Value of blogs in SS
Here's one of the questions posed:
Do you see any use or value, whatsoever, in using blogs in teaching and learning Social Studies? Explain.
Okay, here goes - I feel that blogs provide students with a multitude of perspectives on a certain issue. And since the very nature of blogs tends to provide links to other like-minded bloggers, chances are, students will be able to read up on other perspectives. This could be good for source-based learning since a variety of opinions can be accessed easily, and students can make informed decisions about the issue. The danger though, is that it is merely a representation of someone's perspective and may not be the authority on a subject matter. So, if we want to get the facts, I'd say, stick to the old school methods and go bury your head in a journal or textbook.
Do you see any use or value, whatsoever, in using blogs in teaching and learning Social Studies? Explain.
Okay, here goes - I feel that blogs provide students with a multitude of perspectives on a certain issue. And since the very nature of blogs tends to provide links to other like-minded bloggers, chances are, students will be able to read up on other perspectives. This could be good for source-based learning since a variety of opinions can be accessed easily, and students can make informed decisions about the issue. The danger though, is that it is merely a representation of someone's perspective and may not be the authority on a subject matter. So, if we want to get the facts, I'd say, stick to the old school methods and go bury your head in a journal or textbook.
Hmm, I guess you are talking about blogs in general, and not teachers setting up blogs in order to facilitate learning?
Anyway, I disagree with you on one point: Since blogs provide links to other like-minded people, it is very likely that students will be reading up on the same opinion, albeit expressed in different forms. For example, anti-government websites will most likely to provide links to other anti-government websites. So instead of providing students with a variety of opinions, it may in fact be the other way round.
And you are assuming that textbooks present facts in a straight-forward manner? Really? =p
Posted by
Junhao |
April 16, 2007 at 12:26 AM