The Enhancements of Online Blogging to Education The internet has become an amazing enhancement in education by providing powerful tools

to engage learners. The emergence of online blogs is one example of a tool that adds enrichment to education. In the classroom, blogs create a variety of authentic writing experiences for students and add an engaging opportunity to learn. One teacher in the article Avoiding the Digital Abyss: Getting started in the Classroom with Youtube, Digital Stories, and Blogs by Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009, describes her experience with blogs in the classroom. Before blogs, her students would respond to books by critiquing them in journals written to the teacher. Each week the teacher would respond and assess her students according to their comprehension strategies, supported opinions, and variety of genres read. The intention of these journals was for students to engage in thoughtful conversations about the books. The results, however, were not as successful because students only wrote what they thought the teacher wanted to hear. The journals lacked authentic social interaction around literature. After replacing the journals with blog discussions, the teacher found that students truly enjoyed interacting with peers about books. Although the teacher facilitated the discussions, students began interacted with each other rather than the teacher (Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009). Amazing benefits were found from using the blog. In the blog, students asked and responded to one anothers questions, and because they were writing for the whole class, they became more careful writers. Students who previously did not proofread their writing soon began adding conventional punctuation. The blogs allowed peers to respond and question each others writings which is often the role of the teacher, but having these questions come from peers provided more authentic and powerful motivation for writing. Students made interpersonal connections while blogging and went further than they ever would with discussions in their journals (Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009). In addition to blogs being a genuine source of writing for reluctant students, studies have shown the use of blogs to be highly valuable for ESL students (Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009). The use of blogs in an ESL classroom is a great idea for teaching fluency, idiomatic or conversational discourse, and cultural or social exchanges in conversation. Due to the fact that many ELLs are hesitant to participate or resistant to sharing writing with native speakers, a blog can be a place to practice together and form a community (Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009)

ESL students profit from blogs because they have time to think about a peers post, look up unfamiliar words, and carefully create a response in English. Interactions among ESL students and teachers allow scaffolding in language development (Cielocha, Dean, & Hansfield 2009). There are a plethora of ideas for uses of blogs in the classroom. For communication purposes, educators can use blogs to inform parents of recent events or necessities for the classroom. Teachers can also communicate with parents by sharing ideas of web resources that can be used at home with their child to practice a particular skill. Parents can comment or ask the teacher questions. In the classroom, teachers can use the blog as an online journal that students can view and comment. Blogs can also be used as a learning journal in the classroom where teachers and students discuss a certain topic, answer questions, and clarifications can be made about a subject. A sounding board is another use for blogs where students share ideas for projects and provide feedback to one and other about their ideas (Mullen and Wedwick, 2008). Students have the opportunity to share stories to a large audience which will promote an excitement for writing. Students will take time in their writing since their peers will be reviewing their writings. In addition, students will be able to assist each other in the writing process and mechanics as they provide peer feedback for each others work. Students can write book recommendations, discuss, and respond to current events, and comment on other postings. Blogs can also be used to post homework, a classroom calendar, or podcast lessons, and to get feedback from students. As one can see, the opportunities are endless when using blogs in the classroom (Mullen and Wedwick, 2008). Designing and maintaining a blog is easier than most people realize. Free blog services are available on the Internet that makes blogging user-friendly for both Macintosh and Windows users. With only a few steps and a matter of minutes teachers can configure class blog sites. Once teachers have configured a class blog, they can upload text files or pictures (Colombo, 2007). I recently set up a blog for my classroom to discuss my students adventures on summer vacation. Students have easy access to this blog by clicking on the link provided on my class website. As the facilitator of the blog, I am able to preview posts and deny if found inappropriate. The step by step directions are easy to follow and user friendly for people with technological experiences. The merits of blogging are endless when it comes to education. In a study exploring the use of blogs in a post-graduate classroom, Professor Churchill sought to research ways in which

a blog environment supplement classroom teaching and lead to in improved learning experience (Churchill, 2009). Students in his class used blogs to discuss course material, post reflections, and comment on each others contributions and thoughts. At the end of the course, Churchill surveyed the students to see how they felt about the use of blogs during instruction. Not only did the students believe the new addition to the classroom facilitated and contributed to their learning, but they were encouraged by the professors blogs and wanted to blog more too. When the students were asked which part of blogging was most beneficial, students agreed that viewing other works and receiving feedback from classmates was most helpful. The students believed the most enlightening aspect of blogging was learning from each other. Creating a non-threatening platform for students to discuss thoughts is one way blogs were found effective by Professor Churchill (Churchill, 2009). Blogs add a new dimension to learning by extending the learning time. A seventh grade teacher, Ms. Daniels, expressed her concern for lack of instructional time in the classroom to teach the complex science concepts in the article: Blogging to Improve Instruction in Differentiated Science Classrooms (Colombo, 2007). She stated that parental help was often limited so there was a need for another outlet to continue supplementing the science materiel for her students at home. Ms. Daniels used an online blog to extend her teaching time by providing students with more explanations, study guides, and links to content that promote inquiry. Although Ms. Daniels cannot tutor each individual student at home, she was able to assist these students through blogs. Ms. Daniels also found that she is able to differentiate instruction by providing additional resources for struggling students and provide extension activities for her advanced students. As Professor Churchill and Ms. Daniels have demonstrated, blogging is valuable educational tool that provides a platform for discussing and learning by extending the instructional time outside the classroom walls (Colombo, 2007). Although there are many benefits to the use of blogs in the classroom, the maintenance, planning, practice, and experimentation of blogs is fairly time consuming. Teachers must find what works best for their students and their classroom blog (Mullen and Wedwick, 2008). One teacher found that blogging began to resemble traditional classroom discussions and responses to the teacher rather than peer responses. In order to make the experience with blogs different from the traditional conversations in the classroom, students need to be able to have their own individualized spaces and purposes for blogging. Another barrier for some educators is the need

to have ongoing access to technology and continuous professional developments to train educators. Teachers without technological expertise will need more focused training and practice time. Resources are available for less experienced teachers where they can review examples of existing blogs and ideas for uses in the classroom (Colombo, 2007). The future of education requires more technological experiences inside and outside of the classroom. Online tools such as blogs afford the opportunity for students to collaborate with peers and teachers on projects or share personal thoughts and ideas. Most professions require collaboration of some sort. Using blogs in education provides students with the experience they will need to compete in todays workforce. Not only do blogs provide for experience for the future, but also offer differentiation opportunities to appeal and embrace all learning styles (Sawmiller, 2010). Once used in the classroom, teachers will realize the impact blogs have on the timid and shy students afraid to speak out in class because of social pressures (Sawmiller, 2010). Blogs help give these silent students a voice by providing a non-threatening learning environment. With the innovative and student-centered learning opportunities online blogging provides for education, this amazing resource will become widespread in the everyday classroom. References
Barlow, T. (2008). Web 2.0: creating a classroom without walls. Teaching Science, 54(1), 46-48.

Retrieved from http://www.galileo.usg.edu

Barten, K., Boling, E., Castek, J., Nierlich, T., & Zawilinski, L. (2008). Collaborative literacy: blogs and internet project. The Reading Teacher, 61 (6), 504-506. Retrieved from

http://www.galileo.usg.edu
Cielocha, K., Dean, T., & Handsfield, L.(2009) Becoming a critical consumer and producer of text: teaching literacy with web 1.0 and web 2.0. The Reading Teacher, 63 (1), 40-50.

Retrieved from http://www.galileo.usg.edu

Churchill, D. (2009). Educational applications of web 2.0: using blogs to support teaching learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40, 179-183. Retrieved from

http://www.galileo.usg.edu

Colombo, M., Colombo, P. (2007). Blogging to improve instruction in differentiated science classrooms. Phi Delta Kappan, 60-63. Retrieved from http://www.galileo.usg.edu Mullen, R., Wedwick, L. (2008). Avoiding the digital abyss: getting started in the classroom with youtube, digital stories, and blogs. The Clearing House, 82 (2), 66-69. Retrieved from

http://www.galileo.usg.edu
Sawmiller, A. (2010). Classroom blogging: what is the role in science learning. The Clearing House, 83 (2), 44-48. Retrieved from http://www.galileo.usg.edu