My first experience with academic blogging was during a study abroad seminar in college. I enjoyed having these required moments of structured writing because it enhanced my appreciation of all we saw. I also enjoyed academic blogging because I was writing for authentic audience – sure, I mostly wrote for the teachers, but I was also thinking of ways to engage readers who happened to stumble onto my page. When used intelligently, blogging can deepen learning and enhance interdisciplinary learning.
First of all, I believe that blogging is attractive to students because it is completely customizable. This allows them to give teachers a better idea of whom they are, so it’s really suited to adolescent students who may be struggling with defining themselves. The designs can be changed and the teacher can intersperse free-choice postings among the class-rated ones. That way, adolescents who may be exploring different interests can choose what to write about and can take ownership over their work. Additionally, for those (adolescent) students who may feel shy or awkward talking in class, blogs provide a less intimidating forum to voice their ideas in.
When observed through a more academic lens, blogging enhances learning because, online posts allow for an interactive assessment space. This differs from the current, traditional forms of grading, where a letter is place on the page with little feedback. Comments on blogs allow for an on-going conversation between teacher and student (and outside parties). Plus, having an easily accessible record of the feedback received can make it easier for students to not repeat the same mistakes. They can look at the past comments they’ve received before writing a new post much more easily than sorting through lots of paper copies. Having this digital portfolio also makes it easier for student to track their progress, which is very appealing to me as a language teacher because sometimes we forget how little vocabulary we understood at the beginning of the year compared to the end.
Another appealing factor of this technology is that its electronic nature makes sharing work much easier than our paper-based system. Our digital society is becoming more and more comfortable sharing their lives via internet, so students can promote their posts on other social media. Teachers can also spotlight work on their own social networks, which boosts student self-confidence and gives their blog more views. Understandably, the internet can also open up a world that adolescents may not need to see, therefore with younger students, I would recommend that teachers use a software like EduBlogs where they can have some control over the blogs.
Talking about the implications of posting is also a great way to raise awareness about students’ digital citizenship and the responsibilities they have when navigating the internet. Plagiarism may pose a problem, as the internet is a vast place where many arguments are already explained well. However, involving students (and parents) in a discussion about conscientious internet use is only beneficial for the future.
Structured academic blogging is an important tool for our 21st century classrooms. Research shows it supports many Common Core Writing and ELA standards, such as “gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources” and “assess the credibility of each source.” Academic blogging requires the students to explain their ideas thoroughly, and adequately support their thinking in front of a larger-than-usual audience. Teachers can tweak assignments to utilize interdisciplinary thinking or get the students to make connections between what they’ve learned in school and what they see in the world, another CCSS. Blogging provides educators an easy and fun way to bridge the gap between these sometimes-tedious requirements and the digital world in which adolescents are well-versed and curious about.