WEBSITE

AND CLASSROOM BLOG CREATION TOOLS

Name: Greer Ferguson
Directions: Using the template below, describe how students could use a blog, wiki, or other websitecreation tool to learn required learning standards in your content area: For an A grade provide an idea that
reaches a Level of Technology Implementation of 4 or above. Remember higher levels (4-6) require that
students assume adult/professional roles; engage in higher-order thinking; and use technology
create/publish original content for their classmates and/or others beyond their school/classroom. The
learning activities and products should be engaging and meaningful to the students and to others who will
view/use/benefit from students work. Review your handouts on Engaged Learning, Authenticity, and LoTi.
Grade Level: 4th Grade
Content Area: Social Studies
Technology Used (check all that apply):
Blog
Wiki
Other
Website Creation Tool (list):
Content Area/Grade/Standards/Topics Addressed: SS4H2
Identify and explain the rights in the Bill of Rights, describe how the Bill of Rights places limits on the
power of government, and explain the reasons for its inclusion in the Constitution in 1791.
Brief Description of Learning Experience: What learning standards will be addressed? What will
students and teachers do? What products will students create? How will the project be introduced? How
long will it take to complete? What audience will use/care about the product(s) students are creating? How
broad is this audience? (Overview should be approximately 1-2 paragraphs).
In this learning experience the standard (SS4H2) will be addressed. The students will learn about the
Bill of Rights in their next Social Studies unit study. To prepare for that the students will be given
homework over the weekend. This homework will be to access the classroom blog and listen to the short
audio created by the teacher. The audio instructs the students to visit and explore a website about the Bill
of Rights. The students will be getting their first interaction with the classroom blog. They will in the
future be using the classroom to publish their own works, just like the teachers audio recording. This
learning experience will not only be to establish some prior knowledge before starting their Bill of Rights
study, but also give insight to what creating and publishing can look like. It will give them an example to
look to when they begin their own assignments in the future.
Blooms Level of Critical Thinking Required (check all that apply):
See http://epltt.coe.uga.edu/index.php?title=Bloom%27s_Taxonomy
Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analyzing

Evaluating

Creating

Student Engagement/Level of Technology Implementation (LoTi): What LoTi would this lesson be and
Why? This lesson would be a low LoTi level 2 at first. Simply because in this instance the students are
just interacting with the classroom blog, and the creation has been done by the teacher. However, this
classroom blog will be utilized in the future as a publishing platform for students work with different
aspects of technology they create during the school year. Students will be creating podcasts, movies on
important historical figures, PowerPoint presentations, and different projects that pictures will be taken
of and the blog will be used as a publishing platform for students. Whenever students create a project
and publish they will then be operating on a LoTi level 4.
Importance of technology: Why is using a website-creation tool critical to the project? Could the project
be completed without this technology? What would be lost without using it? What other types of
technology, if any, are going to be used in the learning experience? Using a website-creation tool is critical
to the project because of the foundation that the project is trying to set. Yes, the teacher could simply
write out instructions to visit the Bill of Rights website, but it would not expose the student to level of

WEBSITE AND CLASSROOM BLOG CREATION TOOLS

technology that they themselves will be interacting with soon.

Inspiration (optional): If you used existing example as a model for your project (whether in part or
whole), include the URL(s) so we can visit. Explain what concepts you borrowed from others.
Internet Safety and Student Privacy: Briefly discuss some possible issues surrounding Internet safety and
student privacy that could arise while implementing this learning experience and explain how you would
(1) minimize risks to students/yourself; (2) alleviate any fears by parents/administrators, and (3) follow
common Internet Safety/Acceptable Use Policies. Because students will be eventually using the classroom
blog to publish their own work the risk of student privacy and safety can be at risk if proper precautions
are not taking. To keep the students safe the blog will be password protected, and every viewer must first
be approved by the teacher. The students will be instructed to not use their last names on any of their
work, only the first letter of their last name, and they will not be allowed to identify their location or
school. The teacher will ensure this has been followed by screening all students work before publishing.
Describe your personal learning goal for this activity. What are you trying that you have not tried
before? What do you hope to learn from this activity? How do you hope it will help students learn? The
teacher is first experimenting with providing homework instruction in a different medium. My hope is
that the students gain experience with technology before being asked to create themselves. The goal is to
provide a level of comfort interacting with technology.
Other comments about your proposed activity: