Do you think you would use blogging in your future classroom? Why or why not?

As the Internet becomes an increasingly pervasive and persistent influence in people's lives, the phenomenon of the blog stands out as a fine example of the way in which the Web enables individual participation in the marketplace of ideas.

Teachers have picked up on the creative use of this Internet technology and put the blog to work in the classroom. The education blog can be a powerful and effective technology tool for students and teachers alike. It does require some research and coordination to make the most of it and reap all possible benefits of the blogging experience. It is also the responsibility of the teacher and the school to create a user friendly and safe environment for the student learning to take place.  

Blogging is a highly motivational and interesting way to get students to write, and this is being a fast growing area of research. It doesn't take much research, however, to know that using technology is a motivator for many kids. Students nowadays are “digital natives”. Technology tools are an innate part of their lives and it is to our advantage as teachers to use the tools they are comfortable with to achieve educational goals.

Students can write blog posts from school, their home computer… or from anywhere they have an internet connection, using tablets or smartphones, and that flexibility allows them to mange their time for the completion of projects while discouraging excuses for not doing their work. Another consideration is students with limited social and/or verbal skills, and who are often unwilling to contribute original ideas in class, may have a more equal footing in online conversations conducted through the written comment responses on a blog.The process of blogging addresses the problem of “wait time” between question and response. All students, regardless of learning style, have the time to consider the prompt and formulate a response.

Also the very nature of writing comments to a blog post, including the ability to preview your own post, encourages self-editing and re-writing. Students have an opportunity of becoming more aware of their writing skills and feel more responsibility for their own learning. This can promote learner autonomy. Blogs also foster interaction between students. They can read and review what their fellow classmates write, which can encourage critical thinking as students defend or refute the comment posts of others. This way students have a way to compare the quality of their comments, form and content, to other comments and posts. This provides an interesting twist on peer-assisted learning, using student work to model writing skills.

Teachers who also blog are modeling the writing process in their posts and comments. This allows more time to be devoted to the creative process than the instruction, however it is probably best to provide students with clear instructions and evaluation rubrics alongside the model/example. Another important benefit for teachers, is that student written work as blog posts is easier to read and respond to. The teacher also can work at home or from any internet access point. The material is more legible and the font size in a browser can even be adjusted, making reading student work easier on the eyes, literally.

Conclusively, I believe that the blogging process encourages literacy, problem solving as well as critical thinking skills and mastery. Students must learn to carefully read what others have written in order to make meaningful comments. They can also come across information or aspects they had not initially considered.In addition, students also learn to research and read from a wide variety of sources in order to write meaningful posts of their own. Finally, student work is automatically saved and archived, creating a portfolio of their work over a period of time. It is then easy to go back and compare the quality of the posts and comments from early to late in the school year thus giving an opportunity for students to evaluate their own progress, pursue their development of their own learning strategies and set their own goals concerning their education.

In a nutshell here are some factors to consider if you decide to use blogging in your classroom:

Benefits of Blogging

• Highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms.
• Excellent opportunities for students to read and write.
• Effective forums for collaboration and discussion. 
• Powerful tools to enable scaffolded learning

Risks of Blogging

• Blogs may be viewed publicly, as any other Web site. Students must be trained on issues regarding access, privacy, security, and free expression. As blogs have no publisher, producer, or editor, students must carefully consider the content of postings to avoid anything defamatory, libelous, or an infringement upon the rights of others.
• Blogs are created by individuals for various and assorted purposes. Content should be recognized as the opinion of the blogger, and, therefore, may not necessarily be factual.

*Some references:

http://stu.westga.edu/~tcooper1/Profdevtmc/index.html

http://stu.westga.edu/~tcooper1/Profdevtmc/blogs3.html