How blogging is used in education. June 25, 2008
Posted by wcdavis in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Blogging is perhaps becoming as synonymous with education as text books. The same as how a text book can convey information; a classroom blog can convey information by providing web links to online references, links to informative articles as well as news stories that are relevant to current topics being covered in the classroom. To encourage participation, an article may be posted directly to a blog with a comment section listed below so that students may leave their opinion concerning the reading. It is in the encouragement of participation that may prove to be the most beneficial use for using blogs in education. Studies show that students write more, are more careful about grammar, write with greater detail, use more caution with spelling and punctuation when posting something on the internet that may be critiqued by others.
Applied creativity can yield even greater uses for blogs in classrooms. Teachers can use blogs to post homework assignments, classroom rules and activities to sign up for as well as a way to sign up for an activity through the blog. As a way to encourage student interaction with the classroom blog, I have heard of a teacher that posts an extra credit question on the classroom blog. To my understanding, the students do not know where the question is on the blog so they will have to navigate the blog in order to find it. Once they find the question, they write the answer on a piece of paper and discreetly turn it in to the teacher. The extra credit question is randomly posted so that students will not only look at the blog when it is time to post a question. Not knowing when the question will post forces students to frequent the site on a regular basis.
As mentioned previously, blogging can encourage participation. Student participation may yield yet another beneficial use for using blogs in education. By giving students an opportunity to post their own opinions as well as responding to posts from other students they ultimately learn a major objection of education; learning self-sufficiency. Students will accomplish this by formulating their own ideas when submitting a post; they will also develop reasoning skills required to fabricate counter-arguments as well as discovering positive forms of self-expression.
With so many ways of developing self-sufficiency, blogging can very well be a part of a classroom employing a Universal Learning Design (ULD). With ULD, a variety of options are needed to be offered to students so that students of different learning styles will have access to the curriculum. Blogging offers the versatility that a ULD classroom requires and is yet another way of how blogs can be beneficial in education.
I hope this brief description of how blogs can be beneficial in education has been helpful. As mentioned before, the potential of blogging is greatly determined by creativity. It is to the blogger’s advantage to read other blogs and take note of what other bloggers are doing with their blogs. By doing so, you will be able to establish a portfolio of ideas as to what you can do with your own blog. Continue to refine your own blog as blogging is an ever evolving process that is continually offering information and opportunities for readers to interact.
Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog.
God bless,
Wade C. Davis
