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Monday, November 21, 2011

A Window to Educational Blogging


Blogging: what gives?  People across the world have been blogging for years.  From personal blogs to mommy blogs to adventure blogs to political blogs, it has given many people around the world a platform to express their thoughts and ideas.  While some blogs are funny (http://www.mommywantsvodka.com/), while others are more "business-like" ( http://www.businessinsider.com/ ).  Some are a mixture of everything: news, entertainment, health, and so on (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/). 

Blogging can be a great educational tool.  According to Stephen Downes in EDUCAUSE Review on Educational Blogging:

"The students at St-Joseph are reflective of a trend that is sweeping the world of online learning: the use of weblogs to support learning. And even though the world of fifth grade may seem remote to educators in the college and university system, these students, when they enter postsecondary education, may have had more experience writing online for an audience than writing with a pen and paper for a teacher. Such students will bring with them a new set of skills and attitudes."
(http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920)

It allows students to interact and collaborate online to make their learning richer with new skills.  I, for one, am glad I began this blog for my class as it has given me not only practice, but a platform to speak my mind about technology and education.  I can share videos and links that I think are helpful to others.  I can receive comments and respond (interacting with others).  There is so much blogging can do, especially in education.  We just need to open our eyes..

1 comment:

  1. For a human being, "expressing views" is a natural and inherent part of his/her daily life. Considering this, it is but natural to conceive the popularity of web-blogging.
    What is more interesting is its introduction as a possible education tool. This is one of the strong features of 'participatory learning' process. The strongest point being that blogging inherently allows exchange of opinions, believes.
    However, its incorporation as an educational tool, while promising is also tricky. This is simply because the blogs are usually written to express one's personal opinions, and therefore its evaluation can be difficult to do.

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