Web 2.0 Resources to Promote Cross-Cultural Awareness and Connections
Blogs are a fantastic web 2.0 tool that can connect students with the greater global community. As opposed to writing for simple the teacher or a class to read, a Blog is published online and can be viewable by anyone with an internet connection. They are a great tool for collaboration, and for giving students a voice outside of their classroom. There are many different platforms for hosting a blog, such as Google’s Blogger, Weebly, Wix, and WordPress. When creating a blog, one can add text, pictures, videos, and embed all sorts of different additions, such as a Google Form or a Symbaloo. Blog addresses can be promoted and shared on Social Networks such as Twitter and Facebook. Using a blog, students can write about an unlimited amount of topics, as well as address issues suited for a global audience.
For the purpose of this summary, I will speak to the blogging tool Blogger. Blogger is one of Google’s Apps for Education, having been launched over a decade ago in 1999. Having used other blogging tools before, I find Blogger to be in the easy to medium range when it comes to ease of use. It offers a lot of ways to customize a blog, and those with HTML experience can create their blog in
Blogger
that mode, rather than in text mode. A Weebly blog would be best suited for beginners, considering it features a simple drag and drop interface. Blogger plays really nicely with other Google apps, and it is really simple to import media from one’s Google Drive to their Blog. Blogger also offers a breakdown of statistics, so one can see how often their blog is visited and what part of the world viewers are from.
I have personally used Blogger to create a blog that shares the successes teachers have had with technology integration in my district. I use the blog as a way to encourage teachers to share their progress and learn from one another. I have also seen blogs used in ELA classes as a means for students to share their work with one another and the greater global community. A teacher whose students are studying the book Number the Stars could share their blogs and thoughts with students whose countries were affected by the Holocaust, and see the different insights they have. Many books we read and study take place in other parts of the world, or are concerning events that involved more countries that the US. Blogs provide a way for students to share their thoughts on these literary works, as well as hear a possibly different perspective on the ideas and questions raised by said work. Simply having students write for a global audience may shift their perspective, or better engage them in the task at hand.