Educational Blogging

I have two brief comments to make about educational blogging or blogging in general.
I see the biggest benefit of educational blogging as giving students a voice. Blogs can empower and therefore, motivate and engage students to participate in discussions and reflective thought that may not occur in the regular classroom. I think of the students who are so hesitant to contribute in class - for many reasons ranging from fear of ridicule from peers to boredom to distractions. I think particularly of the "Invisible" kids who do not want to express themselves orally in a class discussion, the ones who do not necessarily think clearly when on the spot. Or they don't get a turn because the "dominators" always have the floor. With the use of a blog, they have time to think and respond without the pressure of an audience in front of them. I have also experienced, just in this past week or two, the power a response to your own blog can have and how those responses can deepen or extend your thinking on the subject. Certainly blogging in it's very nature builds those higher order thinking skills of applying, analysing and evaluating.

I see one of the draw backs of blogging as time. It can become quite consuming to keep up with (in terms of following blogs and responding to them, depending on your passion for the topic of course). Perhaps that just means a shift away from other activities that may be less effective in developing higher order thinking skills. From what I have been reading, it seems as if people are shifting from the more traditional sources for news and information to blogs, wikis, etc. as they feel they are a more accurate version of reality! We do need to continue to teach our students about reading & viewing critically as it is not just the news broadcasts that can have a particular slant.
Susan