Eileen Sandlin

Is there a place for both discussion boards and blogs in an online class? Seems to me that one cancels the other out. I use discussion boards in my online classes and require students to post an initial thread, then respond in a meaningful way to at least two other students' posts. These postings are graded. Since I can attach videos, links and other ancillary material to discussion board postings, what's the value of a blog? Is it the world-wide exposure? Or something else?