Sunday, April 14, 2013

(u05a2) Integrating Social Networking

I teach a BioEthics course.  The course covers topics from animal rights to abortion to genetic engineering.  This discussion based class involves a lot of discussion and debating.  Students are mixed ages, 9-12, and mixed levels.  My course goal is to teach students how to research topics, become informed on all sides, and then make an educated decision about the topic.  There are some students that are not necessarily talkers and I am always looking for a way for those kids to get to express what they are thinking as well.  As a result, I would like to have each student create a bioethics blog.  They can then post thoughts questions and resources on each topic there.  As a class, we can link all the blogs to my website, which would allow the class to follow each other and comment/discuss the ideas each person has.  

Blogs for Bioethics:
Course: Bioethics
Grade: 9-12
Duration: Continuous throughout the quarter

Goals: Students will create an individual blog to use as they explore bioethical topics throughout the semester.  It will be the home base for their own personal discovery, points of view, and discussions.  Students will also follow and comment on their classmates blogs as a way of interacting outside of the classroom and in a digital format.

Objectives:
1.  Students will set up a blog using Blogger and their school google accounts.
2.  Students will post an entry at least 2 times for each major course topic.
3.  Students will comment on at least 3 classmates posts each topic.

Procedure:
          Students will set up a blog using Blogger and their school google accounts.  After setting up their blogs they will link their blogs to the Blog Google Doc found in the Bioethics filing cabinet on my class website (www.tinyurl.com/tassclass).  During each topic, students will create at least two entries regarding the topic.  Entries may be informational or supported opinion.  Students are also encouraged to pose questions, create polls, and link to other websites that are useful in developing their opinions on the topic.  Blogs are a location for students to think and discuss the topics in a digital forum.

         Students will also be expected to follow each others blogs and comment on the posts of at least 2 classmates each topic.  The blogs are to be an extension of classroom discussion and all classroom rules for discussion and respect apply to blogging and commenting.  Students are encouraged to think deeply about the topics and post as many times as they want in the course of a topic.  

Assessment:
         Students will be graded based on participation and content, as well as, how well they support their thoughts. For each topic, students will receive a 20 point project grade for their posts and a 15 point project grade for their comments.

Links:
Tass Class Website - www.tinyurl.com/tassclass
Tass’s Bioethics Blog - http://svbioethics.blogspot.com/

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