As I consider my role as a media specialist, I have pondered what purpose blogging could play in fulfilling student growth and education. I often see a handful of students who struggle to realize that when you come to the IMC, it may benefit you to think about what type of book strikes your fancy on that particular day. I subscribe to the notion that if you choose a book that does not work for you, the experience was still worthwhile as you know that avoiding that subject, genre or author may be a necessary evil.
Several students often form a "clump" around the scary stories collections (i.e. Schwartz, San Soucci, or Stine) or magic titles such as those by E. D. Baker (i.e. Frog Princess, Dragon's Breath or No Place for Magic). However, there are pleny of students who do not hear the casual comments on whether a particular book was a good read or waste of paper. It may be shyness or a feeling that you simply would not like a book that the person across the row from you would enjoy. Blogging could make such snap judgements less likely as everyone could see a review simultaneously. Students would be anonymous and any perceived "stigmas" would be much less significant to a reviewer and those who wish to dialogue as well.
A simple template of a numbered rating, a question as to why you would recommend the book and suggestions of similar titles for those who want to expand their horizons would guide students to the effectiveness of a blog in this facet of their education.
[from Bloglines...first posted on April 5th]
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4 comments:
Great idea.......I like the idea of a book review blog. It would make students think critically about the book they had read if they had to write a mini review. Probably also a good idea to be anonomous, although sometimes you start to realize that you have the same taste as someone else, therefore their opinions become more valuable to you.
This is a very "Web 2.0" type of idea, building content and meaning through the interaction of the users. This to me is the real strength of current web trends, the ability to leverage the power of many users to contribute to the overall knowledge base. Whether tagging photos for clarity in future searches, or exploiting the knowledge of "experts" in the manner of wikipedia, this more than any other development has the potential to revolutionize how we look at content creation and information value.
I agree - good idea for a blog - it will give the students a nice place to find a review from someone they know.
A book review blog is very necessary for students to take part. I often notice during my students' library time that some students have no problems selecting books to read while other students have a difficult time selecting books. Having to hear
suggestions from their peers or just kids their age would be helpful and spark their interests.
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