SP4Ed...WHAT???

So i'm still trying to get my head around this course and the work required. I have spent the majority of my time today trying to navigate the SP4Ed environment and how it works. I like the fact that everything is laid out with specific instructions but there seems a lot to do, hopefully i can get into the swing of things and stay on top of it all.

I hope that i can use this blog to support my learning on the SP4Ed course by using it as a place to record my learning and share it with others, I find it hard to remember to blog what i'm learning as i am used to writing things down on paper but as i am wanting to establish a blog with my class as part of my research project this will be good practice for me.

If you are wanting to know more about me please refer back to my introduction blog otherwise hopefully i will be posting here again soon.

Research topic

As I am about to start teaching in a year 3 classroom this research project provides the perfect opportunity for me to investigate the use of class blogs. Here is what i have come up with for my research project...
Research topic and specific digital technology:
Establishing and using a class blog as an effective means of communication and sharing of learning.
Why?
I am about to start working at a school that has several class blogs, however the class i am going into doesn't have one. I want to establish a blog that encourages family and whanau to share in their child's learning and also provides an effective means of communication between home and school.
Who?
There are lots of examples of class blogs around and there seems to be quite a lot of research done around using class blogs. I want my blog to be very much student-led so will need to look into research around that.
What are the major questions?
What do I need to consider before establishing a class blog?
What does the research show about having student-led blogs?
What do the students need to participate and contribute to the blog?
Where/When?
I think that blogs are becoming more and more part of our lives so it is important to provide students with the appropriate tools and knowledge to use them effectively.

Introducing me...

Hi

My name's Katherine and i have created this blog as part of my EDEM630 course through The University of Canterbury. I am working on completing my Graduate Diploma in E-learning and digital technologies. I decided to do this diploma as i feel that technology is an invaluable part of our teaching and it is important that we learn how to use the different tools in the most effective ways.

I graduated from Victoria University in 2008 and spent 6 months teaching a NE class, I then taught a YR 5/6 class for a year before going onto relieve due to family reasons. I have decided to return to full-time teaching this year and have just got a job working in a YR 3 class. I am looking forward to using the different tools and ideas that i get during this course with my class, my first job will be to set up a classroom blog.

I have set up and used blogs before so i didn't find this task too difficult, I did find being able to refer back to the guidelines helpful to make my blog more personal. I like using blogger as it enables me to have more than one blog at a time and to access them from the same dashboard. If you are wanting to create your own blog i suggest you take a look at https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1623800?hl=en for an easy guide. I'm looking forward to seeing what i will learn during this course and to use this blog to share my learning with others.

Katherine