Andrea's Portfolio

Using Blogger in the Classroom: A Description of the Unit

One of the required courses in the Educational Technology Leadership (ETL) program at GWU is Instructional Design, a course which focuses on developing the skills necessary to plan and implement sound instruction. Throughout the course, we worked to create an instructional unit that could be utilized in our professional setting. I chose to create an instructional unit to help teachers learn how to blog in the classroom. The final project was a unit that included a needs assessment, instructional objectives, instructor delivery materials, assessment instruments, and student materials.

Providing Adults Instruction

As an educator, we are designing instruction for our students on a daily basis. As part of my training to become a teacher, I learned the components of writing a lesson and have practiced writing formal lessons throughout my career. This course was a much more in-depth process of instructional unit writing. I included the unit because it reflects my ability to write instruction for an adult audience, whereas my other lesson plan samples are written for my students. I also included this unit because it showcases the technology leadership skills I have gained as part of the ETL program. Before beginning the program, I was a confident technology leader, and now I have the background and knowledge to be an even more effective leader in my work setting.

Using the Instructional Unit

The Blogger instructional unit is a thorough, detailed professional development course for educators, and meant to be used by any instructor with a basic knowledge of word processing and maneuvering the internet. The instructor materials are easy to follow. The unit can even stand alone (for those teachers comfortable with navigating the internet and blogging resources independently) without the guidance of an instructor by using the Blogger Reference Guide and student materials. The unit is interactive in that it allows the instructor to teach a skill, and then have the participants practice that skill. Participants can then learn on their own while receiving assistance from the instructor, and can work collaboratively with other participants.

One area for growth is to extend the unit for those teachers interested in learning more about blogging, and to teach more advanced topics such as embedding widgets or other applications.

Furthering the Instruction

While writing this instructional unit, I wanted to expand on the unit to include teaching teachers how to get their students to start blogging. With the time constraints of the course, I chose to focus just on teaching the teachers. However, the unit is a perfect segue to teaching students how to blog in the classroom. While this unit would be too basic for the current staff at my school, it is a great tool for new staff or for teachers at other schools that do not have as much technological expertise.