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In the past I have used blogs as an educational tool with my middle school students. Normally I would post an open-ended question for my students to respond to. At times I would attach an article for students to read and respond to . Their blogging activity would be graded on four components:
- Actually answering the posted question
- Using at least one resource to support opinion (text, class discussions, etc)
- Using academic language in their posts
- Responding to another individual's post
Using blogs as an academic tool has proven to be very useful on a number of levels. Shy students tend to become more involved when they don't feel the pressures of time constraints and speaking in front of their classmates. I have also found that students with learning delays have also benefited from the use of blogs because they also have the luxury of time which allows them to process the assignment, work through their sources, type up their responses and edit.
Others that have used blogging in the classroom have also shared the successes of this tool in the classroom. Colleen.blogspot.com states that using blogs as a portal to hold online book clubs is a creative and successful method of use.
Techlearning.com speaks to the advantage of using blogs because it extends the class time by becoming a gateway of communication while outside the classroom. Blogging allows teachers and students to continue discussions and instruction after class hours; thus giving everyone a greater chance to contribute versus the limited time periods set aside in the classroom.
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