Blogs

Blogs are powerful communication tools. Blogs are powerful publishing tools. But blogging (the verb) is still much more than that to me. Blogging, as in reading and thinking and reflecting and then writing, is about connecting and learning.

Why Should Students Blog?

• A way to improve their own writing
• A ‘just-in-time’ learning arena
• A place to share
• A place for feedback
• A motivator
• An easy and quick way to publish on the web.
• A way to connect with others and make connections to learning
• A way to give students ownership of a personal space – a web site that encourages active engagement by the students and teacher
• A place to collaborate
• A personal way to include parents in the learning journey

A Problem with Blogs

If you are not a blogger or are still trying to wrap your head around blogs in education, let me see if I can help.

The problem with blogs is that it is not about writing, it is about a conversation.
If you think of blogs as conversation vehicles, then it becomes easier to understand how blogs can be very powerful in education and the classroom. Too often, educators use blogs as a replacement for journals, when really what blogs should do is extend conversations from within the classroom to a wider audience. Those conversations should then be brought back into the classroom for further discussion. The word ‘blog’ might be short for Web Log, but the power of blogs is not in the writing, it is in the thoughts, the comments, and the conversation that they can start, sustain, and take into a million different directions.

Blogs as conversations look like this:

Just because blogging is a writing activity, does not mean it is about writing. Blogs are about extending a conversation outside the walls of the classroom into a social-network where thoughts are shared with other classmates, other students, or even complete strangers.

When blogs are viewed as a conversation vehicle, they bring on a completely new meaning to the term blogging.

The power of blogging for learning and teaching

Blogging is about give-and-take! Blogging engages students more in their own learning as active content producers and also improves teachers’ professional development.

Will Richardson explains:

More about blogging

Come and discover how to ‘get into’ blogging!