A few years ago, I started a blog for a technology course I was taking. I quickly learned that blogging is a great way to reach an audience and share one's views while using more than 140 characters. Now, Facebook allows more than 140 characters but it isn't really the place to post extended thoughts or commentary.
Now, I am back to teaching and I see that students need to be both concise and more thorough with their writing. We know that texting and social media allow for the practice of concise writing but where is the best place to practice writing more extensive thoughts? Where should they participate in academic discussions with classmates? Blogging seems to be the most natural place for this sort of writing to take place.
Why blogging?
Well, consider this: When students write in class on paper, they know that the audience is severely limited. Their writing will be read by the teacher and maybe, if they are lucky a couple of peers during peer editing and reviewing. Thus, the students may not have the motivation to write to the best of their ability. If the student is blogging their thoughts instead of simply writing them on paper, they know, now, that the writing can be viewed by a larger audience. Perhaps the entire class or their parents or grandparents or even students in other classes depending on the privacy settings. Hopefully, you can see that students would likely be a bit more motivated to put forth a their full effort on the writing for the blog.
Another thought is that writing for a larger audience allows students to interact with students in a very different way than what occurs in class. Blogs often encourage commenting and questioning. After a students posts a blog, other students and the teacher will comment on it and ask questions which will lead to a more thorough understanding of the topic.
Finally, there is a concern among my colleagues about the digital personas of our current students. What will a university find if they search for a particular student? Students need to be more conscious of their online persona. They need to think before they type. I believe blogging is an excellent way for students to explore the proper etiquette for blogging and commenting. They need to learn what types of comments should be public and which should be kept offline. Teaching blogging in class will encourage students to be more thoughtful when posting anything online.
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