Are Blogs Useful For Schooling?

Blogging today is a form of social media. It is way to share thoughts, opinions, experiences and information. But, my big question is, are blogs useful in a schooling context? In this post, I will explore the pros and cons of blogging and discuss if and how I think blogs can be useful in the modern day classroom. I will seek to answer this big question through answering the following smaller questions: Is student blogging informative? Is blogging encouraging misuse of technology during school hours? Does blogging have academic value?

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Rhettberg (2014) examines the purpose of blogs in her book ‘Blogging’. Rhettberg (2014) believes that blogging is an episodic way to share a short narrative, with a key purpose to solve a question or tell a story and can be read on its own or in context with posts. Rhettberg (2014) describes blogs as a “goal-oriented narrative”.

In a classroom context, regular reflections are a requirement. Reflections are a form of goal-oriented narrative as they are the story of a process of trying to reach a goal. Could blogging seen as a informative new way to for students to document and present reflections? It seems very possible. However like all digital technology there are some negatives. Allan (2019) states, “Blogs, knives and other tools can be used for good and evil – it depends on how we use them”.

Blogs have the potential to be beneficial and share important knowledge and wisdom. However there are also dangers of misuse through the power of influence, the shaming others and misinterpretation of opinion.

Serfaty (2011) argues, “Blogs are both mirrors and veils”.

Blogs can reflect society, however they can be used to hide behind. I believe this statement means that blogs hold power. In the famous words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben, “With great power, comes great responsibility”.

Blogs have the power for good or for bad. As teacher’s, we need to set guidelines, boundaries and monitor blog posts in order for in-class blogging to be used effectively for good. Keefe and Steiner’s ‘Remixing The Curriculum'(2018)explores the benefit of teachers integrating technology into the curriculum.

Keefe and Steiner (2018) found that when technology was integrated and modelled by the teacher in depth, the results of positive student engagement were high and students were more likely to use technology in the appropriate way. Blogging provides a way for students to reflect informally and provides a new medium to encourage on-topic class discussion.

Allan (2019) found that when blogging is used in the classroom, students will overall be more engaged with writing and designing. This means blogging is an effective way to introduce digital technology into the classroom and does indeed have academic value.

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Whilst not all students will see value in blogging, research suggests the vast majority will. The ability to share their processes and thoughts to an audience via digital technology excites teenagers. This because this is what they do on their personal social media pipes everyday. If guidelines and supervision are in place, and the use of blogging is modelled effectively, blogs do have the ability to engage students in a fun new way. If blogging is incorporated with little to no boundaries, consequences can be immediate and can encourage the misuse of influence and opinion and can enable public bullying or shaming of classmates. However, when used effectively by a teacher, blogging does have academic value and has a place in the modern day classroom.

References

Allan, C. (2019). LCN639 Youth, Popular Culture, and Texts: Week 7 Lecture - Blogs and Blogging [Lecture Recording]. Retrieved from

https://echo360.org.au/lesson/0c8c11e4-2e92-4be8-b4ab-31973ecc1c61/classroom?focus=Video#sortDirection=desc

Keefe, E., & Steiner, A. (2018). Remixing the curriculum: The teacher’s guide to technology in the classroom(1st ed.). Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=5216354

Rettberg, J. (2014). Blogging(2nd ed.). Retrieved from

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/reader.action?docID=1568767

Serfaty, V. (2003). The mirror and the veil:An overview of american online diaries and blogs,45(2), 303-316. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/865835538?accountid=13380&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo