The Educational Value of Blogging

(picture retrieved fromhttp://blog.hubspot.com/Default.aspx?&Tag=blogging, December 17,2011)

There is a lot of educational potential to blogging.  First, it provides unique opportunities for students to practice reading and writing.  In “What is a Blog?” (retrieved on December 17, 2011 from http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com/Educational+Blogging) the author makes the connection in this way:

“Blogging is about reading and writing.

Literacy is about reading and writing.

Blogging is about literacy”

Second, it increases student engagement.  Many students are energized by the use of technology to showcase their thinking.  It adds new life to reading and writing tasks.  “Engaged students are more likely to take initiative, exert effort, and persevere during learning activities. In addition, when students are engaged in learning, there is increased potential that they will be interested, curious, optimistic, and enthusiastic — all positive attributes of a healthy, productive learning environment.” (Horton Hears a Tweet, Dunlap and Lowenthal, 2009)

Most importantly, because students know that their writing will be read by people other than the teacher- their peers, their parents, their peers’ parents- they are more conscientious about their writing, putting more time and effort into their final edited copies. 

Teachers are always striving to challenge students’ thinking. “New technology allows kids to create something with what they've learned, which is one of the highest levels of Bloom's taxonomy of learning” (history teacher Eric Langhorst, quoted in the article Blogging is History: Taking Classroom Discussions Online, Echlin, 2007)

Some of the ways I can see Blogging being most useful in my own classroom is for online book discussions, peer editing of students’ writing, discussion of opinion questions in History, and to pose math riddles for students to solve collaboratively online.  I think it will be important to teach the students how to post responsibly.  Comments should “compliment the writer in a specific way, ask a question, and/or add new information to the post.” (How to Teach Commenting Skills, Yollis, 2009)

Blogging in the classroom is a great way to encourage students to take pride in their contributions, teach them how to be socially responsible in the digital age, and work collaboratively with their peers- all skills that will serve them well in the world beyond school.