To Blog or Not To Blog? That is the question but what is the answer?

As a 21st century teacher, we must ensure that we are familiar with all that technology and the internet has to offer. Technology is becoming more advanced and society is becoming more dependent on it. Therefore, teachers need to be creative, competent and versatile when it comes to technology as this what students know and love.

As the picture clearly states, we, the teachers, need to stop looking at technology as just PowerPoint software or social media sites. Technology is much more than that. It involves doing. Students have the opportunity of communicating, sharing ideas and presenting information. Students love technology and love to interact with it and it is for these two main reasons why I strongly believe that blogs should be used in n schools around St. Vincent and the Grenadines to support teaching and learning.

 Many people are familiar with the term "blogs". How they do not fully understand its significance or purpose. A blog is very similar to a journal or diary because it is used as a medium to express thoughts feelings and ideas.

A blog can be defined as ------------->

OR

A regularly updated website or web page, typically managed by an individual or small group and is written in an informal or conversational style.

Want to know more about blogs? Here's a video that can help you out. Click below.

As previously stated, many people are not aware of the significance or importance of blogs. Those who are aware of blogs have a view that it is just a web page where people write about random things such as hair products, movies and more. Although people create blogs for such purposes there is much more one can do with them. It is a great teaching and learning tool which can be very useful in the classroom. Follow me as we explore the many ways blogs can support teaching and learning.   

 

👉 Blogs can help students to increase their reading and writing skills. The primary purpose of blogs is to write to express your opinions, ideas and feelings. Blogs allow students to practice their writing and the more they write the better they become. Instead of them associating writing with pencils and books only, students can now view writing as a fun and interesting activity. We need to show students the importance of reading and writing but we also need to make them enjoyable or they will not like or want to do them. Just as students have write on these blogs, they have to read. They read their peers' information or from others. To be able to read well, you have to practice and students are given the opportunity to practice reading different texts and materials. 

👉 Blogs can help students to express themselves and build confidence.

In ever classroom there are  shy students. These students normally do not or seldom answer questions or rarely share their views. Some teachers bypass these students and the talkative and eager students usually want to answer all the questions and take control of the discussions. A blog can help solve this problem as every student has an equal opportunity to share their view, ideas and feelings. Those who are too shy to talk in front the classroom will appreciate this forum as they are free to express themselves without shyness or fear. Moreover, there are students who are unable to express themselves orally but are exceptional in writing. This is the ideal place for these students. They can freely express themselves by writing the words instead of calling them. Their abilities are catered for instead of overlooked.


👉 Blogs motivate students to learn. Students today love to interact with the computer, the internet and technology holistically. Teachers can capitalize on this  adoration. He or she can encourage students to create blogs and be a part of the blogging community. Teachers can create a blog site geared specifically to these students where videos, pictures, audios and information can be readily available to them. Students spend more time on these technological devices than their books so why not give them another reason to use these devices. 

👉 Blogs expand the learning environment. Instead of relying solely on the textbooks or even the teacher, students are able to obtain information from others around the world through blogs. They have the opportunity to see others' viewpoint on a particular topic which can help to create a new perspective or build on the previous one. 

👉 Blogs promote collaboration and facilitate online discussions. Teachers can post a particular issue and have students share their views and ideas with each other. Students have the opportunity to post comments and view others' viewpoints and even learn new material or look at a particular concept or idea in a different light. Students also learn to be respectful of others' opinions even though they disagree through these discussions  

👉 Feedback is provided by peers, teachers and others. Teachers as well as students are given the opportunity to comment on a post.  Students can provide feedback to their peers and this can be very beneficial if one student is more knowledgeable about a particular topic. This promotes peer learning as students can provide feedback to the other student to show them where they went wrong, how they can approach the issue or highlight spelling or grammatical errors. 

👉 Teachers can use blogs to publish their expectations and their objectives. Students can see what they are expected to achieve over a period of time or what attitudes and behaviors are expected of them.  

👉 Teachers can use blogs to post weekly or daily challenges such as  riddles or brainteasers that require students to think creatively and critically. Students will then post their responses by commenting under the post and the teacher can discuss the answers and responses after. This will help improve their problem-solving skills.

Those were just a few benefits of blogs. Here are a few more;

Blogs have a lot of benefits and I showed you some of those benefits above. Imagine all these being achieved in the schools. Wouldn't  that be a great thing? Students benefit, parents benefit and teachers benefit. I, therefore, advise Vincentian teachers to encourage students to start blogging because you would not regret it. 


Start viewing blogs as I view it. It is a Beneficial Learning and teaching site that can Outright help students Grow, Stimulate their reading and writing and motivate them to learn.