Blogs are a place where individuals
can express themselves and ideas, providing a place for others to visit, read,
and comment. Blogs are being used as tools by teachers and
professors, for example Dr. Leogrande, in classrooms and courses to be an
effective resource during the education process. An individual can never
blog too much, and similar to a journal, one can constantly post entries
regarding whatever is on their mind. Blogs give bloggers the
opportunities to write, as well as post artwork and link videos of content to
keep readers interested and engaged within the material. Comments
make this a powerful tool because it then gives readers a way to communicate
back to the author of the blog.
Organization is a skill often not
well developed in children and in college students, but blogs manage and organize
themselves. Although they are completely customizable, entries new
and old are kept in archives chronologically ordered on the side of the blog.
Students these days are more tech savvy than ever before, the fact that
they are user friendly helps is beneficial to students and teachers
alike. Smart phones are carried by most people, making accessibility
to blogs endless.
Students may be shy in class, but
the use of blogs encourages students to be more motivated and participate
regularly within their blogging community. Between posting and reading
entries and comments, blogs create an environment for students to develop
skills related to reading and writing. In addition to commenting, blogs
provide students with effective forms of collaboration and discussions between
one another.
There are four basic components to
using a blog within a classroom.
1) Classroom
Management- educators can post notices, include folders of handouts, list
homework assignments, contain a message board for questions, and inform student
of class requirements.
2) Collaboration-
students and educators can work together to better benefit from their
educational experience. Peer review and instructional advice from
teachers helps to build writing skills, develop confidence, and improved
cooperative learners.
3) Discussions-
students can each share their own thoughts and opinions, interacting with one
another by writing persuasive, descriptive, comparing and contrasting,
evaluative or narrative postings.
4) Student
Portfolios- all of a student’s work and effort is well presented and clear
organized on a blog through archives and customizable templates and
layouts. Work is dated in chronological order and can easily be
searched. If the student has been working with peers and educators
through mentoring, there will be progression within the writing from the first
entry to the last.
Similarly, with giving students
freedom in their writing, there are behaviors students need to follow in order
to have a healthy and educational experience within the blogging
community. Students should be taught appropriate actions for online
activity and be aware that school policies exist on the web as well.
