Blog City!

Although a user of facebook and other social networking sites that allow feedback from other individuals, I find the world of blogging an unknown and somewhat overwhelming journey which I need to undertake.

A social constructivist approach seems to be a good fit in terms of utilising the web in it's 2.0 format. As I am only a beginner with this as a forum for discussion, I can still see that there are definite merits with allowing students to use such a forum to interact, discuss, reflect, and collaborate on either a class or a worldwide basis. It provides an exposure to a variety of views that students previously would not have had. This is especially relevant in the global community that exists at present.
Also, I was pleased to hear that teachers have the facility to lock down class blogs etc.

As mentioned already, I see the social constructivist collaborative approach as an approach that provides students with the opportunity to become aware of other, often differing, opinions that exist. I feel that this is an important aspect to allow students to absorb, reflect and perhaps adapt their views as they move through this process. The advantages of this are two fold. Firstly, students can move at their own pace which may not happen as easily in the classroom when discussion can happen at a rapid rate. Secondly, if students within the class come from a similar background, they can become exposed to views of people from very different backgrounds which can only to broaden their minds.