A couple of semesters ago I took a creative art class in which I was asked to create a blog. This blog was to house my reflections on and reactions to works and ideas presented in class. Throughout the course of the class I probably wrote nine or ten blogs. Now, reflecting back on the requirement to keep a blog about topics learned in class, I recognize some benefits of blogging that were not clear to me in the past. Here are some of my thoughts:
1) First off, blogging requires reflection. According to Kristen Hicks, “A student who has to take the time to write a blog post, for the professor and all the other students to see, will have more incentive to really take the time to approach the material thoughtfully.” (1) Blogging forces the blogger to really set apart some time and think about the subject at hand – more deeply than if they simply had to fill out a brief questionnaire or worksheet about the same material. It encourages creative thought on the part of the student to come up with something that is interesting and worthwhile to blog about. It pushes the student to ask how the subject relates, to think about their own personal experience with the subject, and about implications for the future. While I was writing my last blog post for this class, I came up with a new idea for online teaching that I think would solve many of the problems with today’s technology-driven teaching. If I had simply had to fill out short answer questions about the articles I had read, my mind would not have been expanded and I would not have kept anything from my reading.
2) Keeping a blog allows students to use more of a personal voice. This allows students to write from the heart rather than trying to emulate the voice and perspective of “a scholar”. How much more meaningful is it to a student it they can blog from their own views and experience, and in their own voice? When this is allowed, the blog becomes a sort of journal, encouraging students to write about what they really think and feel, rather than what they think would get them the best grade.
3) In my experience, spending the time to create a well-written blog article about a subject makes me value both my post and the subject more. Almost always, when I finish an entry and post it to my blog, I think to myself, “That was a good one.” I feel like I have actually accomplished something and contributed to the world rather than simply finished an assignment. This in turn makes me value my own perspective, and the subject that I have written about, more than I might have otherwise.
4) Writing a blog on the internet encourages students to look up other views on the subject they are writing about. According to Lou Martin of Demand Media, “As students apply various skills learned in the classroom to writing a blog, the chances that they will encounter scholarly material increases.” (2) In fact, I have just done this as I searched online for other perspectives on what I have just been writing about.
Sources Referenced:
(1) Web Article: The Benefits of Blogging as a Learning Tool, Part 1, author Kristen Hicks. Dec 13, 2013. http://edcetera.rafter.com/the-benefits-of-blogging-as-a-learning-tool-part-1/
(2) Web Article: The Educational Benefits of Blogging, author Lou Martin. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/educational-benefits-blogging-27588.html
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