Our forecast is that in the future, students will not just blog to network with other people and vent out their feelings and fears. They will do so because it will already have become a part of the whole classroom experience.

Blogging in the field of education has come of age because of the growing presence of  teachers in cyberspace, now being referred to as  the “edbloggers.” Allow us to introduce to you Rolly de los Santos, fondly called Tito Rolly, who has been teaching for more than 20 years at the De La Salle Zobel School in Alabang, Muntinlupa City and Marisol Angala, a special education teacher based in Washington DC, USA.

Tito Rolly, who runs his blog at www.titorolly.blogspot.com, is an exceptional  poet and storyteller. His narratives about being a father, husband and teacher always elicit comments from his numerous readers. Everybody did not know how gifted a painter he was  until he posted his artworks online but he also probably did not know how talented a writer he was until he started blogging. Tito Rolly’s writing style, which is so effortlessly delivered, can be very engaging – replete as it is with anecdotes, imagery and life lessons learned.

“I got the idea of blogging from Rhett Pascual. We were together in an online poetry group. I visited his blog and I  liked the idea of  being able to update everyday. That’s how my first blog “Soft Grumbles” came about. And then, I chanced upon Batjay’s site and put a comment there. He was kind enough to reply. That’s when I found out how interactive a blog can be and I was thus encouraged to explore the technology further,” he points out.

Marisol, on the other hand, put up her class homepage at www.digitalanthology.blogspot.com  which publishes the outstanding writings of her special students. She also maintains four personal websites (the main one being at www.teachersol.blog-city.com) plus a professional site for a teacher’s organization called the DC Area Writing Project.

“The blogosphere just brings out my creativity. I got hooked the first time I used this technology,” she notes.

In an online interview with Blog-o-Rama, here’s what the two teachers have to say about blogging and its future in the field of education:
 
Question: In your own opinion, what’s the best thing about blogging? What makes it rock?

Tito Rolly: The best thing about blogging is that I get to write what’s on my mind.  Although I am not a real writer, people are reading me and telling me what they think about an idea or stand I have on a certain issue.  I also learned to be a little more computer literate as one has to know the basics before one can blog effectively.  I also learn a lot, get to share my opinions with others as I hop from one blog to another.

Marisol: Blogging is addictive, I must say, but at the same time it’s fun! I get to exchange short messages with my sorority sisters who I’ve never met personally but share the same principles. I get to let my family, relatives and friends back home know that even though I’m struggling, I am very okay here. I get to make new friends online. I get to express my experiences, personal ideas, opinions, creativity. Consequently, I get to enhance my writing skills…and publish it online…and get consistent readers instantly!

Tito Rolly: Yes.  As a matter of fact, I have heard about this from one our sessions  on a Learner- Centered Learning Education which we are adapting this year in school.  We were encouraged to keep a journal so we can effectively communicate with our students.

Marisol: Yes, because computers can often provide welcome relief to students with learning disabilities who struggle with spelling and penmanship. As keyboarding classes become more prevalent in schools, I view technology as a welcome device that can open the world of writing style to my students.

Q. What do you think are the pro’s and con’s of bringing blogging into the educational mainstream?

Tito Rolly: I can only think about the pro’s. For one thing, the students get to practice their writing skills.  They learn how to organize their thoughts and present their ideas in a more linear way.  They also get to meet other students all over the world and share their experiences with them.  After all, we are coming into the age of information and we are now living in one global village.

Marisol: I think a lot of students would get frustrated when they don’t have the accessibility to go online as often as they would want to; let’s admit it, there are still very few students who have access to this technology. Computers, e-mail, blogging and text messaging mean students now spend more time punching keys than pushing a pencil, which is another sad thing about this. Even though some grieve the downfall of handwriting, others see it as a welcome sign of the times. I think the advantage of giving the students a wider audience outweigh any disadvantages.

Q. How is blogging catching on in your school for example?

Tito Rolly: I was surprised to learn that a lot of our students have blogs, you can even find seven of them in my links section.  And mind you, they have very nice templates which I suppose they learned to do from their computer class.  They even have animation and sounds to go with their entries.  

Marisol: In my own school, the blogging technology hasn’t caught up yet, I guess I am the only teacher who integrates this blogging technology with writing inside the classroom. And I am advocating the use of blogging as a teacher teaching technology and as a Teacher Consultant to the DC Area Writing Project.

Q. Are you also encouraging your kids to blog?

Tito Rolly: Of course.  Not only will they learn to communicate with other people this way,  they will also get to learn how to express themselves openly and freely. Much to my regret, however, none of them is interested yet. Since it is not my style to force on them something they don’t like to do, I will have to be contented with the thought that they occasionally read mine.  Hopefully, one of these days, a bright idea comes up and they suddenly have the urge to put the same in written form.  So far, my son Mickey is more likely to get the habit.  He is now a member of Deviant Art where he shares his art works with fellow members.  Although this is more visual than written, it might be a good way to start him into writing and reading as well.

Marisol: Yes, I view a computer, like a pencil, as another writing tool, and one that can open the world of the written word to children. I think technologies such as e-mail and text messaging has produced a learned age group of students who, instead of chit-chatting on the telephone after school, are creating written messages to friends, even if it is in their own language. Many teachers who integrate writing and technology inside the classroom encourage the students to blog.

Blogging can be a way to fight the loneliness that plagues every human being, not just those with disabilities. I am in fact encouraging everyone, not just my students, to do it.

Q. Would you recommend it as early as what age?

Marisol: I think the best time to teach kids to blog is when they learn how to write and how to operate the computer and use the internet responsibly.

According to one source from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Smart Brief, “Over the past few decades, school curriculums have been rewritten to reflect the advent of technology, with new expectations about keyboarding prowess vying for classroom time with handwriting.

In British Columbia, students in Grade 3 -- when children are usually taught cursive writing -- are expected to print or write legibly. But they are also required to use word-processing and graphics software, know how to enter, save and retrieve information, and install a disk into a computer.

In Manitoba, Grade 3 students’ printing and cursive writing also must be legible. At the same time, the pupils must be able to format text and properly space words either on a page or an electronic screen.”

Q. Inasmuch as there is such a thing as an artistic license, do you think there should be no prohibitions on the freedom to blog?

Tito Rolly: As an artist, I don’t believe in censorship. Censorship is counter- productive.  It dispels creativity. What we need right now are avenues which will spawn bright ideas.   I leave it to the person’s good judgment to know what to write and what not to in his/her blog. 

Marisol: Because discussions on a blog can extend beyond class time, students are able to think more deeply about issues. Those who are reluctant to speak in class have another opportunity in the blog to have their voices heard. Students should be given the liberty to express themselves as long as it is not offensive or illegal. The prohibitions, rules and regulations that schools put on blogging could kill the writer in the students.

I have established some guidelines for using our class blog site because I view this site as a digital extension of our classroom. This means that any rules or expectations I have for them in the classroom are the same rules and expectations I have for them in Cyberspace, with one main exception, I don’t let them use their last name in the blog or any identifiable information about them.

Q. What do you think is the future of blogging, especially in the Philippines?

Tito Rolly: Blogging in our country  will grow but hopefully, not to gigantic proportions, because that would also mean its demise.   I think it’s headed in the right direction.  Blogging is a result of the computer technology and as a people, we have learned to use this aspect of the computer phenomenon to our advantage.

Marisol: It’s interesting when you sit back and think where this is all going. I see weblogs as a digital equivalent of a diary or a newspaper or an e-mail. Rather than disappearing after a preliminary phase of interest, it will eventually become part of our everyday life and everyone will be doing it as a routine. But no matter how the medium changes from pen and paper to word processors and blogs, some things will still remain the same. We will continue to write and seek an audience for our writings.

For comments and inquiries, email annalyn.jusay@gmail.com