A short Reflection, on the use of blogging as a tool for learning and teaching.

Blogging combines aspects of thinking-writing with aspects of presentation writing

and it adds in the conversation as well. Whenever we write on a blog we are aware that we have audience, who are going to read whatever we write or comment. Therefore we try to write our thoughts a little bit more clearly than we would have written on a journal that no one will see but ourselves.

We cannot write a blog without reading other blogs as it would be, well said by someone clapping with one hand. So when we read, it helps us in our thinking as we share ideas, research done by others and comment on each other’s findings. Thus when we write, we write with an awareness that other may disagree or comment on what we have written. 

The key thing in guiding students to become bloggers is giving them opportunities to blog. Not all students like to go and work on blog outside the class room, so the best way is to make them work on computers in the class may be in the last 10 min of the lesson or give them homework task to write 10 points on the discussion or learning taken place that day in the lesson. We can also ask them to comment on the writing of the other classmate. The teacher should read it in the class the next day , thereby motivating them to use blog to improve their reading and writing.

Using blogging in teaching can foster strong individual writing as well as a solid networked discussion between students.