Why Use Blogging in the Classroom?

Why use blogging in the classroom?


The blog listing "Random Thoughts on Blogging" contains many relevant comments on why blogging is beneficial to students.
I feel blogging is a way for students to share what they learn with the world. It gives them an audience and a purpose for writing therefore making their writing more meaningful and at the same time fun! If we as Educators make writing fun, then students will be compelled to write more and more often. Blogger astephens posted the first quote and John the second.
...blogging provides students with relevance - an authentic audience outside of the classroom. Theoretically at least, relevance leads to motivation and improved learning. Effective communication skills are of utmost important to most employers today(and the public in general) and communication no longer means simply face-to-face. Communication today takes place through e-mails, discussion boards, text messaging, podcasts, wikis and yes, blogs. It is imperative to educate our students how to communicate properly in these emerging formats.
In a primary classroom blogging seems to me to be an extension of normal classroom practice. Display is central to a primary school, a blog is a wall for the children to hang their work on for the world to see.Purpose, audience, responsibility and collaboration.
Blogging fosters communication among learners! This gives students an opportunity to read for purpose and learn first-hand about grammar and spelling.