Matt Sreca

Students can use blogs for journal entries. Often times teachers give students time to write in journals. Blogs would be a great way to keep a journal. The students can design what it looks like, and they can be viewed at home by the parents. The students would have the freedom to add to their blog/journal even when they are outside of the classroom. Other students would have the opportunity to view these blogs as well.

Blogs would be great tools for learning logs. The students can blog about what they learned about a certain topic after day one. Every other day the students could log back on to their blog and discuss what they have been learning about, and the students will see all of the knowledge they have gained over the unit. Blogs are a great way to get students to elaborate on the material that has been learned. A journal entry into a blog can allow a student to really express their feelings on a topic.

Blogs can be very effective when used in group projects. Groups can collectively create a blog on a given topic. The blogs allow the opportunity for other groups to read about the material, and comment on how the group did, as well as, any knowledge that may have been gained. Teachers can ask each group to comment on each others blogs to create discussions about the topics. This will also allow the students to get a grasp on multiple topics rather than just the one they worked on.

Blogs can be used by the teachers to let parents know what is happening during the school week. Things like spelling words, book reports, and test dates can be placed in a blog to give parents a heads up. This is an easy and effective way to keep parents updated on what is going on in the class.

Blogs can be used as an additional assignment in almost any topic. During a lesson, a lot of times students simply state basic knowledge of the material. Teachers should have students write a blog on the topic either for homework or as an additional assignment. This type of assignment would get a student to elaborate or find the deeper meaning of the topic. The teacher should allow a student to make connections to the material. Students should also have the freedom to comment on each others posts. Many times students can learn a great deal from each other.