Blogging: A Major Advance For Teaching (Especially Teaching Writing)

It has only been about ten days since I started blogging, but the potential for this technology really amazes me. As a teacher of writing, the opportunity for collaborating, publishing, and authoring at much greater frequency is exciting. There is also considerable potential for higher quality writing experiences using a blog. But I think the real advance is changing the audience for student writing.

Publishing on the internet means that everyone can view what you write. For that reason, audience becomes a real concern for the writer. In the past, it was OK for a student to write something knowing that the teacher was the only person that was going to read it. If a blog is used, anyone can read what a student has to say. It is crucial that teachers using this technology understand the issues of audience and appropriate protocols in communication that will arise when students begin to blog. This represents a "teachable moment" that reflects not just an educational issue, but a social one as well. Students can be taught how to communicate effectively by considering how they author their blogs, and how people will react to the things they write. I'm pretty sure that "communicate effectively" part is featured somewhere in my district's exit outcomes for students!

I have learned a great deal from a few educational blogs in the last few weeks. The education wonks are fantastic-this must be a group, because they publish many posts every day. They carry a ton of interesting posts regarding many aspects of the education world. Teach42 is another of my favorites, because the author (blogger) goes into significant depth in most posts, and the content is almost always aligned with my own interests.

I owe most of this new learning and excitement to three people, however. Will Richardson and David Warlick both spoke at the MACUL conference and got me started. Literally, I registered for a blogspot account (and bloglines) while I was sitting in the audience. Our tech facillitator in Holland, Peter Butts, has also been very encouraging. Thanks to those fine individuals, AND...

Blog on!