Task 2: Other Inspiring Blogs

Hi there!

Another duty this week’s journalist had to face was searching on the Internet other people’s blogs.

Regarding our classmates’ blogs, we have chosen Universal teachers’. This is a group composed of Roberto, María José, Yassin, Mavi, Lola and Diego. Our decision was based on how detailed it is. Furthermore, we took into consideration the hard work there is behind those posts. This blog has inspired us a great deal, since it outstands the main topics of the activities carried out. Furthermore, having a look at it has not been hard. At least, not as other posts you are eager to finish reading. It is important to write about the quality of the posts, as they have an almost perfect level of English!

http://universalteachers2018.blogspot.com.es/

Among the similarities with our own blog, we would highlight the fact of giving details when writing about the topics, such as TPACK. We believe that the more complete an essay is, the more possibilities there are to transport the reader to the situation we are telling. However, it is also crucial to keep in mind that our story has to be appealing and catch the person in front of the screen’s attention. We claim that the most important thing both blogs have in common is the use of technological resources, such as videos or pictures.

Focusing on the differences, although there are not loads of, our blog includes a post related to our pet, whereas Universal teachers' does not. However, they have explained they are still creating it. Furthermore, all the technological tools added in our blog are ours;  while theirs are, some from the Internet, and others have been taken or recorded by them. What we miss in their writing related to TPACK is that they do not show our teacher's feedback related to their performance, but to the the class in general. Nevertheless, our blog includes it.

With regards to a blog from outside the class, we have chosen Teaching and learning with technology. This is a blog of a writer who also teaches Literature and English in Melbourne, Australia. As we are facing a task related to including technology when teaching the formal contents at school, we will focus on a post related to this issue: Getting ready for the teaching year.

This teacher’s blog and ours have in common the consideration that technology needs to be present in the current classrooms, as it has been deeply introduced in our lives and children need to be familiar with this kind of gadgets. He believes that a blog or webpage is an actually useful tool to include the information of the course so that children could have a look at it at home as well. It is quite helpful that technology allows us to get other educators’ resources so that our teaching is more enriching. The writer outstands that technology is a tool that allows children to be active agents in their learning. This is paramount, as the more engaged you are in your learning, the more significant it will be and the longer you will retain those contents. For instance, using a laptop to search information on the Internet on your own will be more fruitful than reading a textbook. The teacher considers that this aspect also increases students’ interest. Moreover, flipped-classroom methodology is mentioned: providing children with educational resources (videos, webpages…) before coming to school so that, in the classroom, they put into practice what they have already learned.

This is an interesting blog, as it has allowed us to get to know a teacher from other part of the world’s opinion about this issue. Moreover, it has let us be aware of how classes are and teachers perform in Australia.

One of the main differences between this blog and ours is that this person bases on his own practice as a teacher, as he has had the opportunity to deal with children and interpret what would be more effective to make their learning significant. However, we are in the first year of our Primary Education degree and, moreover, our period of practices at a real school has not started yet. So we comment the importance of technologies at school from our point of view. Another difference, despite its lack of significance, regarding the blog style could be that Warrick Wynne reflects landscapes’ pictures in his posts, while we prefer those related to the topics we talk about.

https://learningau.wordpress.com/

Thanks for reading!