Educational Uses for Blogging

The blog is a fascinating and personally manageable tool used to engage and discuss relevant topics of interest.  Consider it the faster and more interactive "little brother" to the opinion/editorial/commentary page of the newspaper with a more defined focus.  In this present digital age, this form of interaction and engagement is a tool that has various benefits to the classroom teacher.  It is yet another blow to the already crippled and terminal print media.

Books are no longer the engaging resource they once were.  A heavy, aging, and often tattered text cannot compete with the personal digital assistant better known as a cellphone that weighs in at a svelt 4 ounces.  This is just one of the many manifestations of the shift in technology that is occurring.  The blog is another way by which teachers can use new means to convey skills relevant to academic success.  In the area of literacy, which is the foundation of all academic pursuits, the classroom instructor is faced with attempted to promote essential skills in reading and writing.  Also, there is an increased need to unite literacy skills with digital know-how to prepare students for a future that is quite unpredictable.

The following are several enriching resources that will benefit the classroom instructor:

http://jthornsberry.pbworks.com/f/Blogging%20in%20the%20Classroom%20Paper.pdf

David Huffaker’s explores the necessity for blogging as a tool to develop literacy.  His premise is that literacy is nurtured through the most personal and reflective form of writing; the story.  Storytelling is critical to not only for self-expression but to increase in collaborative work.   As part of the digital youth culture, blogging can be useful to increase literacy as a tool used by those who are motivated by areas of interest.  Building on the familiar activity of storytelling, Huffaker expounds on the fact that the story is not lost but continues to be a viable means of expression that the blog expands for the individual.  Collaboratively, the blog is generally an easily accessible tool that incorporates the group context for meaning discussion.

Thus, the blog increases literacy and provides digital skill needed for success in academic and professional contexts.

 

http://eprints.qut.edu.au/5398/1/5398.pdf

The article entitled “The use of blogs, wikis, and RSS in education: a conversation of possibilities” immediately outlines more practical uses for digitals tools to make a positive gains in the classroom beyond that of just the gathering of data.  With a functional skill set in technology, the student will be able to effectively engage in collaborative creation, peer assessment, and formative evaluations.   The author simply identifies the characteristics of the blog and how it differs from the traditional website in form and function.  This examination extends to the educational benefits of blogging; namely, critical and analytical thinking, different forms of interaction, as well as exposure to substantive information sources.  The list of educational uses for blogs is specific and easy to understand as they are expanded upon via the application of personal, organizational, and pedagogical perspectives.   The authors, Dr. Axel Burns and Peter Duffy, also provide insight into the need to harness the social uses of online technology for more educational purposes.