Benefits of Blogging!

The benefits for encouraging students to create and update their own blog for journaling and content related assignments is as limitless as the internet itself. First, there is the sheer breadth of information available for students to share and post. Because students can provide links on their blogs, they are encouraged to look outside of their own knowledge base to find new ways (articles, videos, pictures, etc) to understand their subject. Another benefit to using blogs is the fact that blogs are extremely interactive. Students can read and post on their peers’ blogs easily and immediately. In their article Content delivery in the "blogosphere" Ferdig and Trammell cite Vygotsky’s educational theory that “’meaning making’ develops through the social process of language use over time.” (Ferdig and Trammell, 2004, p.12). They claim that blogs are a perfect way to facilitate this because “knowledge construction is discursive, relational and conversational in nature” (p.12). A blog is better than a discussion forum because it becomes “a personal online soapbox… a blog gives students full control and ownership over their online content” (Ferdig and Trammell, 2004, p. 16). This eliminates the “I agree” problem of students merely re-posting the same ideas that their peers have already written over and over again in a discussion forum, thus providing opportunities for more diverse sharing. Finally, blogs enable teachers to post feedback quickly and easily directly on the students posts. Students are always able on blogs to go back and re-edit their posts, so “they provide opportunities for feedback and potential scaffolding of new ideas” (Ferdig and Trammell, 2004, p. 16).

Another benefit to using blogs rather than the conventional pen and paper method is that it motivates students who would not typically enjoy writing to write often and better. In a recent survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it was find that 87% of youth between the ages of 12 and 17 use the internet (Kirby and Kallio, 2007) . This means that there are over 21 million teens online, 19% of which already keep their own blogs (Kirby and Kallio, 2007). By using a medium that is more interesting to students, they will be more likely to thoughtfully engage in creating their own learning. In a case study on blogs for classroom use in Charlottsville, Virginia, teacher Emily Van Noy found that students reported being drawn to writing blogs (Kajder, Bull and Van Noy, 2004). One student said she enjoyed doing assignments on the blog with prompts because “it isn’t boring-it’s something different from pencil and paper”(Kajder, Bull and Van Noy, 2004, p. 34). Because “Volumes of writing research indicate that student writers, no matter how savvy, are often blocked by the intimidation of the blank page,” student Erik said he liked blogging better (Kajder, Bull and Van Noy, 2004, p. 34). He said that “Using a blog is more fun and I think it doesn’t cause writer’s block” (p. 34). Clearly, blogging empowers students to do what they thought they could not. In Collaborative literacy: Blogs and internet projects authors identified a student who was known to be a struggling reader but was “experienced in using the internet, often initiat[ing] the flow of information. Being an in-demand expert empowered the learner, increasing his literacy engagement and proficiency” (Boling, Castek, Zawilinski, Barton, and Nierlich, 2008, 506). For all of these reasons, blogging should be used as an educational tool in the classroom.