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Blogs in Education


 The world is changing around us.  As educators, we need to be quick to react and adapt to the “T” words, technology.

Today’s students are far ahead of their teachers when it comes to computer literacy.  When first introduced, blogs were sought as just a tool that allowed easy sharing of resources and ideas on the Web to an audience that was willing to share their thoughts and ideas in response. The purpose of the tool has not changed much over time, however, it is being pushed more into education to build 21st-century thinking skills. Blogging can be understood as a global conversation comprised of reflections and conversations that demands interaction. It is a way to engage readers with ideas, questions, and links.

Pros/benefits:
Years ago, in 2007, a Pew Internet & American Life Project study showed that 64 percent of all teens who use the Internet could be considered “content creators”.  Why is this important? Because this number will continue to grow and we are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information. Blogging in education gives students the opportunity to be collaborators, learning more about the world and each other.  When students blog, their audience reaches beyond the walls of their own classroom. Douglas Rushkoff says we are creating a “society of authorship” due to the fact that everyone with access can contribute ideas and experiences in the form of a written thread of conversational writing.  Blogs offer an interactive experience as well. In an age where the universal design for learning is an important facet of instructional design, the ability to incorporate links, graphics, photos, videos, or audio files into blogs is paramount. Nowadays, two new blogs are being created every second.  With countless benefits available to educators, the primary focus should be to capitalize on the fact that blogs promote critical, analytical, analogical, and associational thinking. Additionally, they are a great medium for teaching constructivist learning approaches. Schools are using blogs as class portals, online filing cabinets, e-portfolios, collaborative spaces, knowledge management systems, and even school websites!

Possible Cons
There are, however, some possible issues that blogging with students can pose.  The internet can be a dangerous place, so there should be efforts in place to provide students with the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe.  Students should be aware of certain skills they need to navigate the “darker” parts of the web. And when it comes to which information is accurate vs. inaccurate, teachers should be ready to have discussions with students about how to evaluate reliable sources.  Of course, the issue of what should and should not be published online cannot be overlooked. PII (personal identifiable information) should never be revealed by students in their blog posts and they should fully understand this.

Misconceptions of blogging
Many people confuse blogging with journaling or posting a string of thoughts to their blog. Journaling is more like, Facebook. You are documenting ideas and events that you find important and liking and reposting videos, articles, and links that you enjoy or agree with. Blogging is more complex than that. Blogging is posting links with analysis that gets into the meaning of the content being linked, as well as a deeper understanding. Or even writing reflectively without links that invite conversation through questions and public commenting. Ultimately, blogging never ends. Blogging is intended to be commented on, revisited, and revised over a long period of time. This synthesizing conversation builds over time and it expands on previous links, post, and comments.

An example/ classroom ideas:

With the right affordance analysis, blogs are a great tool that can be used to substitute, augmentate, modify, and redefine learning in the classroom.  Some educators use class blogs to showcase student art, poetry, and creative stories while others create online book clubs. Other examples may include asking students to create their own individual course blogs, posting tasks to carry out project-based learning tasks, or linking your class with another class somewhere else in the world.  Here are some additional uses along with examples of great class blogs.


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