Why is a blog a good educational tool?
I have found blogging to be a great educational tool, by allowing my students to take 3 important items from a chapter and placing it in a blog, to allow their colleagues to respond and learn, especially formulas. We also use Wiki, which is a software that allows users to create and edit web page content. It is a flexible type of blog that supports collaborative web editing (wiki.org). It has been a great discussion tool and sometimes it is used as a chat room. Initially, students did not feel comfortable using Wiki or blogs, however, once they began to set up their blogs, they appeared more excited and comfortable working with the tools.
Lesley,
I like your way of thinking! You are making your students to articulate their own viewpoint regarding a discussion and others have to respond. What a great way to connect discussion and blogging. Thank you for sharing this is a valuable technique.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Lesley,
I use microblogging to strength writing skills, to keep word count down. Students feel they have to use so many and business writing isn't that way! It seems to speed up the learning process of less is better.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Revonna,
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I too use wikis quite a bit in a writing course. Students can write to one paper and I can follow who is participating. The students really like to use it as they feel it is an efficient way to write a group paper.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
The ability to write WELL is being lost, and a standard blog with focused content is one of the few places where technology does not enable the loss. Microblogs by comparison can easily encourage fragmented thoughts and poor grammar, along with email and texting.
Christopher,
It won't happen unless you let it. Students will rise to the expectations. I actually use microblogging to teach concise writing. Students know there are expectations of grammar, punctuation and word usage by the instruction and the rubric I use to evaluate the assignment.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
That is so very important!
Karen,
Could explain more why you think this is important and how you articulate this to your students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I think blogs are a type of non-traditional communication channel that lends itself very well to thoughtful introspection - the type that often occurs outside formal classes, often after reflective thought was given to the subject matter being disscused.
Karen,
I agree with you. I know it is a risk to open to the outside world but it does allow you to incorporate others in a "natural blogging" way to interact with your students.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I love a blog as an educational tool. I feel that most students can express themselves more freely in a blog. I would like to use it as a writing-type assignment. I think that it would be great for a student to put something up and then have the class participate in a discussion related to it.
Kara
How about using Blackboard's blog feature instead of posting for the whole world to see? Or do you think the "outside world" factor is important in the educational process?
Do you think this actually happens? I haven't been able to find any studies to support it -- and it would be great if it's true. There is always a small percentage of "lurkers" an online course -- maybe a mandatory blog assignment would finally encourage them to emerge.
Kara,
You make a great point. You can set different expectations for blogs that are different from discussion. I would find examples of blogs that experts engage in and have your students follow them.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
No, it is your call. It is just another tool. You may want to try it and then go to your students and ask the students their thoughts about using the tool. Nothing wrong with that.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
Eileen,
I am not sure it has happened but I know there is a concern about making contact with outside people puts students at risk. You also can't control what is said as easily. Did you know most college athletes are not allowed to have any type of social media because of stupid things they say and stalking by others outside the univeristy.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
I took some classes last year in the Instructional Technology program last year. I can speak from that perspective, but I think I would rather speak from the perspective of an English instructor (even though I have not used blogs before). Writing in classrooms seems to me to have two wildly different, conflicting purposes: a limited, traditional and strict purpose - because exams, like many decent jobs, will be about written skill; and a wider, idealistic one: the ultimate method of exchange of ideas in depth. I would gander that student blogging is powerful and stimulating and enriching (I know it was for me last year in the classes I took!)
Willie ,
You can tell you learned from your courses! ( I hope my students do that from my class). You just have another tool in your education toolbox. The more tools you have the better approaches you will have to connect student learning to the real world.
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
A blog is a good tool in general to get students involved in class. A blog is a good educational tool because it is a short dialogue. Students are on the go a lot and have many responsibilities. Some have several jobs, a spouse, children, etc. little time to study. With blogging less time is spent in the actual typing, therefore, more time can be spent reading the material. The blog is to-the-point and can be read quickly by everyone. Another reason a blog is a good educational tool is because it can be done on a smartphone, any place and any time of the day.
Marie,
Nice post. How would you use it as an assignment?
Dr. Kelly Wilkinson
