Blogging: an effective instructional tool

A class consists of lectures and taking notes. Students then study that material and take an exam to prove how much they paid attention in class. Are those exams really the best way to test one's knowledge? Students zone out during lectures and often forget the information after an exam is taken. Exams and lecturing are not entirely ineffective; however, it is important to consider other methods such as discussion and blogging. Teachers should work to discover what it really in their student's minds, to see what all they know or don't know. Blogging can give students the power to choose their grades, decrease their stress, and give them a number of benefits.  Short for web log, a blog is actually a web page that allows visitors to read and reply to content on varied topics. Blogs work well for students because they can be worked on at virtually any time and in any place with a computer. In addition to providing teachers with an excellent tool for communicating with students, blogs are:

-       Excellent opportunities for students to read and write.

-       Highly motivating to students, especially those who might not become participants in classrooms

-       Effective forums for collaboration and discussion

-       Powerful tools to enable learning or mentoring to occur

Blogs opens the opportunity for students to discuss topics outside of the classroom. Students can post on such topics as journal/diary entries, reflections on their writing process, details on their research projects, commentary on recent events or readings, and drafts for other writing they are doing. With a blog, people have an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions. In a job, your employer is not going to give you a multiple choice test on the meeting this week, but they might ask you to type up meeting minutes or send out a summary email. This is where the practice of blogging becomes very effective. Looking at a larger body of information and being able to produce a summary of that information is a great skill to have that standardized testing will not teach you. Blogging is really most effective with students who are interested in the class, have a willingness to learn, and understand the importance of the discussion of the topic given. Blogs also present, organize and protect student work as digital portfolios. As students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to product better writing.  Overall, blogging is a good learning tool in it's own way. Students prefer to do these instead of exams due to the less stress, time consumption, and picking your grade easier. 

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