2/9 Blog Entry

1. I could see myself using blogs in a classroom as a way to evaluate whether or not students read the assigned homework. I could give prompt questions and have them answer the questions on their blogs. This way, it would feed the information directly to me if I subscribed to their blogs. I could also have the students create blogs for characters in stories we read in class as an exercise in creative writing. They could update the blogs from the point of view of the characters as we move along in the storyline. The students could also customize their blogs, which would be something to get them interested in the idea. These are two of the advantages. The disadvantages would be that the students would need time to learn how to use the blogs, they would need time in class to type their responses, and they might get distracted with customizing their blogs rather than answering the prompts.

2.
Advantages of Google Apps-

• Students can work on a collaborative project together over the internet, rather than being forced to be in the same room
• Work is saved online instead of a flash drive or hard drive, which makes it harder to accidentally delete or lose files.
• Google Apps keeps track of changes made by individual users, so you can tell whether or not everyone contributed a fair amount to a project.
• Not everyone can afford Microsoft Office; Google Apps offers basic versions of the same program for free.
• Documents created in Office can be uploaded and worked on in Google Apps.

Disadvantages-

• Not every student has access to a computer/the internet at all times.
• Some students will be unfamiliar with using these types of programs.
• Google Apps does not offer as many customization options as Microsoft Office.
• All changes made can be traced, which may not be a good thing for some students. It may also be taken as an invasion of privacy.

Overall I feel that the advantages of Google Apps far outweigh the disadvantages. I think that it is a great program and should be instituted in all schools.