Source @steemiteducation

I've been be-bopping this idea for a while now, well, a little bit after I initially started using Steemit. I teach English as a foreign language in South Korea, so my primary job is getting students to use the language, of course. While working on my TESOL degree in university, I researched the benefits of students having pen pals when they learn a foreign language. That was something I originally planned to implement when I came to Korea, but I don't believe it would work so well in a middle school as it would a high school. So, I have had time just to let this idea simmer.

Coming onto this Idea

During this time, the more I use Steemit, the more I see how this could be beneficial in the classroom. Even for myself, I have been utilizing the platform to help my Korean, by writing about three paragraphs in Korean on Fridays. You could say that I am testing out my theory before I put it into practice.

A central point of teaching is motivating students; this can come in various forms. I've outlined those in a different post that you can read here. So, what better way to motivate students than the promise of monetary rewards for exceptional work and the opportunity to make friends during the process of learning.

How I can use it Steemit for grading?

Journals

The first, central, and probably most obvious way I can use the platform for the classroom is through weekly journal writing. When I interned in high school back home, students had three articles (one local, one national, and one world) that they had to read a week. After reading the materials, they had questions that they had to answer in the form of a journal writing, which they would turn in. I could do that same except, just simply write it up on here and post it. Students could also receive feedback on what they wrote from the Steemit community, and I have less fear of them encountering inappropriate comments because of how positive the community has been to me.

Commenting

To know that students would be reading throughout the week, I could grade comments that they make on others' post. Say, they make five comments a week on different articles that are about 300-600 words long. This gets into the heart of what Steemit stands for, creating good content and contributing to the conversations. If students make comments such as, 'Good post, I like it,' that is not going to get very many points. If they take their time and I can see that they read the article and are contributing, then they get full points. These would really be participation points when you boil it done.

Other ways to Grade

I don't think Steemit would be an appropriate place for students to submit full papers, those would probably be way too long. Possibly short book reviews would be acceptable for here. I could also give extra credit through posting on here. For example, if we were doing an assignment about a current issue and a student's post causes a conversation leading them to look into another subject, and they make another excellent post, I might give them extra credit. Or if they post recipes that are thorough and other people make them and post a picture, I might give extra. I believe it would just be another way to motivate students, and not limit it to simply just written academic assignments. I want students to know there are multiple ways of succeeding in the class.

Monitoring

The cool thing about Steemit is, I could check students' profiles and see precisely what they are sharing and commenting on. That would make it easy to grade for me. I could also go into Steemd to see what they are liking as well and see what their voting power and bandwidths are. So if there were issues with posting assignments, I would be able to see what the problem is and we could talk about the importance of only creating and liking good content.

What do students take away from it?

They will be learning and utilize the target language by using this platform. They would be learning how blockchain works through the process of using Steemit. Also, I could do some lessons about blockchain tech and cryptos, so they understand better on how they work. They would also passively learn how to market themselves on a social media platform, that would be important if they want to get more votes on here. Then, they would also be learning a bit about economics as they earn steem and watch as the market swings back and forth and we can talk about reasons it may be doing this.

If not for anything else, I am hoping that students become more confident in their ability to use the target language and can develop friendships that can motivate them to improve beyond the classroom. I just think it would have been cool when I was in high school to walk into class and have the teacher ask us if we wanna make more friends and money at the same time lol

These are a few of my first ideas on how I can utilize Steemit for the classroom. Let me know what you think below and if you know anyone that has done this or something similar, let me know 😁

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I tend to write about life in Korea as a foreigner, food, photos from trips, and things teaching related. If that interest you and you like this post, please give me a vote and follow
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Until then,
Ride on!