The world today is prospering faster than ever before. More children are being born across the world every second. As the population grows that gives more opportunities for education and scientific development. Twenty years ago the internet was not a necessity, but today our societies function on quick access and instant gratification.
Education is now become the normal, and it is expected, unlike years ago when education was a privilege. Our generation has great expectations that they don’t want to work for. Our generation has become lazy and reliant on search engines to find out information. The computer has become a household name. If one goes into a neighborhood almost every house has at least one computer.
Different college degrees have been created to service and create more modern technologies everyday for the computer. Today computers give students and teachers a way to connect, yet also away to learn and keep up with daily news. There are so many things that a computer enables one to do. I think that is one reason we use them so often everyday.
Shu Ren International School is an international school based in Berkeley. They have their own web page along with blogs. Shu Ren is open all year around. They also have a great student/ teacher ratio. There are about eight students to one teacher. The school has a grand reopening this month. In their blog they talk about their curriculum and progress they are having with their building. The school calendar, information about new teachers, and the after school programs is listed on their blog at http://shurenschool.wordpress.com/.
http://shurenschool.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/openinginvitation2.jpg
The Harrow International School is based in Bangkok. They have an amazing website that has all the information anyone would like to know. They have pictures that show boarding school life and activities. Each Teacher has a blog to show what is going on in his or her classroom. One could visit their website to view everything they have to offer at http://www.harrowschool.ac.th/?q=blog/10. This school looks very interesting. If I were a student I loved love to attend this school.
Different Schools are starting to use blogs to keep students, parents, and teachers connected with each other. Blogs are set up on the Internet by either county or state. I found example of each of those circumstances. The two different example I found were Goochland County Public Schools and Washington State Public Schools.
In Washington State Public Schools they use their blogs to share a large amount of information. Everything that is going on in the schools is put on the blogs. For example they have the school calendar, school policies, and even a blog on when the teachers went on strike. All of the different topics and the number of blogs pertaining to that topic is on the right side of the web page at http://wateachers.blogspot.com/ . The way this web page is set up gives everyone easy access.
In Goochland County Public Schools the blogs are used differently. On the home page, http://blogs.glnd.k12.va.us/teachers/ , they give the definitions of the different terms used for blogs and explain how to use them. On the left hand side each teacher created their own blog. On their blogs it gives weekly assignments, policies of the classroom , and topics they will be discussing in class. This is a wonderful blog setup. It even gives contact information if a parent needs to get in contact with the teacher.
When I was in elementary or middle school we did not have access for this type of communication. My junior year of high school our school was starting Edline. That system did help, but it was not always current. I think blogs are great way to keep everyone posted on all the calendar events, assignment, or even a quick question. I look forward to using a blog for my classroom.
