How to Use Blogs in Education

The use of blogs in education is gaining popularity day by day.

Every school is trying to include blogging as a part of the curriculum or at least as a part of the extra curricular activities.

Here are few uses of blogs in education

• Writing exercises

One of the most obvious uses, especially because it works for all types of classes. A student can write an assignment and post it on a blog. Since fellow students will be reading the blog, they will try to make it something to be proud of. They can also create links to other websites or other student blogs.

• Gathering information and links

It improves the research power of students. A blog is a place where students can collect and report news items or other things of interest. These blogs become a very valuable item to them, other students, and students from different schools.

• Subject-specific final projects

It is very helpful in creating specific projects. Students can create meaningful projects, and a blog can be a part of these projects. In fact, some students create blogs as a project. For example, a student in a poetry class can make a blog that can discuss writers, critique poems, and provide links to other relevant blogs. A good way of learning can be to post each assignment on the blog so that there could be a growth in online discussions.

• Research journaling

Students can use a blog as a medium to do research for their classroom as well as for projects and assignments. It can be very helpful for them to blog about their experiences as they work. They can start with describing their hypotheses, potential problems, and methods. As they progress, they can make reports on their findings and also how this can lead to new discoveries and issues. Best part of this blog format is that other students can also read the progress and suggest changes and other ways of approaching the topic. A blog can provide an easily search-able format wherein students can refer back as the research progress. By documentation of research the student will have a better grasp on how it works.

• Creative journals

It enhances the students to be creative. The blog was basically designed to function like a journal so it makes sense to use this ability, especially for creative writing projects. Students can create a blog that plans their daily activities. Some creative students can even write a short fictional story that describes their dreams or a poem that captures the mood of each day. A blog can be an apt place to enhance their creative writing.

• Artistic projects

A blog allows a student to create a website easily so it is a good opportunity for them to show their art or design as attractive work and engage their readers. Creative minds have the capacity to make a blog interesting to read and good to look at.