Blogs in the Classroom

I like the idea of using blogs in the classroom. They are a way to keep the classroom discussion going even after the lights have been turned off and all have left the building. With the advent of the Internet students began to drift even further away from the classroom as soon as the day was over. They spend hours on social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook and are masters of posting information about themselves and commenting on what others say. Why not take this dynamic and move it to the classroom? By setting up a class blog I would enable my students to spend time conversing with each other in a manner that is easy and familiar to them. At the same time they would be blogging about topics that are not always easy or familiar. Shakespeare may have been fun fun fun for me, but I know some of my friends would have rather spent some time on the rack than utter his name much less discuss his works. If each student was allowed to have the blog reflect their own personality ( I would of course check for any obscene pictures or words) it would make the educational blog seem a little more like their personal one. Maybe they would even start to enjoy talking about what we are covering in class. I would be able to view these blogs and gauge how much my class really takes away from the classroom. I could even have them make a post about a subject the night before we are set to discuss it. That way everyone would have their thoughts in order. I am doing this blog for one of my classes at South Alabama. It focuses on technology in the classroom. I have to admit that this is the first time I have ever had to keep up a blog on a week to week basis for a grade. I never used them before either so it has been a new experience for me. I like how similar it is to keeping a journal. I am able to post my own thoughts on things and also read the views of others. In this manner I feel I know my classmates and myself better than I did before. I would really like to employ them in my own classroom.