The blog applied

Where I once (only a few weeks ago) struggled to see the use of a blog in the reading or writing classroom, for especially tertiary education, I now struggle to envision my classroom without the integration thereof. I therefore dedicate this post to....The Blog.


A few uses I could see having potential for a higher education reading and writing classroom include:

First, one could create a class-blog, similar to a class website or webpage. Blogs allow for easy embedding of links to videos and other online resources. Students could be directed to the blog for daily activities, instructed to follow the links posted and a world of learning sources, tasks, texts and activities can be presented. And because work is posted to the blog, students do not have an excuse that they did not know, or could not make it to class, as the blog can be accessed from virtually anywhere there is internet available.

A second use of blogs is that it presents students with an opportunity to express their views. Because of the public nature of the blog posts and comments, students are provided with an opportunity to become critical, reflective and creative thinkers that purposefully contribute to the learning environment. In addition, students have to take responsibility for their writing and in the process they become more autonomous learners. This potential of using blogs can be materialized through asking learners to complete pre-, during and post-reading and various writing activities through using this environment, whether it be jigsaw, discussion, reflection, evaluation, summarizing or role-play activities, literary circles, book reviews, etc.

A third potential use of blogs in the higher education classroom is situated in blogs' collaborative nature. Because blogs have the feature of posting and then allowing others to comment, blogs can effectively be used for peer review of written work as well as commenting on specific issues related to writing that could facilitate editing and writing as a process, and in doing so, facilitate the development of the writing skill. This collaborative feature need not be limited to one classroom alone, but higher level classes can peer review the lower levels (be it in terms of seniority or proficiency), and thus commenting can occur across levels, cities and even countries (again raising motivation and autonomy).

The fourth and final use of blogs as is discussed here, lies in its potential to act as an effective brainstorming forum. Not only can students brainstorm (in a traditional way,the mere listing of ideas), but they can comment on existing brainstorming lists, or add a bit more to the brainstorming session, by adding information, external links etc. The same can be said for class debates (as a brainstorming session through using blogs).

Even though I only listed four applications for blog integration into the reading and writing classroom, the potential that blogs carry, really are numerous and can address various learners' needs and learning styles.