There are many differences between a classroom website and
your own professional blog. Two of the main differences are the purpose
and the audience for each. The target audience
for a classroom website is your students and their parents or guardians. However, for a professional blog, your target
audience is other educators, principals and administration. Your writing voice will change depending on
your audience. The purpose of each of
these is also different. The purpose of
a classroom website is to inform parents about what is going on in your
classroom, provide students with materials to enhance their learning, to post homework
to be completed or assignments, and post materials that are used in the
classroom. A classroom website is mainly
used to provide information and it allows parents to become a stakeholder in
their child’s education. It is proven that if there is a connection between
home and school that a child will be more successful in their education and a
classroom website helps to bridge this connection. However, the purpose of a professional blog
is to voice your opinion about different issues in education and to ask some
questions for the reader to think about. In a professional blog, the audience is able
to post comments about what you have written and there is also an interaction
component. You are able to receive
valuable feedback from others that can cause you to reflect. A professional blog can help an educator to grow
as a teacher.
You would want to separate a professional blog and a
classroom website because the purposes of both are different. Although parents may be interested in your
opinions about education for a professional blog, you would not post the same
information on a blog that you would on a classroom website. A classroom website informs others about
what is going on in the classroom, whereas a professional blog is about more
broad issues.
Well said. I've noticed over the years of using professional blogs and teaching social media in a variety of capacities that this very simple differentiation between the classroom blog and professional blog gets mixed up quite often. This is the same for Twitter, where I often find people using Twitter for the classroom sharing, but also for their own personal use or professional use. The idea of "audience" really needs to be discussed more often. Perhaps we assume people understand "audience" more than they do.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your point about knowing your "audience". I was wondering when we are talking about the differences between professional blogs and classroom websites what if you chose to have a classroom blog that functioned as a classroom website to share information in a less formal and more interactive medium, rather than a class informational website. Would you say there is a different audience for a classroom website than a classroom blog? A classroom website may have a more intranet style and feel to it, it may be used more as a way to relay information and share documents where as a blog might be more personal and include more of the children's own voices an opinions. I'm also wondering what kinds of safety precautions a teacher can take from having unwanted comments show up on a classroom blog. I imagine there is a way to prescreen comments before they are published.
DeleteJust like we teach our students about word choice in connection with the audience they are writing for or speaking to, we must also be very aware of our audience when we are presenting information and opinions, whether digitally or in person. Classroom websites should be objective and informative and content accessible to students. Personal and professional boundaries should be in place in the creation of internet blogs and tweets. ....and students should not be given access to your facebook page. (yes, I do know of some educators that have 'friended' current students on their personal page)
ReplyDeleteJessica, I think that the audience for a classroom blog and classroom website could be the same depending on how you set them up. I do think that a classroom blog could have more student involvement and posts. I have only had a classroom website where I am the only one that posts information. In a classroom blog, students could post information as well. As well, I am sure that there is a way to be safe and prescreen comments. I am not sure, but I have heard of others doing this.
ReplyDeleteKristine, I agree with you that students should not have access to a teacher's facebook page. That is usually a personal page, not a professional page.