Over the past fifteen years the Internet has revolutionized many sectors of society whether that is business, industry, finance, or education, not to mention almost every facet of our lives (Johnson, 2007). “As the Internet becomes an increasingly pervasive and persistent influence in people’s lives, the phenomenon of the blog stands out as a fine example of the way in which the Web enables individual participation in the marketplace of ideas” (Crie, 2006, ¶1). Established as a Web based communications tool, with an estimated number of users in excess of one million, blogs have emerged from early email lists and instant messaging communities as a means of informing readers about items of interest to the authors, news, and personal information (Williams & Jacobs, 2004).
In the field of education, “Teachers have picked up on the creative use of the blog to work in the classroom. The education blog can be a powerful and effective technology tool for students and teachers alike” (Crie, 2006, ¶2). Consequently, the current essay provides a report on the key advantages and disadvantages of blogs in education as well as a report on the author’s position statement on the issue of blogs in education as a tool for learning.
The term blog is short for web log and it began as an online diary in the early 1990s, and has now grown into a tool that is used by thousands of people while also, the software functions like a journal or as a forum for personal opinions and reflections on various topics (Johnson, 2007). Specifically, “A blog is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic” (Lujan-Mora, 2006, p.2). “A weblog, more commonly known as a blog, is a new type of website. Blogs are free-flowing journals, kind of literary self expressions, in which bloggers spout their opinions, criticize and laud public policy, opine about what’s happening in the online and nononline worlds, and connect visitors to essential readings. Blogs are written informally and serve as venues for those who want to be heard and for those who want to be in the know” (Medoff & Kaye, 2005, p.86). As Hastings (2003) stated, the newborn publishing world of weblogs seems to be having a significant impact on publication, communication, and education.
According to Lujan-Mora (2006), a weblog entry consists of the following: “title, the main title or headline, of the post; body, main content of the post; permalink, the URL of the full, individual article; and post date, date and time the post was published” (p.2). As Huette (2006) noted, “Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software on regular web hosting services” (p.2). Blogs are connected to each other and form what is commonly known as the blogosphere and the list of blogs that blog authors post is known as blogroll while also blogs may be read through special readers, known as RSS readers which aggregate blog summaries produced by blog software (Downes, 2009).
“Blogs are set-up like conventional Web sites, with navigation links, and other standard web site features. Blogs have one standard characteristic, however: the posting. Blog postings are text entries, similar to a diary or journal, which include comments by people other than the author, photos, links, or other digital media” (Crie, 2006, ¶4).
It is the author’s belief and point of view that blogs can be used effectively and efficiently in many ways and in various curriculum areas as a tool for learning and they can provide teachers and students with many benefits, The use of blogs in education has many advantages but on the other hand it has some disadvantages as well, some of which are next mentioned and discussed. As Downes (2009) outlined, “Blogs are widely popular in education, as evidenced by the 400 thousand educational blogs hosted by edublogs. Teachers have been using them to support teaching and learning since 2005” (¶6).
An important advantage of blogs is their versatility and interactivity. As Williams and Jacobs (2004) supported, blogs cater for a wide diversity of interests and uses and there is no rule that states that a blog has to be owned and operated by an individual. Additionally, as Williams and Jacobs noted, there are group blogs, community blogs, and corporate blogs as well as blogs that are defined by their content such as WarBlogs, LibLogs, or EduBlogs. Moreover, blogs are interactive. Readers are allowed to make comments offering support or suggesting alternative ways to handle the same material while also, bloggers place their ideas out in public for the world to see and react to (Stach, 2004).
A significant advantage of blogs is that they act as a motivation to the students. As Nguyen (2006) stated, blogs are “highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in classrooms” (¶2). In addition to these, the fact that other students might read their work, acts as a motivation to the students and is more likely to work harder than they would otherwise (Johnson, 2007). Apart from these, blogging gives students a potentially global, worldwide audience for their work. “Having such an audience can result in feedback and greatly increase student motivation to do their best work” (Downes, 2009, ¶9). In addition, as De Nys (2008) outlined, “The worldwide audience provides recognition for students that can be quite profound. Students feel more compelled to write when they believe many others may read and respond. It gives them motivation to excel” (p.27)
Except for these, blogs contribute to the promotion of deeper learning. As Oravec stated, “The blog has many dimensions that are suited to students` unique voices, empowering them, and encouraging them to become more critically analytical in their thinking. The reason, simply is that in order to develop and sustain a clear and confident voice of one´s own, one has to carefully formulate and stand by one´s opinions. Writing a blog assists here because it forces a student to contemplate how their views might be interpreted and reflected upon by others” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶12).
Moreover, blogging gives all students a voice and contributes to the formation of students´ identity. In specific, blogs offer students who have difficulties and are unwilling in speaking up or asking questions in class, the opportunity to expand their thoughts, edit their writing, and then share it with the class while also, with blogs with blogs, students have a greater opportunity to speak out since they maintain their own space and this is something that is not possible to happen in an online discussion (Johnson, 2007). “Additionally, blogs give students ownership over their own learning and an authentic voice, allowing them to articulate their needs and inform their own learning. Blogs have been shown to contribute to identity-formation in students” (Downes, 2009, ¶8). Blogs, offer students a high level of autonomy while they also allow them to interact with their peers (Williams & Jacobs, 2004). Also, as De Nys (2008) supported, blogs give students a totally new perspective on the meaning of voice while also, as students explore their own learning and thinking, their distinctive voices emerge, and student voices are essential to the conversations we need to have about learning.
Going further, another important advantage of blogs is that they foster and contribute to the development of a community of learners due to the fact that blogs connect with each other. “Blogs provide a space for sharing opinions and learning in order to grow communities of discourse and knowledge-a space where students and teachers can learn from each other” (De Nys, 2008, p.26). Additionally, authors can share opinions with each other as well as support each by posting comments and answering to questions (Downes, 2009) “As Mireille Guay notes: The conversation possible on the Weblog is also an amazing tool to develop our community of learners. The students get to know each other better by visiting and reading blogs from other students. They discover, in a non-threatening way, their similarities and differences. The student who usually talks very loud in the classroom and the student who is very timid have the same writing space to voice their opinion. It puts students in a situation of equity” (Downes, 2004, ¶22).
An also important advantage of blogs is the fact that they offer great opportunities for collaboration between the students. AsWilliams and Jacobs (2004) noted, blogs encourage “collaboration through the sharing of links to resources and up to date information” (¶12). Moreover, blogs provide a space where teachers and students can work collaboratively, in order to further develop writing and other skills, having the advantage of an instant audience (Nguyen, 2006). As Sebastian Fiedler noted, “These tools offer a new and powerful toolkit for the support of collaborative and individual learning that adheres to the patterns of contemporary information-intensive work and learning outside of formal educational settings” (Downes, 2004, ¶25). Also, students have the opportunity to read the blogs of other students and this is something that is not possible in a regular classroom setting (De Nys, 2008). As Richardson (2004) outlined, “The collaborative aspect of Weblogs is what has brought many teachers into the fold. Commenting capabilities in many of the blogging software packages allow for easy peer review for students and teachers and make bringing in experts or mentors from outside the classroom easy” (¶9).
Apart from these, blogs contribute to the promotion and development of important skills to the students such as critical thinking skills, writing skills, research skills, etc. As Richardson noted, “Blogging as a genre of writing may have great value in terms of developing all sorts of critical thinking skills, writing skills and information literacy among other things” (Downes, 2004, ¶46). In addition, blogging contributes to the promotion and development of digital literacy due to the fact that students learn to critically assess and evaluate various online resources (Downes, 2009). Furthermore, as Downes (2004) supported, blogging offers students the opportunity to reflect on what they are writing and thinking as they write and think it as well as engage in a sustained conversation that also then leads to further writing and thinking. Additionally, blogs have the ability to encourage and stimulate individual development while also with the use of blogs students are able to learn how to better express their own thoughts through writing and critiquing of other students (Johnson, 2007). Moreover, “Blogging provides the opportunity for our students to learn to write for life-long learning” (De Nys, 2008, p.29).
A great advantage that blogs have is that they offer opportunities for interacting and communicating with people who would otherwise be difficult to reach. Those people may include parents, voters, and any member of the community who is concerned about and involved with education (Tabor, 2007). In addition to these, as Tabor supported, communication through blogs can also involve not only people but also ideas and information since, blogs help connect people to ideas and information they otherwise would not find. Moreover, “From an educational perspective the availability and easy of use of blogging software makes creating blogs a viable classroom activity and a means for teachers to communicate with other teachers” (Department of Education, 2009, ¶3)
An also important advantage of blogs is that they are easy to use; they can be worked anytime while they also allow users to go back to something they have produced. In particular, students can edit or update new entries very easy and they do not have to worry about page formats or HTML syntax (Downes, 2004). Students can quickly and easily self-publish text, links to other blogs or Web sites as well as a broad array of other content (Crie, 2006). In addition to these, “With a blog, the student can continue using it as a place for their writing or whatever they desire. They could expand their blog and make it something great, maybe even using it for job application or further education. Even more exciting, students could continue to visit each other’s blogs to discuss issues that come up in future classes” (Johnson, 2007, p.3). Furthermore, as Crie supported, blogs can be worked on at virtually any time, in any place with an Internet-enabled computer and this is something that helps teachers create a classroom that goes beyond the boundaries of the school yard. As Utecht (2007) outlined, “Blogs have the power to drive inclusive dialogue that goes beyond physical boundaries, national boundaries, and boundaries of status. In so doing, they make learning real life” (¶13).
It is the author’s belief and point of view that blogs can be used effectively and efficiently in education as a tool for learning and can provide many benefits to the students and teachers as well. Blogs can be used as a learning tool in many ways and un various curriculum areas and can significantly support learning. Blogs can be used in education as a tool for learning since they offer students the opportunity to discuss various topics outside of the classroom. In particular, with blogs all students have an equal opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions on various topics while also, students have time to be reactive to one another and reflective as well (Nguyen, 2006). In addition, teachers have the opportunity to bring in experts on various subject matters. As Nguyen stated, “Teachers can also bring together a group of knowledgeable individuals for a given unit of study for students to network and conference with on a blog” (¶5)
Blogs can also be used in education as a learning tool to promote and enhance communication. In specific, “blogs provide a communication space that teachers can utilise with students whenever there is a curriculum need to develop, share ideas and reflect on work being undertaken in the classroom” (Department of Education, 2009, ¶1). Also, teachers can make use of blogs in order to communicate not only with the students but also with parents. As Tabor (2007) outlined, “Teachers are already starting to populate the blogosphere using their real names and locations so they can provide resources-and open lines of communication-for parents and students” (¶5).
Apart from these, blogs can be used as a learning tool for managing classroom requirements. Students can use blogs in order to get informed about various class issues such as assignments. As Nguyen (2006) noted, “blogs can serve as a portal to foster a community of learners. As they are easy to create and update efficiently, they can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts, notices, and homework assignments, or act as a question and answer board” (¶3). Also, teachers can create blogs in order to provide instructions and advices for students as well as additional material that students can use for their homework assignments (Lujan-Mora, 2006).
Moreover, students can use blogs not only for receiving additional material and instructions from their assignments but also as a space where they can write and post their exercises and assignments. Use of blogs in such a way, makes students work even harder on their assignments in order to achieve the greatest results since they know others may read their assignments as well. As Johnson (2007) supported, “Students can write their assignments and post their final draft on their blog. Again, since they know their fellow students will be reading it (assuming that is part of their own grade) they will probably strive to make it something they can be proud of” (p.4) Additionally, when students use blogs for writing exercises in various curriculum areas, this can also serve as a great way for peer help between the students. “For example, a class of older students can help a class of younger students develop more confidence in their writing skills” (Nguyen, 2006, ¶4).
An also important use of blogs in education as a tool for learning involves the creation of students’ portfolios and digital portfolios. Students can record their work by uploading documents as well as images (De Nys, 2008). Blogs provide a good and effective way for presenting and organizing the work that students have completed. In specific, “Blogs present, organize, and protect student work as digital portfolios. As older entries are archived, developing skills and progress may be analyzed more conveniently. Additionally, as students realize their efforts will be published, they are typically more motivated to produce better writing. Teachers and peers may conference with a student individually on a developing work, and expert or peer mentoring advice can be easily kept for future reference” (Nguyen, 2006, ¶6).
Blogs can be used in education as research journals in various curriculum areas such as history, science, or social studies. Particularly, when students conduct a research in various curriculum areas such as science, it could be very helpful for them to use blogs for recording their experiences as they work and in specific, at the beginning, students can describe their potential problems, hypotheses, and methods and as they progress, they could report discoveries and many various issues that may arise (Johnson, 2007). In general, students can use blogs in this way to make science reports in which they can journal the investigation process (De Nys, 2008). Apart from these, as Johnson outlined, “The blog provides an easily searchable format that the student could refer back to as the research progresses. Overall, by documenting the research process the student will gain a better grasp on how it works and be better prepared to undertake larger projects in the future” (p.5). Also, blogs can be used in cooperative learning activities where students can participate in order to relay ideas, suggestions, and research findings (Nguyen, 2006). Furthermore, students can use blogs not only as research journals but also as book journal. In such a case, as De Nys noted, “Students write their thoughts or respond with comments to the teacher’s or other students’ posts about a book” (p.23).
Students can also use blogs as a place where they can gather information about and links to various topics they may be interested in. In specific, “A blog can also be a place to gather and report on news items or other things of interest. Students interested in changing trends in elementary education could create a blog linking to relevant news items published in different places around the internet. This sort of resource could become very valuable to them, their classmates, and potentially other students at different [schools] (Johnson, 2007, p.5).
Furthermore, the results of a study made by Rahman and Junaini (2009) who investigated the students’ experience of using a blog as a tool for learning indicate various important uses of blogs in education. As Rahman and Junaini reported, the results of the study revealed that from the total 75 students who accessed the blog, 27 chose that the main purpose was to download the learning materials, 15 to answer the given assignments, 16 to get the latest announcements while also, not many students chose the blog because they wanted to get involved in the discussion.
Blogs can be used in education as a tool for learning in many ways and in various curriculum areas. They can help change the academic discourse and achieve a student centered learning while also for students and teachers as well blogs can be an enhancement to the traditional class (Lujan-Mora, 2006). Additionally, blogs are “a means of reaching a wider audience; an unknown mass of netizens, ready and willing to respond to the opinions and commentaries of bloggers in a manner not dissimilar to that afforded a talkback radio host” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶4).
On the other side of the coin, the use of blogs in education has some disadvantages as well apart from advantages. First of all, when students create their own blogs, it can be very difficult to convince other students to read and respond by posting their comments to their peers’ blogs. Trying to convince all students that they should read everybody else’s homework or respond to a topic included in a blog, could be very difficult or even a chore (Johnson, 2007). As Johnson noted, a good solution for dealing with this kind of problems, would be to include students’ comments on other blogs as part of their participation grade. But this may sometimes not work and may eventually lead to other kind of problems. This disadvantage was also supported by Utecht (2007) who reported specifically that “Blogs do not make the grading…any easier. In fact, many teachers find it more time-consuming. Slow Internet speed, the constant clicking from one blog to the next, or the typing of URL after URL…reading blogs can be tedious” (¶3).
Another disadvantage of using blogs in education refers to the fact that sometimes when students create their own blogs, there is the possibility that no one else will read their blogs. In particular, when students create their own blogs they will probably want people from outside of their classroom to read them or even respond but taking into consideration that there are millions of blogs, it can be very difficult to gain attention (Johnson, 2007). As Johnson stated, “It could be damaging to a person’s self-esteem to create a worthy blog and have no one look at it” (p.4).
An also important disadvantage of blogs in education refers to security concerns. This is a disadvantage that comes in contrast with the disadvantage mentioned and discussed previously. While the previous disadvantage referred to the fact that no one else would want to read the students’ blogs, this disadvantage refers to the fact that many people may read the students’ blogs who are bad people and for whom students know nothing about. In such a case, “We cannot protect our students from bad people. Anyone could stumble upon their blogs. We do not know these people, we do not know where they are from, or what they do” (Utecht, 2007, ¶4). Unfortunately, this kind of security concerns may arise when people outside of the classroom may contact the creators of the blogs and in this case, those creators are the students (Johnson, 2007).
“The blogging phenomenon has evolved from its early origin as a medium for the publication of simple, online personal diaries, to the latest disruptive technology, the killer app that has the capacity to engage people in collaborative activity, knowledge sharing, reflection and debate” (Williams & Jacobs, 2004, ¶1). Blogs constitute dynamic and flexible tools that are easy to use either in the case of creating them or in the case of simply viewing them (Richardson, 2004). Blogs can be a powerful and effective tool that can be used by students for learning. As Lujan-Mora (2006) noted, “Blogging has the potential to be a transformational technology for teaching and learning” (p.2). Closing up, as Richardson noted, “This [the blogging process] just seems to me to be closer to the way we learn outside of school, and I don’t see those things happening anywhere in traditional education. And he asks: Could blogging be the needle that sews together what is now a lot of learning in isolation with no real connection among the disciplines? I mean ultimately, aren’t we trying to teach our kids how to learn and isn’t that [what] blogging is all about?” (Downes, 2004, ¶51).
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