A Blog About Blogging

While getting into the swing of blogging, I was most surprised by the enjoyment I got out of reading everyone Else's blog. I am intrigued by the ability to not only see what my classmates have to say, but also people from other classes. It is inspiring to me as a blogger to see the blogs of other people, and inspires me do do more of my own blogging. Some of the most interesting blogs I have seen have been political. In a world that is so saturated with the ideals and opinions of the mainstream media, it is refreshing to hear the views of local people who are my age. It is also nice because we have the ability to directly respond to other bloggers posts or comments, and then they can talk back to us. I really like the idea of open communication between students.

I think that blogging is a great tool for the k-12 classroom. It gives students, most of whom are technologically savvy and social, the opportunity to encounter the classroom outside of school. It also provides a forum that can be guided with class-related prompts. Not only does this give students an opportunity to state their own opinion about class topics, but also to read and respond to the ideas of their peers. Also, because many students spend much of their free time on the computer, this may be a good way to peek their interest in writing.

While I believe that blogging can be a wonderful tool in the classroom, there are also some possible downfalls. Firstly, if the blog system is not structured in some way to coincide with the classroom, the children may very well get side-tracked. If the blog does not focus (at least for the most part) on classroom related material, it will not work effectively as a learning tool. Also, you have to make sure that the children's identities are safe on a blog program, to ensure that no online pr editors can find information on them through the blog account.