal by being creative and going beyond the textbook with their learning.

This follows the ISTE NETS Performance Indicators for students because the assignment uses technology to allow creativity and innovation. The students’ creativity with their blogs and acting as a character from ancient Rome helps them learn more about technology but history and culture as well.  

Barrett, J., & Goldsby, C. (2013, November 1). Blogging in Ancient Rome. Learning and Leading Through Technology, 41.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jaclyn,
    I am also aspiring to become a history teacher, and I too think this is a great idea. The idea of making the students think from a different perspective is very important in helping them be more creative. Using this technique can also help students become more engaged due to the "new" feeling of trying to think and write like a character from ancient Rome. Very interesting concept.

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  2. Jaclyn,
    I agree with you that students learn more with technology and creativity. I believe this activity would make students love learning History and it will be easier for them to understand and remember. The KidsBlog website seems like a great safe way for kids to use the internet and share their ideas and reading reflections.

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