Blogging

I have never really realized the point in blogging.  Every time I read someone's blog I just viewed that post as someone attempting to get their personal message across or a place for someone to vent.  Until I began looking into blogging and other means of communication I had a difficult time wrapping my head around why someone would want to post their story for everyone in the world to see.  I am beginning to see how much of an impact blogging can have not only in bringing people together, but in collaboration in the educational community.  

William and Jacobs (2004) stated "Students could put forth their ideas on topics after a little thought. The only other avenue available most of the time is in-class comments, for which you do not have much time to really think about them in detail. When new to a subject, the extra thought time that blogging provides can really help students sort through some of the issues in our own head, before providing them for all to see" (p. 241).  In this day in age of education collaboration is considered to be the best avenue to ensure that students learn.  School districts across the country are moving towards collaboration not only with teachers working together to achieve common goals, but also students working with each other to achieve the same goals.  The reality is in the classroom students may not have the time to share ideas and work together, but with blogging the chance is always present.  Students that may be struggling with topics will be able to receive help with blogging or study groups can be more easily available as students can share ideas and thoughts on various topics regarding the class.  

Blogging in the classroom would be extremely beneficial to the students.  Students appear to be more comfortable learning in online situations (Williams and Jacobs, 2004).  If students feel more comfortable meeting in online type classroom they are more likely to learn.  This gives students another means of learning information that may not be there if information is just coming from an instructor.  In my experience there are many students who appear to learn better from their peers.  When learning from their peers students are much more comfortable in the environment and do fear giving wrong answers to their instructors.  As the classroom continue to evolve there appears to be a tend to more online or distance learning.  Blogging gives students the opportunity to not only collaborate with students in their classrooms, but also with students learning the same topic across the world.  

References

Williams, J. & Jacobs, J. (2004) Exploring blogs as learning spaces in higher education.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology 20(2), 232-247.