David Huffaker wrote an article entitled The Educated Blogger: Using Weblogs to Promote Literacy in the Classroom. In the article, Huffaker provides several statistics that show that the majority of the people who read or write blogs are under the age of 20. Given these findings, Huffaker argues that blogging can benefit student learning by enhancing digital fluency and promoting verbal literacy (reading and writing). He also notes the following benefits of student blogging:
1. Blogs foster creativity and self-expression.
2. Blogs encourage collaboration and online communities.
3. Blogs can be used across all disciplines.
In the article, Huffaker also provides several examples of how blogs can be used in teaching and learning. The following are some examples:
- Journalism students can collect new stories, write about them, and edit them.
- Language arts students can comment on and critique class readings.
- Third grade students can do journal writing.
- Teachers can post classroom news, photographs, and student artwork.
- New teachers can reflect on their classroom experiences.
The more I read about student blogging, the more I see its educational benefits. In fact, the points that Huffaker makes regarding the topic are well worth sharing at my school.
1 comment:
Although I chose digital storytelling as my focus, I am benefitting greatly from all the information you and Laura are sharing. I have thought of including a blog in my courses, but wasn't sure how exactly to manage it, nor how to make it most beneficial to the students. I have agrued in the past that giving students the opportunity to blog will improve their literacy skills and teach them about collaboration.
Post a Comment