Presentation II : Blogging & Education by Zhuang Xiuli

November 5, 2005

Presentation II : Blogging & Education by Zhuang Xiuli

 

Zhuang is talking about the use of blogs for education in china.

She’s talking about use of blog as knowledge management for teachers. She says that because of the web, the way in which people learn has changed, no longer set by physical boundaries or traditional categories of knowledge

 

 

The learning behaviors manifested through the merging of people and blogs: the fundamentals of education have been affected by blogging. She’s talking about how people don’t have to be so constrained by the conventional categories of subject matter in their studies, thanks to blogs talking about the salon-style discussion groups.

People from different fields of study can come across one another on the web more easily than before thanks to the cross linking and therefore new ideas can come forth that might not have happened before.

So when people use blogs, their whole way of interacting with knowledge changes. You can put down deep roots and grow leaves and branches at the same time. You can get breadth as well as depth more easily than before.

 

She says a lot of educators are now using blogs in China since 2003: teachers writing blogs for their students. They are writing in their blogs in different ways than they would teach. They’re much more experimental and personal. She’s saying that the educational system and theory in china are based on western educational theory and she thinks that blogs might help chinese educators develop their own chinese educational methods while blogs can also be used for teacher training

There’s a teacher who keeps a very detailed log of everything that happened in the classroom every day, then analyzes what might have been done differently and how the teaching methods could be improved. Its a great way for teachers to have a network to compare and learn from each other.

Kids can blog about their teachers as well, giving feedback.

 

 

Looking at the individual, how can blogs help the individuals learn?
People have their personality, their knowledge and abilities, and experiences, blogs might help people to bring forward and develop their unique qualities and abilities so that they can better realize their individual potential. Blogs will personalize the educational experience.

How does education interact with the individual?

She is giving her personal example:
from grade school, high school, to grad school she says she didnt understand what “scholarship” is, blogs will help us better understand the way we conduct education and enable us to educate our children better. Education isnt just memorization. its about growth, on the web people can be lifelong students.

 

Tagged: cnbloggercon, 中文网志年会, CBC2005

 

 

 

Permalink