I have read blogs, and the first semester we were supposed to blog regularly, but I've never been good at keeping up with any sort of "journal" activity. I feel much better after having read that two-thirds of blogs aren't updated more than every few months.
I can, however, see the appeal and their use in education.
Some teachers use them as a way for students to share projects and get comments with less embarrassment than standing in front of the class. In order for this to work teachers need to ensure that students are equipped to give constructive criticism and respect others efforts. The ability to give (and receive!) such critiques is an important skill. Too many adults take them as personal attacks, rather than how they are intended.
Other teachers use them more as discussion boards. The teacher will post a prompt and students will respond - first to the teacher, then each other.
I think a neat use would be to have a class come to the computer lab and all do a blog posting at the same time (as a timed writing) and then respond to several other posts during the rest of the time. Teachers could not only use the writing as a writing sample, but could assess students understanding of the topic based on their responses to their peers.
There are two teachers in my school who do just that! They have set up student blogs (I forget which site they are using) and one of their computer lab times each week is dedicated to blogging. They get a prompt and work on it on paper and then they transfer it to the blog. They are only in 4th grade, so it works a little better for their time if they don't do it all in the lab. The students are loving it!! After they do their blog, they are allowed to go comment on other people's blogs. I really need to go check them out and comment, but who has the time, right?
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