by Lindsey Wright

Classroom learning has come a long way since the Internet first entered classrooms around 20 years ago, and even since the first online school presented an alternative to attending traditional classes. Now, tablet computers, smartphones, and a host of other interactive technology enables students to connect with learning resources, teachers, and peers around the globe. While much ink has been spilled discussing the dangers of allowing students to use social media and the Net freely, the benefits fostered by these technological leaps mustn't be overlooked. Of the beneficial applications of Web 2.0 in the context of education, one of the most well-used by teachers and students is the blog, a web tool whose simple communicative power and interactive nature make it a favorite. 

Blog Basics 

Much has been made of blogs: commercials joke about them, TV shows discuss their power, and traditional media outlets track their every move. One need look no further than The Guardian’s list of the 50 most influential blogs (which includes recognizable names like Perez Hilton alongside the likes of Students for a Free Tibet and the techno-junkies of Engadget) to see exactly how important blogging has become in popular culture and academic circles both. 

Even in its most basic form, the blog’s appeal from an education perspective is the interactivity it invites. Rather than perpetuating a gulf across which readers and authors rarely or never interact, the blog invites readers to post their own thoughts and share their expertise, thereby transforming it from a unilateral transmission of knowledge into a constantly changing vehicle through which knowledge is imparted in multiple directions. 

Students and Technology 

Today’s students inhabit a digital world. Many are plugged in for most of the day, and asking them to turn off their cell phones can be enough to induce an anxiety attack. In fact, research shows that modern technology has actually changed the way the brain works. It can shorten attention spans and reduce the capacity to communicate in the analog world. This doesn’t mean that technology should be completely eschewed, however. On the contrary, numerous studies have found that embracing the digital world is also highly effective at engaging students. 

A study published by Walden University, highlighted a number of facts related to the role of technology in the classroom. For instance, it was found that students who actively used technology as part of their learning process tended to be more engaged. This engagement translates over to development in critical cognition, a skill many students struggle to build and teachers take great pains to encourage. As an extension of classroom technology, the blog gives students the opportunity to interact with lesson materials, share their thoughts, think critically about problems with peers, and share research related to their own investigations. 

The Educational Blog Structure 

Students might not believe it, but they crave structure. This is why classrooms have rules and good parents establish boundaries. The blogosphere should be no different, and educators setting up classroom blogs should take steps as appropriate to insure that their students are protected from outside threat and interference, and that they behave in a suitable manner at all times when using the class blog. To this end, a number of specialized blogging services have emerged that allow teachers to establish a controlled blog environment. 

For elementary and middle school students, one of the best is KidBlog.org. This site requires a username and password to log on, ensuring that only those with business on the site and invited by the teacher can post. Furthermore, it allows teachers to set up the blog as private, ensuring that only other class members can see blog postings. Teachers maintain complete control of the site and can establish rules related to such common online problems as bullying, thereby eliminating one of the biggest concerns of parents and educators when it comes to using internet technology in the classroom. ClassBlogs.us is another popular education blogging tool more suitable for high school students. While blog controls are similar to those discussed above, ClassBlog offers additional features including learning logs and electronic portfolios to make students take charge of their digital learning beyond their contribution to the blog. 

The Role of the Blog 

The blog as a learning tool can fill a number of roles, some of them not necessarily new in and of themselves. For instance, it’s not a stretch to take the typical student essay question and create a blog posting from it. Instead of simply writing an essay to be read only by the teacher, students' peers can comment on their writing, refer to their own textual support, and engage in a group discussion through comments and follow-up posts. The blog becomes another tool to foster that most elusive of classroom objectives: critical thinking. 

Blogs can also serve as bridges between classrooms, enabling collaborative work between classes in the same school, or connecting students between states, countries, or continents. They can also grow into repositories of past classes' work, becoming a developing resource for teachers' and future students' reference in completing particular assignments or practicing certain exercises from one year to the next. Whatever their specific use, blogs' key function is to turn any passive, one-sided transmission into an opportunity for conversation. 

Blogs are not without risks, and teachers must be aware of those risks if they are going to effectively use blog tools in their classrooms. Careful monitoring and clear rules are essential to maintaining the integrity of a class blog. However, with the proper precautions and common sense safety, a blog can lead students to participate in critical thinking beyond the classroom, engage subject matter without the prodding of a traditional homework assignment, and contribute to a learning environment in which students seek information beyond that found in their textbooks, in interaction with each other.

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Lindsey Wright is fascinated with the potential of emerging educational technologies, particularly the online school, to transform the landscape of learning. She writes about web-based learning, electronic and mobile learning, and the possible future of education.